Line Combos: Post-preseason lines, who makes the cut?

[InsideLaine]

As soon as Laine gets back.. will be interesting to see if and when he is tested on the 1st line instead of Slaf. He prefers LW for sure but has played RW a lot (previous coaches have defaulted to that actually, mostly to minimize bleeding to own end).

Just a matter of time now. Caufield-Suzuki-Laine sounds like GOALS. Someone will say "yea, in their own end", but idk, I think this could be solid defensively too. And before someone says "who will fight for the puck in the corners, who is the work horse on that line?".. Well, do all top lines still need that one guy to do it nowadays? Times change. They just need to find a way to make it work, and they will imo.

Thoughts? If there is a newer Line combos thread then we can continue there instead.

So yea, give Slaf some time. But give him also less responsibility, easier matchups etc. 2nd line with Dach and Newhook? I would say yes. Evans to 1st line until Laine is ready to jump in. Laine stays in 2nd line until he is ready for 1st line duty. Slaf plays on 3rd/4th line until that. That way we bump up the trade value of Jakey and give Laine some time to get his body and legs going, while allowing Slaf to find some of his game in lower lines.

And IF you dont wanna break up the Evans line and/or you worry about who takes his place at center, well throw Anderson on 1st line until Laine is ready. Im sure he can replace Slaf for a few games with no real negative effect in any case.

So for the next 5 games or so:

Caufield - Suzuki - Anderson
Laine - Dach - Newhook
Slaf - Dvorak - Gallagher
Heineman - Evans - Armia

After Laine is physically ready:

Caufield - Suzuki - Laine
Slaf - Dach - Newhook
Anderson - Dvorak - Gallagher
Heineman - Evans - Armia

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Slaf played LW before? He might thrive there, its time to test him, no real risk to it.

 

[Essenege]

The less talked about story of this year….. the Anderson-Dvorak-Gallagher line. When they put them together we all thought it would be a disaster….well actually they’re dominating possession / scoring chances game in, game out, to the point of being one of the top xG% in the league.

Possession wise they’ve actually been better then the Evan’s line, but with less shooting luck/confidence.

It’s to a point where if they keep this up I’d be inclined to sign Dvorak on a cheaper deal / less term if he takes it. First healthy season in a while and he’s been much better. You can always move him or Evans if they are on OK deals when Beck/Hage are ready.