JoeThorntonsRooster
Don’t say eye test when you mean points
Yeah which is why I said we cant/should not/would not sign him. So does Duchene put us over the top really? I am pretty leery about saying yes to that, and so to me trading for him would wind up with nothing but fewer assets to show for it.
If you think he can be someone who pushes the needle to true contender then I could see trading for him, but we would just disagree which is fine.
If we are being fair to Duchene, lets be fair to Thornton. He and Pavs are not actually bad together, they are bad with Sorenson. Thornton/Pavs without Sorenson are like 60+ in possession metrics and 75% GF. The sample size is not huge because Sorenson has been stapled to Thornton's hip, but I do not think it is misleading either, accept that the GF% would probably come down some over a larger sample. In the little bit of time Thornton/Pavs/Meier have played together they were killing it too. Thornton is still one of our best possession forwards, which is crazy at his age and circumstances, but I think its clear he can no longer carry a line, he needs his wingers to share the burden.
So although I agree, and would prefer Thornton and Pavs to be separated, I think its more important to get Sorenson off their line IF they do stay together, because that line is not doing swell. I still want Labanc back on the third line, and he actually did fine with Thornton/Sorenson, so maybe give that another shot, because Labanc is not suited for a fourth line. If he is not traded that is.
It’s an interesting point that you make about the Joes without Sorensen but I don’t think we can trust an ~85 minute sample size that built itself over the course of 40 games. Things tend to get wonky in those samples and it doesn’t always mean they’re repeatable over 10+ games where guys actually play on a line together.
About 70 of those minutes are with Kane or Meier and 68.75% of them come with offensive zone faceoffs. A lot of those minutes come late in games where the Sharks are behind and PDB throws the lines in a blender, or at the end of an offensive zone shift where the Sharks are pressuring and the lines change. That’s very favorable deployment in wonky situations over a small sample size.
In my opinion, the Joes do not have the speed to play our system together. Our system is heavily reliant on back checking forwards covering for pinching defensemen and the Joes don’t have the speed to consistently be relied upon to do that. It isn’t so much an issue with just one of them, because they have 2 other linemates that can cover for the punches. With both of the Joes out, only one linemate can cover for those pinches. And this issue becomes exacerbated by the fact that the one linemate who can cover is the LW, and the one doing the pinches is generally the RD. The result is a forward line that can be pretty easily exposed by a fast team with the right coaching system.
I agree that we should have LaBanc on the 3rd line. (I think we did, last game?) I think he and Thorensen have looked pretty good together. Given our personnel, I don’t mind the lines as they are currently structured. I think Meier-Couture-Pavelski should be given a try but I’m skeptical of how they will do.
Long term, I don’t see a much better way to structure our lines. (Assuming Meier-Couture-Pavelski isn’t a total bust) The one thing I would probably want to do is swap Meier with Kane and shift a large portion of the defensive burden to Meier/Hertl and off of Couture, who is really struggling with the tougher competition. But the more I look at how to structure our forward lines, the more it becomes clear to me that we need to add at least one more playmaking forward.
The more I think about it I can see a deal for panarin involving Donskoi going the other way. Not saying Donskoi is anywhere close to panarin but he can be a playmaker on a second line.
To SJ
panarin
To CBJ
Donskoi
Leblanc
One of the sharks better prospects
2nd 2019
Funny enough, this is almost exactly what one CBJ fan proposed when I asked them on their board.
Understand that at this point we have no need for defensive prospects, with neither great offensive of defensive potential. So Merkley would mean nothing to us.
For Panarin?
Labanc, Donskoi, 3rd, conditional 1st if he re-signs.
Maybe add a Milano or somebody (essentially a throw in "prospect") to Panarin
However, I’m not sure if their actual GM would like that. Seems slanted in their favor.
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