I don't understand why being on the third line is in any way a demotion for Perron. A third line on this team, when healthy, doesn't need to fit into the traditional box people seem to like to keep it in. The "third line is for checkers and an insult for scoring wingers" is a mantra that needs to die on a team with our makeup, or the teams makeup needs to change. Besides, this is only for 5v5 situations, Perron and Hemmer would still get more offense focused shifts on one of the PP units...
Perron and Hemsky are the only wingers on this team with positive GA/TA ratios. In fact, Hemsky has the best GA/TA ratio at 1/2 (better than Gordons too), so I don't understand where your "tons of turn-overs" comment is coming from... Like I said, Hemsky is playing the best 200ft game of his career, has years of experience matching against other teams top lines as does Perron.
Would you rather play Ebs/Hall/Yak against the other teams top lines in 5v5 situations? I'd much rather they be left elsewhere, allowing us to create nightmare matchups for other teams, especially when playing at home.
What is your ideal third-line when (if) the team is healthy?
The problem is, we brought Perron in to be our 2nd line LW - a guy that can produce 20 goals a season. We didn't bring in J. Schultz to do that, we brought him in to play defense.
As for a third line, I agree that a traditional third line doesn't need to be a checking line but on OUR team, where grit and physicality is severely lacking, there's no reason to add another small forward and attempt to roll 3 scoring lines when scoring is not the issue.
As for GA/TA ratio, I don't know a whole lot about the stat or how it's measured. What I
DO know is that Hemsky gives up the puck at the worst possible times. Take a look at the game tonight for instance - gives the puck away inside our zone almost resulting in a goal. Offensive rushes die with him, breakouts are 50/50, and his defensive prowess is not there.
We have 4-5 players exactly like Hemsky but BETTER in our top 6, I'd rather trade him for parts than see his not-quite good offense and terrible defense in play in our bottom 6.
I would rather Hall, Ebs, and Yak learn to play against team's other top lines, yes. I'd MUCH rather see them out there against other skill players than see them out there against a team's shut-down line or goon-squad.
If these are the players that are going to take us into the promised land, they need to learn what they need to do and they need to play against some tough competition.
My ideal bottom 6 at this point would be:
Joensuu - Gordon - Pitlick
Gazdic - Acton(maybe Arco) - Jones
