The issue I see here is neither of Domi or Jarnkrok have really drove a line. Who do you acquire that makes that 3rd line usable?
Replace forwards going out next year? In this trade your losing Jarnkrok and replacing him with Tanev, and losing Robertson who's not even with the big club right now. This trade doesn't affect us replacing our forwards next year at all.
Bertuzzi and Nylander look good with JT. Good advanced stats at least but Tavares needs to get back to his career average shooting pct for them to be really effective. Domi has one good fit and thats between Jarn and Robertson. Again, better advanced stats than evidenced scoring but they play at a pace together that works and generates shots. McMann actually generates a positive Corsi % with Kampf which is a huge accomplishment because Kampf doesn't shoot.
There isn't anyone available before the deadline that will help to drive our third line. However, I will settle for a center that can break even in their minutes.
I look at the top 3 lines as is and they all make sense. McMann-Tavares-Jarnkrok is a good stylistic fit for Tavares and they can realistically win 3rd line minutes. I can see an argument for bumping McMann out of the top 9 and moving Domi around but there aren’t many combinations with Domi at LW that make sense and is prefer they focus their assets on the blue line.
Less offense? Neither player has ever had more then 39 points in a season so the offense is a wash between the 2. While Tanev brings more intangibles to the team, especially come playoff time.
How does a second line that is getting destroyed at evens make sense? To excarbate matters further the third line (McMann-JT-Jarnkrok) isn't working nearly as well as the line that was broken up to make it (Bertuzzi-JT-Nylander) despite playing easier minutes.
Those three aren't the ones we would blow the cupboard for. We need cheap contracts for us to navigate next season and I don't think those are game breakers IMO. I believe Larsson is definitely a want but that is still a very steep price with barely anything remaining.
9-1 records. Let’s stick with the lines for a bit.
I prefer a process over results approach, especially when the results aren't being driven by the line in question.
All of the underlying metrics show that they have been caved in during their minutes, despite favorable zone starts, and are being floated by puck luck. I'm not sure which part of this you don't understand. The line is playing like shit, but Bertuzzi and Nylander are benefiting from unsustainable shooting percentages which is artificially inflating their raw goal totals.
That said, unless and until the results change for the worse, I'm not sure it makes sense to alter the process. I will be more interested to see how the team, and in particular that line, plays in the two Florida games rather than the Boston games.
Experimenting with this look against potential playoff opponents is a perfectly defensible strategy. What I don't like is keeping the lines intact just because the team is winning. That is bad process IMO.
I think they will get home ice whether they keep that line together or not simply because Boston is falling so hard. But I have also been saying for months that Domi can't be the third line centre, and any line that has both Domi and Bertuzzi on it is going to be a problem defensively no matter who the third guy is on the line. I still think Treliving will acquire another centre at or before the deadline, but in the meantime I'm sure Keefe will keep that line together so long as the team is winning.
