The inability for the organization to produce home grown 4th liners is baffling.
Most teams don't really develop a home grown 4th liner. Players typically start there and move up due to losing other players, or become 3rd liners.
Think about the really good teams we had, our 4th liners were:
Boyle (traded for but developed by us, but eventually moved to another team and actually played on their 3rd line)
Carcillo (UFA)
Dorsett (traded and when he left became more than a 4th liner)
Moore (UFA, was Rangers property, but we got him back at the end of his career, 3rd liner most of the time)
Glass (UFA)
Lindberg (never established himself as a full time NHL)
Nieves (see above)
Pirri (brilliant or awful)
The really good teams have a 4th line that is guys that fit in on a specific team/style OR have the depth where that player would be on a bunch of teams 3rd lines. Hell, even Fast, who everyone says would be a great 4th line player moves around a lot due to him actually being a decent 3rd line player.
What we lack at this time are guys that should be coming through the system that establish themselves on the 4th line and move up as guys move out or they start outproducing players. At this time, our 4th line options are a converted defender, a young center we hope turns into a 3C, a journeyman (McKegg), and a goon. Our AHLers are more of the AAAA player type. Gettinger is probably the only guy who could come up and play 4th line minutes with a future in the organization. It works for this team because the hope is that sooner rather than later our guys will be coming up and then eventually filling in for the losses of a Kreider, Strome, Fast, etc and bumping down some other players.
When we plan on contending, the 4th line will get a boost from UFA or a small trade. Bad/average teams (currently the Rangers) do not have good 4th lines.
