Kodiak
Registered User
I certainly understand that thinking, but the more I think about it, the more I think Panarin-Chytil-Kravtsov could work.
Chytil has greatly improved in his own end this year. He still makes some mistakes, as any 23 year old will, but there have been more than a few games where I came away impressed with his work in the defensive zone. You would need to make it clear to him that he is always the low forward in the defensive zone and he should never be covering the point. He sometimes tends to rotate away from center in the defensive zone and let a winger cover for him.
For Panarin and Kravtsov, the biggest point you would need to impress upon them is that they both need to backcheck hard. When the puck transitions from offense to defense, Chytil is likely to be caught on the wall as he is doing the most digging for pucks. Panarin and Kravtsov need to neutralize the opposing rush until defensive structure can be established. Panarin is actually a very good backchecker because he is so smart at reading the play and knowing how to use his stick.
I know this is not Gallant’s MO, but you would also want to control the matchups more. Ideally, you would see Trocheck against a top line, Zibanejad against a second line, and Chytil against a third line.
