World Cup: Four Nations Tournament-Team Canada

[Nucks2001]

I wasn’t suggesting Bennett could be the shutdown center, but that if they took Cirelli to play that role and they already have McDavid, MacKinnon, Crosby, and Point, he doesn’t have a center role on the team, and he’s never been as good on the wing. It just seems like a weird fit even beyond the talent level.

Likely one of Crosby, MacKinnon or Point moves to the wing. Opens up a 4th line center spot. Example could be:

Bennett-McDavid-Reinhart
Marchand-Crosby-MacKinnon
Konecny-Point-Marner
Hagel-Cirelli-Stone
Jarvis

I actually think this is pretty close to the lines they'll want on opening night. Cooper seems that he'll AT LEAST have the Nova Scotia Line together for a period. Konency-Point-Marner makes sense from the 2017 WC. Hagel and Cirelli already play together on Tampa.

 

[NordiquesForeva]

Likely one of Crosby, MacKinnon or Point moves to the wing. Opens up a 4th line center spot. Example could be:

Bennett-McDavid-Reinhart
Marchand-Crosby-MacKinnon
Konecny-Point-Marner
Hagel-Cirelli-Stone
Jarvis

I actually think this is pretty close to the lines they'll want on opening night. Cooper seems that he'll AT LEAST have the Nova Scotia Line together for a period. Konency-Point-Marner makes sense from the 2017 WC. Hagel and Cirelli already play together on Tampa.

FWIW, these are the lines that TSN posted on the evening the lineup was more or less leaked:

Reinhart - McDavid - Marner
Marchand - Crosby - MacKinnon
Hagel - Point - Stone
Bennett - Cirelli - Konecny
Jarvis

That might give an indication of where Cooper's head is at with respect to lines.

Yes, I'm aware Reinhart is a RHS. Can he play the left side? Don't see any reason why he can't adapt to his off wing. I doubt he'll be carrying the puck or looking to distribute it all that much with McDavid and Marner on his line. Maybe his board play will be impacted; we'll have to see. On a more positive note, setting Reinhart up on his off wing would obviously present more opportunity for one-timers in the o-zone and potentially give Reinhart, arguably our best pure shooter at this point, a better angle at the net.

I strongly suspect Cooper will at least try the "Nova Scotia" line to start the tournament. I see no issue with that.

I think Cooper will utilize the Point line (with Hagel and Stone) as more of a matchup line against the opponent's top lines, and the Cirelli line (with Bennett and Konecny) as more of an agitation/energy line. The Point line has the better players and should get more ES minutes than the Cirelli line. All three forwards on the Point line are defensively responsible, and can score. If Cooper deploys his lines similar to how Babcock did in 2010, 2014 and 2016, the Cirelli line would get 2-3 ES shifts/period and Cirelli/Konecny would likely play the PK. The one player on that line who I think can work his way up the lineup is Konecny.

I'm not overly concerned about Bennett. He was probably a reach, but at the time of the roster selection he was at/near a PPG pace and coming off back-to-back highly impactful playoff runs. It was obvious the management team and Cooper wanted a certain kind of player that can get under the skin of his opponents, bang around in the corners, lay a few hits to change momentum, chip-in offensively, and has proven he can raise his level of play in the playoffs. I doubt him and Scheifele, for example, were competing for the same role. Given we already have Cirelli and Konecny (two players who play a somewhat similar game as Bennett), I would have opted for Celebrini instead, but whatever. He'll have his opportunity in 2016 along with Bedard, Johnston, and likely a few other young stars.

 

[Nucks2001]

FWIW, these are the lines that TSN posted on the evening the lineup was more or less leaked:

Reinhart - McDavid - Marner
Marchand - Crosby - MacKinnon
Hagel - Point - Stone
Bennett - Cirelli - Konecny
Jarvis

That might give an indication of where Cooper's head is at with respect to lines.

Yes, I'm aware Reinhart is a RHS. Can he play the left side? Don't see any reason why he can't adapt to his off wing. I doubt he'll be carrying the puck or looking to distribute it all that much with McDavid and Marner on his line. Maybe his board play will be impacted; we'll have to see. On a more positive note, setting Reinhart up on his off wing would obviously present more opportunity for one-timers in the o-zone and potentially give Reinhart, arguably our best pure shooter at this point, a better angle at the net.

I strongly suspect Cooper will at least try the "Nova Scotia" line to start the tournament. I see no issue with that.

I think Cooper will utilize the Point line (with Hagel and Stone) as more of a matchup line against the opponent's top lines, and the Cirelli line (with Bennett and Konecny) as more of an agitation/energy line. The Point line has the better players and should get more ES minutes than the Cirelli line. All three forwards on the Point line are defensively responsible, and can score. If Cooper deploys his lines similar to how Babcock did in 2010, 2014 and 2016, the Cirelli line would get 2-3 ES shifts/period and Cirelli/Konecny would likely play the PK. The one player on that line who I think can work his way up the lineup is Konecny.

I'm not overly concerned about Bennett. He was probably a reach, but at the time of the roster selection he was at/near a PPG pace and coming off back-to-back highly impactful playoff runs. It was obvious the management team and Cooper wanted a certain kind of player that can get under the skin of his opponents, bang around in the corners, lay a few hits to change momentum, chip-in offensively, and has proven he can raise his level of play in the playoffs. I doubt him and Scheifele, for example, were competing for the same role. Given we already have Cirelli and Konecny (two players who play a somewhat similar game as Bennett), I would have opted for Celebrini instead, but whatever. He'll have his opportunity in 2016 along with Bedard, Johnston, and likely a few other young stars.

We also have Marchand who plays a similar role to Cirelli and Konecny. The Bennett pick was awful and served no purpose

 

[SillyRabbit]

FWIW, these are the lines that TSN posted on the evening the lineup was more or less leaked:

Reinhart - McDavid - Marner
Marchand - Crosby - MacKinnon
Hagel - Point - Stone
Bennett - Cirelli - Konecny
Jarvis

I'd rather see Konecny on the Crosby line.

Then you could roll three lines without really thinking.

I wouldn't expect to see much of Bennett, Jarvis or Cirelli (outside of the PK).

 

[Nucks2001]

I'd rather see Konecny on the Crosby line.

Then you could roll three lines without really thinking.

I wouldn't expect to see much of Bennett, Jarvis or Cirelli (outside of the PK).

I think you get the most of Bennett by playing him with McDavid or MacKinnon. He’s good along the boards and can be the “Hyman” for the line. If that line isn’t scoring with Bennett on it though, then absolutely take him off and make him a healthy scratch.

I don’t really like him on the 4th line and are you really putting him over Cirelli, Hagel, Jarvis, Marchand, Stone, Konecny, or Point on the PK? I don’t think so.

 

[Tutu to]

Any idea who potential replacements would be with injuries?

I assume it depends on who needs to be replaced.

 

[Nucks2001]

Any idea who potential replacements would be with injuries?

I assume it depends on who needs to be replaced.

You’re right, Armstrong announced that replacement will largely depend on player type and role on a Blues Podcast.

When the roster was announced, Sweeney mentioned a couple names as potential replacements and near-cuts. This included Scheifele, Hyman and Duchene forwards-wise and Bouchard and Weegar defensively.

With that being said, a lot has changed since December. Tom Wilson who was being considered earlier on in the selection process has proven his case. If Marchand, Bennett or Konency goes down, I think he’ll likely be there instead of Hyman. I wonder if Hyman will still be considered since his play has been better, but still not up to the standards that you would.

From the Blues podcast, it sounded like Robert Thomas was seriously being considered up until his injury. Army did make it sound as if though he wouldn’t be an injury replacement for 4-Nations, but will be looked at more for the Olympics.

Drew Doughty was contacted as a potential, but considering he still hasn’t returned to ice and we’re near January, I think it’s safe to say we won’t see him on Team Canada or the Kings for that matter for a while.

Scheifele probably gets in if McDavid, Mack, Crosby, Reinhart or Marner are unavailable.

Mangement might have Bedard on their list now, but I don’t think he’s the best guy they call. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the third guy tho.

In reality, no one really knows and this is all speculation.