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GDT: ECF #4 - 05/25/14 | Montreal Canadiens @ New York Rangers | 8:00 - NBC SPORTS, CBC

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Mint said:
Remember 2 yrs back when a prospect with limited experience shined in the playoffs? Miller is a better player now than Kreider was back then too IMO. I think he should fill in admirably.
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I might have missed it, will he be on the 4th line like the OP says or will he center Nash and Kreider?
 
Trxjw said:
Yeah that's all well and good, but Miller isn't a viable NHL center at this point in his career. I'd rather have a competent player between two of our better wingers than a kid who hasn't shown that he's ready for the show. We're not talking about a Kreider situation. We're talking about putting in a rookie with zero defensive prowess between two of our top wingers. Kreider was in the lineup as a 3rd line winger seeing favorable zone starts.

But hey, we heard the same narrative about Kreider until he finally proved he was ready, so why not with JT Miller? Would expect nothing less.

Moore is a better NHLer, better center, and more effective offensive player right now than Miller has shown in his entire NHL career. "Optimizing talent" is just another way of saying "spoonfeed our prospect ice time".
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I see your argument. I assume AV has Moore on the 1st line because at this point in the season, having a rookie centering 2 of our more important offensive players, could be disastrous.

I don't think you're giving Miller enough credit, though. You're acting like he is not already a competent NHL player. Had he played the full 82 games, I'm sure we could have labeled him "competent". The goal of sending him down to the AHL for the majority of the season wasn't for him to learn competence, it was to refine his skill set so he could become "dominant". Miller is a big time prospect and the organization wants more than just "competence" from him.

He is a difference maker already, just not consistently. I see why you wouldn't want him in the 1st line position for a consistent stretch of time - because his level of play varies from game to game.

But for 1-3 games, like it is being labeled, I see no reason to break apart another line to fix the hole left by injury.

And by "optimizing talent" I do not mean "spoon feeding prospect time". I mean putting players in their best position to excel. Moore, under any other circumstance, would be set to fail on the 1st line. I'm not knocking Moore in any way. I think he's great on the 4th line, just as I think Boyle is great on the 4th line, and Pouloit is great on the 3rd line. Putting Moore on the 4th line is optimizing talent. Putting Miller on a line with Kreider, a player he is familiar centering, is putting him in a position to excel.

I could be wrong, and only you'll know if I am or am not, but it seems to me that you have soured on Miller and are writing him off as a difference maker.

Aufeheben said that game 4 of the ECF is the worst time to try this experiment - but at home where the coach has last change, with a coach that optimizes his player's time and situations so that they best succeed, I think this would be the perfect time to try Miller with Kreider and Nash. Especially since, for all we know, Stepan may very well be back on Tuesday or Thursday.

edit: Man, what was with my spelling in this post?
 
RangerBoy said:
Dominic Moore should go back between Brian Boyle and Derek Dorsett. Derick Brassard goes back between Benoit Pouliot and Mats Zuccarello. The Brad Richards line remain intact. Put JT Miller between Chris Kreider and Rick Nash. That's the Rangers best line-up. Miller is a natural center. Moore is better fit on the 4th line. Asking him to contribute offensively on a top line is asking for too much. The Rangers are a 4 line team. People like to dump over Miller like they dumped over Kreider.
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Exactly. If you're going to play Miller, at least try him at center (where he's more effective) between Nash & Kreids (with whom he played very well at center in the AHL). You can always move him down later in the game, if need be.

If you're hyper concerned about defensive responsibility and are determined to play Moore in Step's place regardless, then don't play Miller; play Fast and slot him on the 4th line wing.
 
BrooklynRangersFan said:
Exactly. If you're going to play Miller, at least try him at center (where he's more effective) between Nash & Kreids (with whom he played very well at center in the AHL). You can always move him down later in the game, if need be.

If you're hyper concerned about defensive responsibility and are determined to play Moore in Step's place regardless, then don't play Miller; play Fast and slot him on the 4th line wing.
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Another good point. No reason to play Miller if the purpose of inserting him into the line up is to limit defensive responsibility.
 
You put Miller between Nash and Kreider and you have one of the worst defensive lines ever created in the NHL.
 
There isn't a huge difference between Moore's and Stepan's games. Moore is a better skater, Stepan has better vision.

A much more obvious replacement than a rookie who hasn't been producing offensively and is a turnover machine.
 
Fitzy said:
You put Miller between Nash and Kreider and you have one of the worst defensive lines ever created in the NHL.
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Not only is it a little hyperbolic (#BH), it's just not true. Nash has elevated his defensive play tremendously. And Kreider has it, everything, plus the speed. I think that line could be fine, the only issue would be JTs endurance to keep up with the intensity. His defensive play will drop when tired. That would be the only issue.
 
Less than an hr before huge playoff game and NHL network showing chl game. Nothing against chl, it's awesome but NHL network 3rd rate. Other major sports so far ahead of NHL in this regard it's not even funny.
 
Fitzy said:
There isn't a huge difference between Moore's and Stepan's games. Moore is a better skater, Stepan has better vision.

A much more obvious replacement than a rookie who hasn't been producing offensively and is a turnover machine.
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Tricky part is this is also why you don't want him on a line that gets 15% of their starts in the offensive zone.
 
BrooklynRangersFan said:
Exactly. If you're going to play Miller, at least try him at center (where he's more effective) between Nash & Kreids (with whom he played very well at center in the AHL). You can always move him down later in the game, if need be.

If you're hyper concerned about defensive responsibility and are determined to play Moore in Step's place regardless, then don't play Miller; play Fast and slot him on the 4th line wing.
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That's a good point.
 
NYRFANMANI said:
Not only is it a little hyperbolic (#BH), it's just not true. Nash has elevated his defensive play tremendously. And Kreider has it, everything, plus the speed. I think that line could be fine, the only issue would be JTs endurance to keep up with the intensity. His defensive play will drop when tired. That would be the only issue.
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Nash back-checks, but that isn't my concern. Man marking in the defensive zone, when the opposition is holding the puck in is the problem.

Nash has good effort getting back, but if they get hemmed in it could be an automatic penalty with those 3.

Why don't we reward the guy who has been playing well, and has been practicing regularly with the team? This is not the time for player development.
 
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