NHL Line Structure (Bottom 6 Grinders vs Bottom 6 skill players)

[AvStock]

I’ll try and articulate this as best as possible. I am confused at the structure of lines that all NHL teams use. Top 6 is generally reserved for high skill players. Bottom 6 is generally more of a grinder role.

Why has no one rolled out 4 lines of pure skill?

My best example would be after a traditional top 6 of skill guys, a bottom 6 consisting of guys like Sonny Milano, Galchenyuk, etc.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I would say most teams are running 3 skill lines at this point, and 4th lines are nowhere near as grindy as they used to be. It’s not pure skill, but we’re approaching that in recent years.

 

[Akrapovince]

Money and cap.

If you feel like spreading your cap all throughout the four lines, given very rare circumstances your top six is going to get caved in by teams employing multiple 8m+ plus players in their top six and the difference of your bottom six over other teams for 10 minutes a game doesn’t swing the tide.

If you want to put pure rookies on their entry level contracts out there in the bottom six, they most likely will get caved.

Motte/Formenton - Pinto - Joseph is a line that’s pretty skilled I would say, but if they were relied on heavily for minutes and to produce they’d be a 15m third line and we couldn’t afford that.

 

[Wiggleboom]

2 main reasons IMO:

1. Teams need at least 3 pairs of good forward PKers and usually grinder types tend to be better at that skill than skill guys so the 4th line is a good place for those types of players.

2. There aren't enough good enough (better overall than grinder types with less skill) skill players in any organization to run 4 lines of them.

 

[Super Hans]

inb4 "there's too many teams and talent is too diluted to run 4 skill lines"

 

[HockeyVirus]

Dubas literally tried this his first 2 years and it failed horribly. He then started acquiring gritier and more responsible defensively players and the Leafs have improved each season.

Answer is that it takes all kinds to win.

 

[Martin Skoula]

If bottom-6 skill is cheap and a team that takes advantage of that market inefficiency wins, everyone starts copying them and pushes the price of that bottom-6 skill up to the point that it's no longer an advantage. Then someone else is going to take advantage of the now underpaid high end grinders and the pendulum swings back again.

Some years it's the Goodrows getting overpaid while Milano and co make a hair over league minimum, some years it's the opposite.

 

[AvroArrow]

Need guys to defend, play physical, PK, skill guys usually can't do that

 

[SniperHF]

I think when you really drill down on how coaches uses players, how often lines are jumbled, matchups, and how many young players and injuries cause things to rotate around; trying to pigeon hole your 2nd 3rd and 4th lines as an archetype is actually rather pointless.

Unless you're a one of the top 2-3 forward groups in the league the difference between your 2nd and 3rd lines probably isn't as significant as you think it is. Or if you're a crappier team, the difference between any of those 3 lines.

 

[banks]

2 main reasons IMO:

1. Teams need at least 3 pairs of good forward PKers and usually grinder types tend to be better at that skill than skill guys so the 4th line is a good place for those types of players.

2. There aren't enough good enough (better overall than grinder types with less skill) skill players in any organization to run 4 lines of them.

I agree with this.

I'd add a third point: Ice time. The 4th line usually gets like 8 minutes a game, and those players wont be seeing the power play. With such small ice time, how often will someone like Milano make a difference? Especially when the opposition will be trying to match their best against him whenever they can. Where as a defensive and physical grinder can sway a game with some big hits or aggression in those 8 minutes. They still find ways to make an impact.

 

[DJJones]

What skill players are you going to get for a million bucks willing to play 8 minutes a game?

 

[WolfgangPuck]

I think that if your team is leading then coach has option of matching a good defensive grinding checking line against their top forwards late in the game.