Line Combos: CBJ Roster Discussion/Line Combos/Injury Report (No surgery for KJ, but out long term, Voronkov practicing)

stevo61

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Jul 5, 2011
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Does Kevin Labanc have a chance to stay with this club when all injured players come back ?

I see that he has 5 pts in 7 games with 11 minutes of ice time only ...
Injured players won't be back for awhile but he's actually earned a legitimate spot in the lineup. Don't think he lasts beyond this year but he's working like a guy who wants to stay in the NHL, he's been a pleasant surprise
 

Doggy

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Oct 11, 2011
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Does Kevin Labanc have a chance to stay with this club when all injured players come back ?

I see that he has 5 pts in 7 games with 11 minutes of ice time only ...
I don’t think Labanc has been bad but I don’t see any other player in the current lineup coming out before him (maybe Reeser but doubt it). He’s 12 out of 12 IMO, if everyone is still healthy when Vronk is ready to go then Labanc should be the one to sit.
 

stevo61

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Jul 5, 2011
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I don’t think Labanc has been bad but I don’t see any other player in the current lineup coming out before him (maybe Reeser but doubt it). He’s 12 out of 12 IMO, if everyone is still healthy when Vronk is ready to go then Labanc should be the one to sit.
JVR won't keep his play up for 82 games, having him in a rotation wouldn't be the worst idea
 

cbjthrowaway

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Jul 4, 2020
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Does Kevin Labanc have a chance to stay with this club when all injured players come back ?

I see that he has 5 pts in 7 games with 11 minutes of ice time only ...
i thought he looked atrocious in the first few games. he's been a lot better since, but most of that production (3 of his 5 points) are secondary assists. still no goals, etc.

i could see him staying with the club in the sense of being a 13th or 14th forward who can slide in if a winger gets hurt, but i don't think he actually sticks in the lineup after they get some of their guys back. he's probably the 12th forward right now and voronkov should be back soon.
 

cbjthrowaway

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Jul 4, 2020
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JVR won't keep his play up for 82 games, having him in a rotation wouldn't be the worst idea
JVR's ideal role here is probably to basically do what they had scott hartnell doing back in 16-17. playing on a sheltered, offensively-focused fourth line (hartnell-sedlak-gagner) and getting power play time. problem is, the actual ideal fourth line here is probably the ZAR-danforth-olivier line that's been out there the last few games and he couldn't really keep up.

i do wonder what the lines will look like when voronkov comes back. someone has to come out of the lineup, and they have two lines (59-23-86 and 27-17-24) that should stay together. pyyhtia has shown that he belongs in the lineup, too.

swapping voronkov for jvr seems pretty straightforward, but i wonder if it makes more sense to swap him in for kuraly instead, or move kuraly down to ZAR's spot.
 

stevo61

Registered User
Jul 5, 2011
11,663
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Canada
JVR's ideal role here is probably to basically do what they had scott hartnell doing back in 16-17. playing on a sheltered, offensively-focused fourth line (hartnell-sedlak-gagner) and getting power play time. problem is, the actual ideal fourth line here is probably the ZAR-danforth-olivier line that's been out there the last few games and he couldn't really keep up.

i do wonder what the lines will look like when voronkov comes back. someone has to come out of the lineup, and they have two lines (59-23-86 and 27-17-24) that should stay together. pyyhtia has shown that he belongs in the lineup, too.

swapping voronkov for jvr seems pretty straightforward, but i wonder if it makes more sense to swap him in for kuraly instead, or move kuraly down to ZAR's spot.
I more looking at Pyyhtia's spot for Voronkov than a depth spot. Deserving to be in the lineup is 1 thing but deserving to be in the top 6 when actual top 6 caliber players come back is another. I appreciate what Pyyhtia is doing but the offense isn't there to warrant that spot longterm in my opinion. Could be an option until Voronkov gets his legs back but when he does there is no reason for him to be low in this current lineup
 

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