Line Combos: Don’t Touch PP1. It’s Good. Very Good.

[DanielBrassard]

There's zero chance Kane isn't on PP1.

Kreider
Panarin-Zibanejad-Kane
Fox

 

[Shesterkybomb]

There's zero chance Kane isn't on PP1.

Kreider
Panarin-Zibanejad-Kane
Fox

100%.

 

[huerter]

The frustrating part is that if I had 10 minutes to do an in person seminar where I can draw it up and support it with video you all would buy into THE TEMPLATE with a quickness.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

BASED MIKA BUMPER

 

[duhmetreE]

I see no reason why the PP shouldn't be 50%

Reasonable.

---------- Kreider ----------
Panarin ----Zibs ---- Kane-
------------ Fox -----------

That is absurd.

What's PP2 now? Who's sitting? Laffy or Kakko?
Trocheck
Laffy/Kakko - Chytil - Tank
KAM/Trouba

 

[DanielBrassard]

3 of the best passers in the league running the PP from up top/halfwall, plus Panarin, Kane and Zibanejad are all one-timer options. Gonna be wild.

I see no reason why the PP shouldn't be 50%

Reasonable.

---------- Kreider ----------
Panarin ----Zibs ---- Kane-
------------ Fox -----------

That is absurd.

What's PP2 now? Who's sitting? Laffy or Kakko?
Trocheck
Laffy/Kakko - Chytil - Tank
KAM/Trouba

That's a good question.

Leaning towards Kakko since Laf's spot is on the left wall and that's where an opening will be.

 

[irishlaxburger2]

I see no reason why the PP shouldn't be 50%

Reasonable.

---------- Kreider ----------
Panarin ----Zibs ---- Kane-
------------ Fox -----------

That is absurd.

What's PP2 now? Who's sitting? Laffy or Kakko?
Trocheck
Laffy/Kakko - Chytil - Tank
KAM/Trouba

We’re not taking Mika out of that one timer spot. If anything, Panarin moves to the bumper.

 

[will1066]

I see no reason why the PP shouldn't be 50%

Reasonable.

---------- Kreider ----------
Panarin ----Zibs ---- Kane-
------------ Fox -----------

That is absurd.

What's PP2 now? Who's sitting? Laffy or Kakko?
Trocheck
Laffy/Kakko - Chytil - Tank
KAM/Trouba

Kakko, imo. Laf is a better passer. The puck is gonna be zipping around, too fast for Kakko, who likes to lug it and slow things down.

 

[The New Russian Five]

We’re not taking Mika out of that one timer spot. If anything, Panarin moves to the bumper.

The nice thing about Mika in the bumper is that he can sneak out of that area towards the half wall when Panarin slides up close to the blue line. Its what happened last game agains the Kings and that is how Mika was wide open for that one-timer in close. Mika playing along the half wall was too predictable and he's not shifty enough there to get open as often as he needs to be. He's going to get a lot more quality one timer looks by being in the bumper position. Keep in mind that is where Zib was during the Quinn days and he was he was very effective there.

 

[duhmetreE]

We’re not taking Mika out of that one timer spot. If anything, Panarin moves to the bumper.

did you not watch last game?

 

[The New Russian Five]

Kakko, imo. Laf is a better passer. The puck is gonna be zipping around, too fast for Kakko, who likes to lug it and slow things down.

What if it's Miller that sits and they run 5 forwards. Let's be honest Miller has been mediocre on the PP. Laf has a lot more vision and can run QB from the top.

---------- Trocheck ----------
Kakko -----Chytil ---- Tarasenko-
------------ Laf -----------

 

[will1066]

What if it's Miller that sits and they run 5 forwards. Let's be honest Miller has been mediocre on the PP. Laf has a lot more vision and can run QB from the top.

---------- Trocheck ----------
Kakko -----Chytil ---- Tarasenko-
------------ Laf -----------

I did ponder a 5F setup

 

[duhmetreE]

What if it's Miller that sits and they run 5 forwards. Let's be honest Miller has been mediocre on the PP. Laf has a lot more vision and can run QB from the top.

---------- Trocheck ----------
Kakko -----Chytil ---- Tarasenko-
------------ Laf -----------

no way Gallant goes for that. They only get 30 or so seconds. ( at this point, with that PP1, they might not even get that ) Not gonna get caught with 5 forwards

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

touch it

 

[bbny]

touch it

 

[nyrage]

I really hated Mika in the bumper yesterday. The guy has a cannon of a shot and it feels wasted there. Not only does he score quite a bit from it, but we get tip-ins and rebounds from it. That felt completely lost last night. Panarin's shot isn't the same.

Our best alignment may be with Kane on pp2, but I don't see that happening.

 

[huerter]

They are doing a long segment on our PP on NHL network right now. Rupper says Trocheck is the best guy for the bumper. Cised.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

They are doing a long segment on our PP on NHL network right now. Rupper says Trocheck is the best guy for the bumper. Cised.

Just a Pittsburgh homer , the unit we had last night is the best

I really hated Mika in the bumper yesterday. The guy has a cannon of a shot and it feels wasted there. Not only does he score quite a bit from it, but we get tip-ins and rebounds from it. That felt completely lost last night. Panarin's shot isn't the same.

Our best alignment may be with Kane on pp2, but I don't see that happening.

Zib and Panarin can rotate , I know our guys are used to standing still all the time but it’s something we should try

 

[Peltz]

We lost last night because the power play was trying to be too cute. I think they'll get it together eventually. But it was so frustrating to watch.

They're trying to be too cerebral out there rather than just let kreider jam at some rebounds.

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

We lost last night because the power play was trying to be too cute. I think they'll get it together eventually. But it was so frustrating to watch.

They're trying to be too cerebral out there rather than just let kreider jam at some rebounds.

Biggest issue I had with PP1 the other night was their zone entries and breakouts. Took entirely too long to get set up, which made the passing seem forced and tired when they did get set up beause of how long it took to gain possession. Also exacerbating the passing seeming forced and tired - not enough movement away from the puck.

 

[hackeyman]

I see no reason why the PP shouldn't be 50%

Do you mean split equally between PP! and PP2 ?

 

[huerter]

Kreider
Mika-Troch-Panarin
Fox

For as long as they can go. Then throw out the kid line or the 4th line.

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

Arrrghh...enough with Trocheck in the bumper. He's sucked there all year. He has no idea how to get open without the puck. His best attribute is his skating/puck carrying ability. His shot accuracy is garbage, his release is slow and predictable compared to others, and his movement without the puck is atrocious for generating offense. He's physical, he can forecheck well, but he lacks everything you'd need from him to suceed in the bumper and has all year. He doesn't collapse down low for rebounds. He sits between the top of the circles surrounded by 4 defenders, and has an uncanny knack to make sure that every one of the 4 is situated perfectly in the passing lane between him and the nearest Ranger in that direction. On the offchance a puck makes it to him, he half winds up and releases a slow, predictable snapper from range that is usually low and along the ice (as if he's a point shooter going for a deflection) except that he should be trying to score from there, and almost never does.

He was in the bumper again today and that PP unit did absolutely nothing. The only value Trocheck gives the PP is faceoffs, so whichever unit Zibanejad is not on is the unit he should be on, where he can help screen the goalie and play net front/side of net/puck recovery which plays to his strengths. That's it. Period full sotp.

Meanwhile, they are absolutely underutilizing Tarasenko on the PP. Guy is open at the right circle practically every PP shift and rarely gets the puck. Has a decent one timer too, and they never pass it to him. They gave him the puck once on the PP and he almost scored with a right circle wrister.

 

[SA16]

Arrrghh...enough with Trocheck in the bumper. He's sucked there all year. He has no idea how to get open without the puck. His best attribute is his skating/puck carrying ability. His shot accuracy is garbage, his release is slow and predictable compared to others, and his movement without the puck is atrocious for generating offense. He's physical, he can forecheck well, but he lacks everything you'd need from him to suceed in the bumper and has all year. He doesn't collapse down low for rebounds. He sits between the top of the circles surrounded by 4 defenders, and has an uncanny knack to make sure that every one of the 4 is situated perfectly in the passing lane between him and the nearest Ranger in that direction. On the offchance a puck makes it to him, he half winds up and releases a slow, predictable snapper from range that is usually low and along the ice (as if he's a point shooter going for a deflection) except that he should be trying to score from there, and almost never does.

He was in the bumper again today and that PP unit did absolutely nothing. The only value Trocheck gives the PP is faceoffs, so whichever unit Zibanejad is not on is the unit he should be on, where he can help screen the goalie and play net front/side of net/puck recovery which plays to his strengths. That's it. Period full sotp.

Meanwhile, they are absolutely underutilizing Tarasenko on the PP. Guy is open at the right circle practically every PP shift and rarely gets the puck. Has a decent one timer too, and they never pass it to him. They gave him the puck once on the PP and he almost scored with a right circle wrister.

Yea true trocheck has been pretty bad in the bumper all year he’s only second on the team in 5v4 goals.

 

[TopShelfSnipes]

Yea true trocheck has been pretty bad in the bumper all year he’s only second on the team in 5v4 goals.

I don't just look at the stats, I look at the body of the game. Here are his PPG's this season:

-10/17 tap in from right side of net off a broken rush
-10/29 one timer from left dot after rotating out of the bumper with Kakko moving over to the middle in his place
-11/8 rebound from side of net, not playing standard bumper on the setup (Rangers had 2 forwards low).
-11/17 rebound from bumper.
-11/28 rebound from bumper.
-12/12 (3 months ago) against the Devils for the last goal he actually scored from that spot (deflection).
-12/18 vs. Chicago, at the side of the net along with Kreider, deflection (Rangers had 2 forwards low setup again here)
-New Year's Day, off the rush, so being "in the bumper" was irrelevant on that one.
-Zero PPG since.
-And most importantly, zero goals all season scored shooting off the pass from the bumper.

In fact, all of these just prove my point that he is better NOT in the bumper because allowing him to play net front/side of net/puck recovery allows him to drift to the side of the net when the play warrants which is actually how he's scored the majority of his PP goals this season. It also takes advantage of the fact he's been one of our better puck recovery forwards all year. My point isn't that he sucks/shouldn't be on the PP, it's that in that spot he is not good. He has other skills especially closer to the net that you would want to utilize, plus his uncanny faceoff skills which cover for Chytil's biggest weakness on the non-Mika unit. Putting him in the bumper with Mika virtually assures he won't score AND also ensures that Filip Chytil is taking PP2 faceoffs at 40%.

Also, PP1 got off to a hot start and now it's stale. Aside from the last 2 weeks, he's pretty much exclusively been in that spot all year. So, while averaging 90 seconds on every PP for much of that, he's got 1 PPG since a week before Christmas, and that was off the rush.

So, yes, I'd maintain he's been pretty bad in the bumper.