Speculation: Line Combinations

[Sens of Anarchy]

The forwards are fine, on defence we have a 1, a 4, a 4/5, a 5, three 6s, and an unknown.

You are being very kind with the 4 and a 4/5 and a 5

 

[Clayonator]

You are being very kind with the 4 and a 4/5 and a 5

I like how I’m fully confident that you knew exactly who I was talking about.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

I like how I’m fully confident that you knew exactly who I was talking about.

no idea who you were talking about. I don't have to know. There is no way we have a 4 and a 4/5 by NHL standards
but if we have a 4/5 ok maybe we do lets say we do the rest are all 6 and below to me

 

[Clayonator]

no idea who you were talking about. I don't have to know. There is no way we have a 4 and a 4/5 by NHL standards
but if we have a 4/5 ok maybe we do lets say we do the rest are all 6 and below to me

Okay, Zaitsev to me this season has been a 4, Wolanin imo at this point is a 4/5, and Gudbranson is a 5.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Okay, Zaitsev to me this season has been a 4, Wolanin imo at this point is a 4/5, and Gudbranson is a 5.

I'd give Zaitsev the 4/5.. and everyone else is a 6 or below ..
Now Wolanin just coming back after not very much hockey for 2 years can likely improve on that but where he is now is about a 6
Godbranson is just too slow .. he's a 6
Reilly is like a 7
Brown is a 6/7

 

[Wallet Inspector]

Echoing the "call up Brannstrom and L. Brown" sentiment

Stutzle-White-Batherson
Tkachuk-Norris-Dadonov
Paul-L.Brown-C.Brown
Tierney-Stepan-Watson

Chabot-Zaitsev
Brannstrom-Zub
Wolanin-Gudbranson

 

[topshelf15]

I wouldnt mind Formenton being up...His speed and physical forecheck ,could help

 

[Fandlauer]

Can't disagree with this

 

[topshelf15]

Can't disagree with this

The forwards actually look decent,just dont look down past the Chabot pairing

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

The forwards actually look decent,just dont look down past the Chabot pairing

Meh it can't be any worse than what we're currently icing.

 

[topshelf15]

Meh it can't be any worse than what we're currently icing.

Gaining another defender in the next draft,is what needs to happen....Hopefully it can be a RHD

 

[Joeyjoejoe]

Gaining another defender in the next draft,is what needs to happen....Hopefully it can be a RHD

Oh for sure, the problem is that Dman is probably at least 2-3 years away from being a contributing top 4 NHL dman.

 

[topshelf15]

Oh for sure, the problem is that Dman is probably at least 2-3 years away from being a contributing top 4 NHL dman.

Yeah dont remind me...If we dont get something decent there to at least give Chabot some support soon...We are going to look at the draft board for awhile yet

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Can't disagree with this

Be worth a try

 

[Xspyrit]

Believe me, I want to be wrong.

The question is how many vets do you need to create that "culture"? .... The point is about the OVERKILL which is what some people have yet to understand.
...
Let's see how much this "culture" thing pays off this year. Personally, I think it will fail miserably. Our bright spots will come from the youth (Tkachuk, Chabot, Stutzle, Batherson, Paul) and some veterans like Dadonov, Murray, Connor Brown. Hopefully a few more young guys get some reps at some point and bring more hope than the Paquettes and Anisimovs.

I wonder how many teams have prospects like Logan Brown and Erik Brannstrom watching these rental veterans make the same mistakes every game?

...
Like I have said multiple times, I have NOTHING against any of the new vets but the problem is with B. Knowing that there's a limited number of spots. Why SPEND to get more assets that will eventually block other assets you already have and make them expendable? It looks like a miscalculation but in reality it's that some of these assets who have been marginalized here (Balcers, Chlapik, Jaros, White, Wolanin? Brown? Brannstrom? more?) just don't fit what Dorion/DJ are trying to build. So we need to be PROVEN that they know what they are doing. Game 2 looked EXACTLY what I expect the season to look like. Survival is quite boring and unefficient, with some flashes from our young stars like Batherson and Tkachuk in game 1

I'm not saying "stock endlessly" in draft picks and young players but rather than throw them away for marginal reasons or diminish their value, use them to maximize your assets (like trading up at the draft, package up to get a roster upgrade, etc). I mean, Nick Paul was waived on Feb 3, 2019, LUCKILY nobody took him. Look at him play today. There is NOTHING to gain by marginalizing your assets just to be able to play veteran leftovers from other teams... particularly in a rebuild

You still haven't answered if you think that this team is better with Stepan/Paquette/Coburn over Brown/Balcers/Brannstrom? These prospects are ready or at least very close. I could see many teams trying to incorporate them on their roster to try and have them gain value and/or help the team. What is there to lose for a rebuilding team? And please don't tell me it's because we need vets, there's already plenty of that in the lineup

If you're scared that our young players (that basically all play on the same line) "get caved in every single game" because we would play a few more young players instead of marginal vets, let me tell you that if Game 2 was any indication of what is going to happen this season, it's pretty much going to happen this way anyway, despite the boatload of cultural vets they brought in. Dorion still hasn't proven he is able to build a NHL hockey team. Let's see if that cultural thing is magically going to help the kids, if at all. Keep in mind, I WANT TO BE WRONG.


Anyway, everything I have been saying will become clear as the season progresses, and well, I haven't been the only one saying it. We are already saw what has been happening with Wolanin, Balcers, Chlapik, Jaros and White. Logan Brown and Erik Brannstrom could be next (they got one step closer to that status).

You will say "dime a dozen", OK MAYBE, but when Mike Reilly, Braydon Coburn, Artem Anisimov and Cedric Paquette play over these guys, it just doesn't make any sense in a rebuild. They are veterans on expiring contracts with absolutely no future in Ottawa.

More consistent like in the turnovers and stupid penalties Stepan and Paquette took in the first two games?

It seems you really want to bury your head in the sand on this. Explain how the lineup is not almost entirely made of veterans? There's only 3 prospects out of 23 roster spots. The only other unproven players are 25-27 y/o but have played in the pros for a long time. They just took a very long time to get there I guess (Josh Brown for example)

You also said YOURSELF that Norris will get sent down in the near future, so we'll be down to 2 prospects out of 23 spots? lol... and on top of that, guys like White and Wolanin not playing.

And how come it's irrelevant if Coburn, Stepan or Paquette are not there next year? Are we going all in this year? Do you really think we have a chance, to even make the playoffs?

And what happens next year when the young guys who will be replacing them (lol if) have basically NO experience? We will be at the same point as of now. Looks like we'll continue PATCHING the holes with veterans that other teams find EXPENDABLE

If there is a time where it shouldn't matter if we lose but the focus should 100% be on young guys getting as much as experience as possible, it is NOW. But no, that's not the goal. And that is after 10 months of no Sens NA pro hockey.



Do you need 16/20 players to bring that veteran leadership, veteran consistency? Particularly when most of these vets are NOTHING TO WRITE HOME ABOUT to begin with?

If you think it's really all about Balcers/Jaros/Chlapik, I suggest you re-read everything, because you still don't get it. If we were at the beginning of a rebuild, then everything that is happening now would make perfect sense. But after 3 bottom-2 finishes in a row, a MASSIVE firesale returning a lot of valuable assets (plus, Dorion already had Chabot, White, Paul, Wolanin,, Chlapik, Hogberg, Daccord, etc in the bank), the team shouldn't look like this at this point in time.

If you want to see how a rebuild should look like, take a look at the Rangers. They have Buchnevich, Lemieux, Kakko, Lafreniere, Chytil, Gauthier, Howden, DeAngelo, Miller, Fox, Lindgren and two young goalies in their lineup. They are going to be so much better than us and so much faster. Well, they already are by quite a fair margin.

It will be surprising since we have such a genius GM like Pierre Dorion.

Young players NEED to play, they need to make mistakes, they need to learn AT THE NHL LEVEL. Overcooking in the AHL doesn't accomplish anything at some point. Yes there is a need to surround them by worthy veterans but you can't seem to grasp what OVERKILL means. Our young guys are learning NOTHING from the AHL or the press box. Do you understand that? A rebuild is not just about making sure we develop 3-4 guys correctly and then patch the rest with leftover veterans

When you want to be wrong, but you end up even more "right" than you thought... depressing.

Some made it sound like I didn't know what I was talking about...

That was after the 2 games vs the Leafs, which was by far our best hockey this year lol

I could still end up being wrong! And they turn things around in a major way but with DJ Dorion? No, I think it's as likely as me winning the lotery tonight.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

When you want to be wrong, but you end up even more "right" than you thought... depressing.

Some made it sound like I didn't know what I was talking about...

That was after the 2 games vs the Leafs, which was by far our best hockey this year lol

I could still end up being wrong! And they turn things around in a major way but with DJ Dorion? No, I think it's as likely as me winning the lotery tonight.

are there 2 of you?

 

[Xspyrit]

Can't disagree with this

The 1st line wouldn't work, no playmaker. 2nd line is basically 3 playmakers. It's not too logical to pair your 3 playmakers together and your 3 goalscorers together. I mean, they can all make plays, but it's not using them the best way for their strenghts.

Tkachuk-Brown-Dadonov
Stutzle-Norris-Batherson
Paul-White-Brown
Formenton-Tierney-Watson
Chlapik/Stepan

Chabot-Zaitsev
Brannstrom-Zub
Wolanin-Gudbranson
Coburn

Murray/Hogberg

Tkachuk is the guy that could help Brown the most. Dadonov is skilled enough to finish/make plays

Batherson is the primary playmaker, Stutzle does both and Norris gets ready for one-timers. Lot of skill there

White if he continues to play like he has so far, has to be groomed as the 3rd line center. This line could be better than the one with Tierney instead. White is the one signed long-term to a bigger AAV, you eventually trade Tierney anyway. White plays with more applomb and has a bit more skill. Still progressing, could end up better on the 2 sides of the puck

That 4th line is to spend all shifts in the offensive zone, speed, hard work, smarts, toughness, a bit of everything.

Gudbranson can't be 1st line RD, that puts him in a bad situation to perform. Have him mentor a guy like Wolanin on the 3rd pair situation, much better role for him. Zaitsev is the only guythat can do it without looking out of place.

Wolanin needs to be on the 3rd pair for now until he gets back to 100%. He hasn't played a lot of pro hockey the last 2 years

Brannstrom-Zub is risky but I think it could work. I'm thinking mobility and hockey IQ first when making line up decisions. It's not like there's many other choices anyway

 

[Xspyrit]

are there 2 of you?

You mean by quoting my self? lol it's not important

It's more the fact that the things we were babbling about (I know you were also doing that) before the season have been materializing. Which is depressing because if we were wrong, it means the team would be doing a lot better...

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Thank you Pierre Dorion

 

[Micklebot]

So this might be a pretty reasonable explanation for Zub not being in the initial lineup, if he was having communication issues due to a language barrier, i can see taking some extra time to familiarize himself with his partner and the system before getting into game action

 

[branch]

Thank you Pierre Dorion

We were ready to compete

 

[thesensguy]

D ranking in terms of WAR/expected WAR so far this season, think it aligns mostly with the eye test thus far:

Nikita Zaitsev: 0.6/0.2
Thomas Chabot: 0.3/0.3
Artem Zub (2GP): 0.1/0
Christian Wolanin: 0/0
Coburn: -0.2/-0.2
J Brown: -0.3/-0.2
Reilly: -0.4/-0.3
Gudbranson: -0.4/-0.4

When healthy our top 4 should be Chabot, Wolanin, Zaitsev and Zub. Chabot is obviously our best defenceman, had a bad few games that have affected his analytics. Wolanin is the only other guy who has played at a top 4 Level in the NHL in the last 3 years (2018-2019), when he showed tremendous promise and was looking like a likely top 4 PMD until injuries set him back significantly last year. The other 4 Dmen we have seen have all played terrible, sub-replacement level, and could be fired into the sun for all I care. We need to call up Brannstrom, then waive either Reilly or Gudbranson. Play a bottom pairing of Brannstrom-Brown or Branstrom-Coburn.

 

[JimmySpaetzle]

Thank heavens

 

[Burrowsaurus]

We could build a good second PP unit. White stutzle dadonov galchenyuk brannstrom.


I would replace dadonov in the first PP1 he’s not clicking with the kids

 

[Sweatred]

Can't disagree with this

Looks good to me