Do you think that our Johnny plays even more on the wing?

[Nhlpowerweek]

That is the Shakespeare questionette yall. Does yall think Johnny c tavares plays on the wing a lot, some or not with the irish O'Reilly now? Or not? O'Reilly is not in any way related to the character of O'Reilly in Oz. In no way. Nore Schillinger. I'm talking bout our own tavares and Ryan O'Reilly.

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[kb]

I think it was a way to ease him in. He can carry a line.

 

[Clark4Ever]

Other than the odd shift here and there with Matthews when game calls for it, I don't think JT is moving to the wing permanently any time soon.

ROR should eventually settle in as the 3C.

 

[Cleetus]

I think it was a way to ease him in. He can carry a line.

might as well try as many things now as you can, that way Keefe will know come april what he can deploy on the lightning lol

 

[Bomber0104]

Not sure Tavares wants to go in the corners all that much to be honest...

He's a bit of an injury risk on the best of days, maybe we should let the grunts do their thing for him centering his own line?

 

[Buds17]

ROR is just one of those versatile forwards that can play either C or W - the ol' Team Canada approach of centres playing on the wing because the team can afford to do so. I can't complain about him in the top six because I like his overall game and think he can both benefit from, and make the most out of, having quality linemates.

 

[Mickey Marner]

I expect we’ll see some line juggling until everyone is acclimated. Hopefully we see another deal with Kerfoot going the other way. No point keeping him if he’s going to be a 3.5 AAV 4th line RW.

 

[al secord]

Once Patrick Kane and Knies come into the lineup, we'll probably see O'Reilly on the 3rd line.

 

[DraftSchmaft]

Tavares is still a top 10 C in the league. I'll widen it to top 15 for the haters.

We will turn an A+ trade into a B+ upgrade overall by not running 3C deep. You simply do not remove a top center in the league to wing. Tavares is one of the best technical players in the game.

We finally got our bottom 6 General in O'Reilly. Core 4 can now be on the bench in the playoffs with zero fear. Stack lines periodically.

 

[WillyC]

No, last night was to ease ROR in by playing him with 2 of our best players… he’s going to be 3C and dominate.

 

[Gabriel426]

There is no way Keefe will not run ROR as 3C.
The question will be who will be the wingers playing with ROR.

 

[hotpaws]

Tavares has always played more like a wing and he's so slow he's much better suited to be on the wing since he can't keep up with the play . We'll have to wait and see if him and ROR mesh however .

 

[Hellcat]

I hope not, they looked like a line that was doing a lot but truthfully accomplished nothing.

ROR needs to have finishers on his line, he is a puck distributor. Playing with one of the best puck passers in the league and biggest puck hogs (not meant in a negative way) does nothing for ROR. If Marner always has the puck, ROR will never have the puck. JT is a sit in front of the net, try to move my big ass, I'm going to grind along the boards type guy, so is ROR. Seems redundant to have two guys, who play a very similar game, on the same line.

So that leaves him the 1st line, 3rd line or 4th line. Bunting is a similar player in the sense he goes to the dirty areas and is good at 50/50 battles along the boards. I think Bunting works well with AM and WN, not smart to mess with that chemistry.

ROR is IMO better suited for 3rd line duties, it feels like that line is screaming begging for a leader, for a legit center. Engvall and Jarnkrok are both, or can be both finishers, Engvall is not a passer, he is a shooter. PE and KJ are not really get in front of the net take the goalies eyesight away type players, ROR is 100% that guy. I've been wanting a 3rd line that is a threat to score, I think PE, ROR and KJ are that 3rd line.

 

[Dekes For Days]

I think they just didn't want to change the player's positions when they hadn't had time to practice or prepare.
Tavares is much better at center than wing.
If they're going to force him at wing, I'd rather they switch him and Bunting.

 

[Havoc]

Put my boy back to C. This guy is beast and offers so much.

Tavares-matthews-marner never works (context: optimal) Do you really think it's going to work by swapping out the best player in the league lmao. Keefe gonna Keefe.

 

[Its not your fault]

That is the Shakespeare questionette yall. Does yall think Johnny c tavares plays on the wing a lot, some or not with the irish O'Reilly now? Or not? O'Reilly is not in any way related to the character of O'Reilly in Oz. In no way. Nore Schillinger. I'm talking bout our own tavares and Ryan O'Reilly.

His line mate in St Louis was our very own Josh Lievo lol. That said I would think Tavares and O Rielly might grow better together not so much line mates but off ice. They are both at the same stage in life that the pups really aren't maybe workout buddies as they try to fight off father time.

 

[Nhlpowerweek]

His line mate in St Louis was our very own Josh Lievo lol. That said I would think Tavares and O Rielly might grow better together not so much line mates but off ice. They are both at the same stage in life that the pups really aren't maybe workout buddies as they try to fight off father time.

You already know sire. Was watching them fools on the bench too last night

 

[rojac]

As I've said elsewhere, I think they may have played ROR with Tavares and Marner last night because he has played with both of them before in international events (based on what ROR said in his post-game interview last night). And they may have put ROR at centre because I think Tavares has played wing more recently than ROR. They may do the same thing tonight and not change it up until Tuesday night -- I assume there is a practice on Monday.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

As I've said elsewhere, I think they may have played ROR with Tavares and Marner last night because he has played with both of them before in international events (based on what ROR said in his post-game interview last night). And they may have put ROR at centre because I think Tavares has played wing more recently than ROR. They may do the same thing tonight and not change it up until Tuesday night -- I assume there is a practice on Monday.

2 days off to practice on Wednesday and Thursday. Good chance to try some different things out then.

 

[TopCheese]

If Knies can come in and fit into the top 6 we will have absolutely stacked forward lines

Bunting - Matthews - Nylander
Knies - Tavares - Marner
Jarnkrok - O'Reilly - Engvall
Acciari - Kampf - ZAR
Kerfoot- Holmberg - Anderson

 

[Nhlpowerweek]

If Knies can come in and fit into the top 6 we will have absolutely stacked forward lines

Bunting - Matthews - Nylander
Knies - Tavares - Marner
Jarnkrok - O'Reilly - Engvall
Acciari - Kampf - ZAR
Kerfoot- Holmberg - Anderson

You already know sire. But as for now, it looks coach keefe is determined to continue with the tavares - o'reilly (center) - marner line to the end. It might never change. Keefe is already telling it so and showing his strength. You know like Bush was a decider

 

[Nhlpowerweek]

Is the leafs like for really keeping tavares on the wing next game too yall...? Like that would be some unheardof shit you know what I'm saying

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

That's what you want to see.

Your $11M second line centre become an $11M second line winger. If that's not admitting it was a bad signing I don't know what is.

Optics are everything.

And putting Tavares as second line winger after he has already been reduced to a second line centre does not look good no matter what angle it's viewed from.

Tavares was the big UFA signing. The guy that was going to put this team over the top. His leadership has been questioned for years.

Bringing in guys like O'Reilly, Thornton, and Giordano to provide leadership because this team can't get past the first round of the playoffs further undermines his role as captain.

It's not a good look.

 

[Dekes For Days]

That's what you want to see.
Your $11M second line centre become an $11M second line winger. If that's not admitting it was a bad signing I don't know what is.
Optics are everything.
And putting Tavares as second line winger after he has already been reduced to a second line centre does not look good no matter what angle it's viewed from.
Tavares was the big UFA signing. The guy that was going to put this team over the top. His leadership has been questioned for years.
Bringing in guys like O'Reilly, Thornton, and Giordano to provide leadership because this team can't get past the first round of the playoffs further undermines his role as captain.

Tavares was only 2nd line center because we have the reigning MVP in the 1st line center spot, and he's only temporarily playing on wing because we acquired another top tier player that's used to playing center, who hadn't even had a practice yet. It says nothing about Tavares' abilities or his signing. He's a top tier center that's brought a lot of value and impact to this team.

Tavares' leadership has never been questioned. He's been praised by everybody in hockey his whole career. Bringing in additional character individuals does not undermine his role as captain or suggest anything about his leadership. All teams like players with good leadership and character, and will try to acquire as much of it as possible.

 

[Guided by Veseys]

Tavares is on pace for 36 goals in what is yet another close to ppg season. This guy is the epitome of living up to his ufa contract. Spending that much on a Center when you already had a borderline generational first overall 1c and an elite 2C on one of the best contracts in the league is a different story. At the time of signing though I was as pumped as anybody. Took awhile to sink in that it probably hamstringed the club.