I think the issue here is you are talking about talent and I’m talking about non special teams ice time. Which he was not in the top six of. Which you brought up... I’m not arguing that he’s not a first line talent. I don’t care what we call him, but hopefully the kids start getting (and deserving) increased time and responsibility across the board. People get caught up in line numbering. I personally dont give a shit what we call the lines.
In any case, even though Kreider is a beast, he might benefit from more judicious use as he advances into his mid 30’s.
Nah. The conversation began with you saying:
"You realize if he had less even strength ice time than 6-7 forwards then he’s basically a third line player right??
I don't base whether or not he's a top six winger based on even strength ice time which is what you're doing as evidenced above.
He's third on the team, 2nd among wings, in ATOI. He's a first line player. You can't take that away from him because he's relied on to kill penalties and score on the power play which will, naturally, take away from his EV/ATOI.
He's also among, if not our best, 5v5 player. If anything, as much as I like him on the PK, I think his PK minutes should be relegated to a specialist for that role (Vesey, Goodrow, etc...) and get him out there more to improve our 5v5 play.
The only way the kids get more is if Lafreniere makes a go of it at RW. Kakko with Kreider on line 1, Lafreniere with Panarin on line 2. Hopefully the team, and the player, can make that work.
I also hope Laviolette curtails the length of the PP1 shift so that others (Laf/Kakko/Chytil) actually get more than fifteen seconds to do something.
