Why? The 2nd and 3rd lines are getting between 13-16 mins a night. The players on those lines are much better and that is not a heavy workload. I am good those lines playing much more than the 4th. Once Gabe is healthy the 4th line is better off exploiting matchups rather than diluting the talent through all lines in the name of running balanced lines.
It'll never happen anyway, though I certainly like the idea. Our forward depth is making up for our good enough/not great defense. Seattle last year (and I wouldn't write them off so quickly this year), and Vegas since they joined the league, shows me that you can do a lot with 4 lines; instead of top-heavy offensive teams.
If we weren't adding Vilardi back, then I wouldn't change anything about what we're doing now.
I'm also not a fan of bunching up the most talented players on the same line, especially when they're point producers. Three's a crowd.
Iafallo and Namestnikov have both been tremendous help to their lines, because they're there to offset (or make up) whatever it is that the other two point producers aren't doing. They're the finish that makes it work.
I believe that Perfetti is shifted over to the wing, because it's a hard fit with both he and Ehlers playing on the same side of the rink; too much overlap and a contrast of styles (IMO). It IS working though, but I'm sold that it's because Namestnikov's on that line. He was already working well enough in conjunction with Perfetti, now I think he's working almost as well with Ehlers. To be clear, I'm not making the argument that Namestnikov is the best player on the line, just that he seems to be the right guy for whatever they're trying to get out of playing Ehlers and Perfetti together. He's a less is more kind of a guy, as is Iafallo.
But, Vilardi is coming back, and I would imagine that he'd slide into that 2nd line center role. And he might be great in that role centering Perfetti and Ehlers. I'm skeptical though. Between Vilardi and Namestnikov, Vilardi's going to want his own offense more (numbers). Also, while I understand that Vilardi is a good defensive player, is he as good as Namestnikov, specifically as a defensive center? Do Vilardi and Ehlers' games mesh?
I liked what I saw of Vilardi in the preseason and the first few games this year, in conjunction with Scheifele and KC, but, Iafallo grabbed that spot, and he's been healthy thus far. I'd hate to promote Vilardi to that spot, and then he goes down again; I'm going off of a trend here.
I have no doubt that Perfetti would sustain (even improve upon) his current production, playing with Vilardi, and in
@10Ducky10 scenario, playing with Barron; who I wouldn't be in love with promoting because he hasn't been consistent, but he shows promise. You could also slide Perfetti back to being a center in this scenario; which I like because at the end of the day he's a highly skilled playmaker. Maybe we can also see if Barron can finish with regularity.
I'm not touching the 3rd line (10Ducky10 had it as the 4th but it's still the 3rd). Lowry and Apples are close, I think Niederreiter loves playing with them which is why he wants to re-sign here. Dropping Iafallo from 1st to 3rd, and Apples to the 4th line, is fine on paper, but Iafallo and Niederreiter on the same line is redundant. They're of similar archetypes, though Niederreiter has a wider range of what he brings to the table. I think Iafallo is above-average to good defensively, while I think Niederreiter is good to great defensively (note: I'm throwing around the word "elite" which is reserved for lockdown/ace defenders that are in the running for the Selke).
So, we have the 4th line, with Ehlers, Namestnikov, and Gustafsson. Ehlers gets to play exactly the way he wants, and I think this line should be getting almost the same amount as the 2nd, and 3rd lines; and the 1st line gets their minutes pulled down a bit.
If we didn't have an abundance of two-way players coupled with enough offensive talent, then I would fade letting a 4th line get so much daylight. But if we're serious about making a deep run in the playoffs, and don't want to be predictable, I'm very happy to be rolling out 4 lines that are balanced. It'll be harder for the other team to gameplan for.
