Marleau at 3C really isn't that bad with the right linemates. Tierney at 3C on the other hand is a black hole defensively. That line has been proven to lose every matchup regardless of wingers.
He was pretty good as 3C and playing him there was the proper counter to Pittsburgh's depth.
Since he started his career Tierney has the second worst team-relative possession numbers of anyone who's played at least 200 minutes for the Sharks in that time. The worst is Scott Hannan.
In fairness, he's played with some bad linemates over the years and is obviously young so I'm not writing him off as a NHL player by any means. But there's zero reason to play him anywhere above the 4th line unless and until he's killing it in 4th line minutes.
He's blocking a door. Has to be against OSHA.
That "locker" is on wheels too. That's a safety hazard waiting to happen. What if he has to steady himself against the locker as he's getting his gear off and then it rolls and he falls and breaks his neck?
Oh god, Labanc = next havlat confirmed.
It's okay, he's got that made in america guarantee.
Since he started his career Tierney has the second worst team-relative possession numbers of anyone who's played at least 200 minutes for the Sharks in that time. The worst is Scott Hannan.
In fairness, he's played with some bad linemates over the years and is obviously young so I'm not writing him off as a NHL player by any means. But there's zero reason to play him anywhere above the 4th line unless and until he's killing it in 4th line minutes.
It's okay, he's got that made in america guarantee.
Also, we've talked a great deal about our "ridiculous" depth - but I have to feel that this point that it is largely illusory. Marleau is a year older and his declining 5v5 numbers make his 3rd line assignment fitting. Boedker can replace Hertl with the Joe's should Hertl go down again. But we are not playing a 3rd line mismatch on point with the Penguin's HBK. Even with Timo coming in, we are a world-class goal scorer(ie: Kessel) behind that level of depth. We have a glut of quantity, but quality is still an issue. If we wanted a HBK tier third, we would need to do something like:
Meier - Jumbo - Pavs
Boedker - Couture - Donskoi
Marleau - Hertl - (Kessel 2.0)
Karlsson - Tierney - Ward
Wingels, Nieto and likely even Goodrow should be a scratch if we find ourselves in a SCF against Pittsburgh again. Wingels doesn't have the speed. Nieto doesn't have the offense. Goodrow doesn't have the experience.
We still need to add up front.
Yeah...in some ways, the Sharks finally got there in terms of depth, but no longer have the top-end talent.