Speculation: Playoff Lineup

[TheDoldrums]

Rielly-Schenn:
39 CF% | 37.5 GF% | 40 xGF%
Just not the kind of numbers you want to see from your #1 offensive defenseman. I don't believe they're a good fit together at all, and just look like an attempt to recreate Rielly-Lyubushkin from last year which was another weak pairing

They don't really know what to do with Rielly. Brodie is his best partner but they evidently really want a McCabe-Brodie shutdown pair for the Tampa top line.

 

[notbias]

Hate the lines. We just gave away our biggest advantage which is depth.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Rielly-Schenn:
39 CF% | 37.5 GF% | 40 xGF%
Just not the kind of numbers you want to see from your #1 offensive defenseman. I don't believe they're a good fit together at all, and just look like an attempt to recreate Rielly-Lyubushkin from last year which was another weak pairing

Except now that’s our 2nd pairing.

McCabe-Brodie is the better one. Huge upgrade from last year.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

They don't really know what to do with Rielly. Brodie is his best partner but they evidently really want a McCabe-Brodie shutdown pair for the Tampa top line.

I'd look to play Rielly with Liljegren, at least in game 1+2 where you can control the matchups. I think you can still get decent value from Rielly if you shelter him and task him with creating as much offense as possible, and to do that you need to give him a partner who can move the puck and make plays as well. Putting Schenn out there when you need to create chances and score goals would just fly in the face of that, as he can't do more than make the simple play. A pairing with Rielly on it is never going to give you anything defensively, they may as well just accept that and lean into his strengths.

 

[peconcan]

Can’t see it happening in game 1 but I wouldn’t mind seeing Knies ROR Marner to shutdown the Kucherov line. We also need to lay the body on Kucherov as much as possible because he’s an idiot and will take stupid penalties since he doesn’t like being hit.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Except now that’s our 2nd pairing.

McCabe-Brodie is the better one. Huge upgrade from last year.

Muzzin and Brodie were already great last year. I hope McCabe can step in, but he's also never played a playoff game and may not be as good. I'm not super worried about the defense because it still looks better than Tampa's, but they need to set Rielly up for success and Schenn just isn't the answer

 

[TheDoldrums]

Can’t see it happening in game 1 but I wouldn’t mind seeing Knies ROR Marner to shutdown the Kucherov line. We also need to lay the body on Kucherov as much as possible because he’s an idiot and will take stupid penalties since he doesn’t like being hit.

I'd have Knies in my lineup but no way I'm putting him on a shutdown line to matchup against their top guys. I'd put him with Tavares/Nylander and shelter them.

 

[notDatsyuk]

R

Would make second line better but not sure the 3rd would be the defensively responsible line we need.

Is the second line with JT "defensively responsible" any more than the third would be with him?

 

[TML Dynasty]

R

Is the second line with JT "defensively responsible" any more than the third would be with him?

I guess the idea is the second line is offensive while bottom 6 being more defensively responsible than offensive.

 

[Zybalto]

On the season:

Bunting/Matthews/Marner:
xGF%: 58.97
GF%: 62.51

Tavares/O'Reilly/Nylander:
xGF%: 62.09
GF%: 62.08

Kerfoot/Acciari/Jarnkrok With less than 10 minutes together with 0% zone starts, gonna have to wait and see with this line. If they are struggling offensively, can see Knies jumping in here.

AR/Kampf/Lafferty: (Have to keep in mind this line is buried in Dzone draws)
xGF%: 44.58
GF%: 56.46

 

[LeafSteel]

So, Keefe decides that playing a 3rd line that hasn't even played together is the best way to use our depth to our advantage?

This is my issue with Keefe. We can roll 2 main lines centered by Matthews and then Tavares that can score goals, and a 3rd line centered by O'Reilly who can make Tampa's top lines lives absolutely miserable but, well, you know....... Kerfoot needs to be somewhere useful, right?

Home ice and last change isn't going to make a damns-worth of difference if Keefe isn't going to use it to his advantage.

The hope is he makes changes, and the lineup can change dramatically from game to game, but I have no confidence in Keefe's decisions, nor his ability to adapt and make changes. His track record for it stinks.

I worry about him being out-coached (again X3) more than I worry about any of our players, including Holl.

 

[WTFMAN99]

On the season:

Bunting/Matthews/Marner:
xGF%: 58.97
GF%: 62.51

Tavares/O'Reilly/Nylander:
xGF%: 62.09
GF%: 62.08

Kerfoot/Acciari/Jarnkrok With less than 10 minutes together with 0% zone starts, gonna have to wait and see with this line. If they are struggling offensively, can see Knies jumping in here.

AR/Kampf/Lafferty: (Have to keep in mind this line is buried in Dzone draws)
xGF%: 44.58
GF%: 56.46

It's not bad.

 

[notdoneyet]

Terrible we need three lines for offense to win the cup

 

[Notsince67]

I think they likely sit game one but potentially see ice time mid series if the coaches feel the lineup needs a shakeup or if one of the depth guys looks outright awful

Wouldn't be surprised to see knies in on 1 of the 1st 2 games. He hasn't played a home game yet

 

[The Masters]

KEefe's early comments re: Tavares playing on wing and how he liked it made me believe ROR was always going to be 2nd line centre in playoffs. our top 6 just needs to produce, plain and simple while having solid goaltending. dont see how we lose this series like thast but wel see

 

[ponder]

What I'd like to see:

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
JT - ROR - Willie
Knies - Kampf - Jarnkrok
Kerfoot - Acciari - Lafferty

McCabe - Brodie
Rielly - Lily
Gio - Schenn

Sammy
Woll

With ZAR and Simmer extra forwards, Holl and Gus extra dmen, Murray extra goalie.

With that being said, that's the lineup I want, not the one I expect Keefe to roll out. Some key difference from what I expect from Keefe:

- Keefe will never bench Holl, so we'll see Lily benched instead, despite Lily being (IMO) a much better player, and the best fit with Rielly. Maybe he benches Schenn, keeps Lily, but he probably like Schenn's physicality for the playoffs. I agree with that part, just not with Holl over Lily, which is what we're likely to see

- I'm not even convinced Keefe will go with Woll as the backup over Murray, if/when Murray gets healthy. Woll has been so much better, but Keefe has a lot of loyalty to vets

- He'll probably go with ZAR over Knies. This one I'm more on the fence about, I do kinda like the idea of Knies bringing more size, offensive skill and puck possession game to our bottom 6, but could go either way. Knies does have exceptionally little pro experience, just 3 games, could be asking too much from him to step right into the playoffs. Would be totally fine with Kerf at 3LW, ZAR at 4LW, Knies 13th forward

 

[ponder]

Another interesting option I haven't seen anyone discuss:

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Jarnkrok - ROR - Willie
JT - Kampf - Lafferty
Kefoot - Acciari - ZAR

Keep JT on the wing, but have him drive offence on the 3rd line. I do think he's better on the wing, his speed is too much of an issue defensively at centre, at even strength, but this would be a way to get 3 dangerous offensive lines.

 

[TIGERCOOL]

c'mon keefe

Bunting/Matthews/Marner
Jarnkrok/Tavares/Nylander
Knies/ROR/Acciari
ZAR/Kerfoot/Kampf/Lafferty

McCabe/Brodie
Rielly/Schenn
Gio/Lilly

every line in our top 9 has a killer pairing. how does tampa match up against that? Enough playing it safe.

Holl and Kerfoot should start on the bench imo.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

All that experimenting only to go with new lines in the playoffs? How does that make any sense.

Hopefully it pays off, but if not then adios Mr Keefe.

 

[Bloomberg]

That third line doesn't look good.

I'd have:
Bunting - Matthews - Acciari
Knies - Tavares - Marner
Jarnkrok - ORielly - Nylander
ZAK - Kampf - Lafferty

Should've traded Kerfoot for a LW upgrade like Kostin

 

[Buds17]

Another interesting option I haven't seen anyone discuss:

Bunting - Matthews - Marner
Jarnkrok - ROR - Willie
JT - Kampf - Lafferty
Kefoot - Acciari - ZAR

Keep JT on the wing, but have him drive offence on the 3rd line. I do think he's better on the wing, his speed is too much of an issue defensively at centre, at even strength, but this would be a way to get 3 dangerous offensive lines.

Although Kampf and Lafferty have surprised me in a good way at times on offence, I think the contributions of Tavares would be too diminished if he's utilized in this manner.

 

[SHANNYPLAN]

Hate the lines. We just gave away our biggest advantage which is depth.

We still have depth. We also have two dominant lines, one of which should at least break even against the Kucherov line, allowing the other to dominate whatever Cooper throws at them.

The Acciari and Kampf lines can hang in there with anyone if theres a mismatch and should skate circles around Maroon and Perry.

 

[Buds17]

I actually don't mind the forward lines (personnel) utilized in practice. That top six cast is definitely of quality and has to be able to provide its share of the goods. No doubt that we'll need the third line/bottom six to step up and pitch in from time to time as well. The D pairings are the greater cause for concern, IMO (the Rielly-Schenn pairing in particular).

 

[SoftDumpNtheCorner88]

c'mon keefe

Bunting/Matthews/Marner
Jarnkrok/Tavares/Nylander
Knies/ROR/Acciari
ZAR/Kerfoot/Kampf/Lafferty

McCabe/Brodie
Rielly/Schenn
Gio/Lilly

every line in our top 9 has a killer pairing. how does tampa match up against that? Enough playing it safe.

Holl and Kerfoot should start on the bench imo.

I think this will be used in the away games, to spread the talent and make it hard for Cooper to match up against. I think Keefe is more confident in stacking he Top 6, and using the bottom 6 to shut down while at home.

At least that seemed to be the trend after the TDL and while ROR was healthy.

 

[TML Dynasty]

Knies Matthews Marner
Tavares OReilly Nylander

2 absolutely killer top lines. Any stress about Knies’ defensive worries are offset by two defensive studs.

Bunting Acciari. Jankrok
Kerfoot Kampf. ZAR/Laff

2 defensively responsible lines that should still chip in offence. Bunting gets a super short leash based on the way the refs deal with him. We can’t risk it. If needs be he sits, Kerf moves up and ZAR or Laff plays on 4th.