Line Combos: Bottom 6 Holes To Fill

[PuckMagi]

yep... the last two spots (and 13th forward) can be filled by Colborne, Ashton and D'Amigo. So there's no problem there.

 

[jmart21]

Colborne has done all he can do in the AHL... it's time to put him in the lineup full time. And just put D'amigo or Ashton or whoever plays best in preseason as the 4th line winger

I think Colborne will be here on opening night; RC trusted him enough to play him in the playoffs. To me, this means he likes him.


Kulie-Bolland-McClement -----> Makings of one of the best shutdown lines in the league
(MacLaren/D'amigo)-Colborne-Orr

 

[Community]

I think Colborne will be here on opening night; RC trusted him enough to play him in the playoffs. To me, this means he likes him.


Kulie-Bolland-McClement -----> Makings of one of the best shutdown lines in the league
(MacLaren/D'amigo)-Colborne-Orr

I feel like McClement excels more when he gets 4th line C ice-time + #1 PK time + time at the end of the game if we are trying to hold a lead... but i'd be open to seeing how he does as a 3rd line winger for the first week or two.

 

[The_Chosen_One]

I feel like McClement excels more when he gets 4th line C ice-time + #1 PK time + time at the end of the game if we are trying to hold a lead... but i'd be open to seeing how he does as a 3rd line winger for the first week or two.

McClement was used more like a forth liner in the playoffs. He even had a lower ES TOI than Joe Colborne! 13:28 vs 11:22. It was quite evidence that he is more effective in #4C and Randy thought the same which explains the ES TOI usage. As we went further into the playoffs, we started seeing JVR replacing McClement in the shut down role.

The numbers make it clear. Roughly 40% of Grabovski's TOI had JVR as a linemate. In contrast, McClement was his linemate around 15% of the time, and that's even less than MacArthur. In fact, JVR made the line more effective. We acquired Bolland, because we'll be seeing a similar arrangement ( with JVR acting as Hossa) but at a much lower cap.

Seeing that Grabs and Kulemin were eating ~50% of Krecji ice time, while JVR/ Lupul were around 33% and McClement at 28% suggests changing composition of our shut down line. We'll likely be shuffling guys around to try and neutralize top lines. I can see Colborne playing a role especially as we maintain possession in the offensive zone considering #32 was utilized in that manner during the playoffs.

PS: Ashton ( never mind Biggs, Leivo) have no place in the NHL next season. Allowing them to develop in the AHL is the most sensible strategy.

 

[Rielly4]

Im pretty confident Mcclement will play 3rd line wing... He seems to be most effective on the wing, hes good on the forecheck and great at making plays on the wall... Probably one of his greatest assets is his play on the wall, on the PK when he was being super aggressive he made great plays on the wall to get the puck out all year long.

 

[Renegade]

IMO, McClement is solid on the wing:

McClement - Bolland - Clarkson
D'Amigo/Ashton - Colborne - Orr

 

[Sypher04]

Colborne isn't ready for NHL time and we don't have a spot that makes sense to give to him. I'd expect him back with the Marlies in fairly short order.

McClement should play center, not wing.

 

[gabeliscious]

I feel like McClement excels more when he gets 4th line C ice-time + #1 PK time + time at the end of the game if we are trying to hold a lead... but i'd be open to seeing how he does as a 3rd line winger for the first week or two.

Colborne isn't ready for NHL time and we don't have a spot that makes sense to give to him. I'd expect him back with the Marlies in fairly short order.

McClement should play center, not wing.

if colborne is back on the marlies and and mclemment is back as 4th line center then we need a 3rd and a 4th line winger.

imo it is a waste when mclemment plays with orr AND mclemment. they are basically plugs and there should never be occasion to play both at one time. if we had a better winger options for the 3rd line then i could see the argument but if it is basically mclemment or damigo/ashton/colborne then i think i would rather take my chances with mclemment on the 3rd and run 2 rookies and orr on the 4th. considering how little ice time that 4th line actually got i think they would be able to stay out of trouble.

 

[Machinae]

Colborne - Bolland - Kulemin
Ashton/D'Amigo - McClement - Orr
MacLaren

What I would like to see, assuming Ashton or D'Amigo impress enough to make it. I have no doubt in my mind Colborne can play in a defensive role and he is 100 percent on this team in some capacity. Also keep in mind that Ashton has been called up to the NHL before and most likely has an inside track.

My dream world will leave the Marlies in shambles though.

 

[Yosho]

Jerry D is a perfect third line guy.

 

[LeafOfBread]

SC contenders have done what exactly?

For bottom 6ers or I'll say even bottom 4 forwards sometimes contenders have guys coming in on entry level deals but just as often they have veterans on cheap deals like Eaves, Miller, Tootoo in Detroit. Chicago has Handzus/Mayers. Pens have Adams/Vitale/Glass. Boston with Paille/Campbell.

Younger doesn't always necessarily mean cheaper or better. Ashton/D'Amigo aren't even top AHLers let alone counting on them to break camp with the big club and stick. Injuries call up is all I'd count on them for this season.

But Colborne has definitely done as much developing as he's going to do in the AHL and should get his chance this year.

Handzus was Chicago's 2nd line C FYI. They had young guys like Shaw in their bottom six.

 

[Sypher04]

if colborne is back on the marlies and and mclemment is back as 4th line center then we need a 3rd and a 4th line winger.

imo it is a waste when mclemment plays with orr AND mclemment. they are basically plugs and there should never be occasion to play both at one time. if we had a better winger options for the 3rd line then i could see the argument but if it is basically mclemment or damigo/ashton/colborne then i think i would rather take my chances with mclemment on the 3rd and run 2 rookies and orr on the 4th. considering how little ice time that 4th line actually got i think they would be able to stay out of trouble.

I'm in no hurry whatsoever to put our prospects onto the 4th line. Not ones like Ashton, D'Amigo and Colborne anyway. Unfortunately, the fact we re-signed both McLaren and Orr tells me they'll both be regulars, I still see McClement getting 5 on 5 with them and being heavily relied on for PK duty as how he'll be used.

 

[Erndog]

I agree there are some holes in the bottom six, but having said that, they can likely be filled by cheap youth.

Like most have said, D'Amigo makes a heck of a lot of sense. Colborne as the 4th line C probably makes some sense too.

We need to save/use whatever cap dollars we have on upgrading our D!

 

[Sypher04]

I agree there are some holes in the bottom six, but having said that, they can likely be filled by cheap youth.

Like most have said, D'Amigo makes a heck of a lot of sense. Colborne as the 4th line C probably makes some sense too.

We need to save/use whatever cap dollars we have on upgrading our D!

We can save cap space dollars and also not waste young players like Colborne on the 4th line. If Colborne is put on the 4th line for the Leafs instead of playing 20 minutes a night on the Marlies, as probably their go-to guy, heads should roll. 4th line isn't even close to the role Colborne should be groomed for.

Aside from a couple of months almost 2 years ago Colborne hasn't come to close to proving he's too good for more development in the minors to be valuable.

D'Amigo on the other hand isn't likely to be any more than a good third liner at the NHL level. If he ends up back in the AHL, he can still get better as well, but I see the argument to bring him up being stronger. At least in his case we have a suitable opening in our lineup.

 

[Ricky Bobby]

Handzus was Chicago's 2nd line C FYI. They had young guys like Shaw in their bottom six.

Yes, he elevated his game in the playoffs to become their 2nd line center but the difference in TOI between their 2nd line and 3rd line was very minimal compared to say a

Handzus playing in the 2nd line spot actually just further proves that adding a vet on a cheap deal can be a better option than promoting a youngster with limited upside who can't even score over half a point in the AHL like D'Amigo/Ashton.

People can say D'Amigo/Ashton won't be counted on to score points but we need offensive forward depth so they might need to when injuries occur and is playing them 10 minutes a night best for their development?

If we have the capspace I'd like to see a vet that can play center or wing added like Antropov, Mueller, Gomez or depending on his health exams Malhotra. Not having an extra player who could play 15 or so quality minutes a night at center to fill Bozaks spot when he got injured killed us in the playoffs. D'Amigo/Ashton aren't centers!

 

[Transplanted Caper]

If we're going to bring up a kid to play on the 4th line, make it someone who projects to be a bottom 6 forward. No sense bringing up Colborne if it's to play with Orr and Maclaren.

 

[JCF]

My predictions, based off Carlyle (or Nonis?) saying he wanted to give Bolland a more prominent defensive role.

Lupul - Kadri - Kessel

JVR - Bolland - Clarkson

Kulemin - Bozak - McClement

Ashton/D'Amigo - Colborne - Orr

 

[James Reimer]

Colbourne, D'Amigo or Biggs would slot in nicely on the 4th line

 

[pooleboy]

imo our bottom 6 will look like:
D'amigo/biggs/colborne/mcclement-bolland-kulemin
mclaren-mcclement/colborne/d'amigo-orr

 

[Stephen]

Bring up D'Amigo and Colborne and have them learn a little from our veterans.

 

[The_Chosen_One]

I'm in no hurry whatsoever to put our prospects onto the 4th line. Not ones like Ashton, D'Amigo and Colborne anyway. Unfortunately, the fact we re-signed both McLaren and Orr tells me they'll both be regulars, I still see McClement getting 5 on 5 with them and being heavily relied on for PK duty as how he'll be used.

I can't see McClement being utilized different from the playoffs either. He was usually not on the shut down line and was expected to be a PK specialist. He's likely going to be in the fourth line like in most of the season and during the playoffs.

Nearly half of his ice time with Komarov/ Orr, while with Grabovski for a quarter of the time. Interestingly, when Colborne was called up, roughly 85% of Lupul's TOI had him as a linemate. We're likely going to be seeing much that worked in the playoffs.

 

[Mystifo]

We don't have the money but I would of loved to add Morrow.

 

[mikebel111*]

We can save cap space dollars and also not waste young players like Colborne on the 4th line. If Colborne is put on the 4th line for the Leafs instead of playing 20 minutes a night on the Marlies, as probably their go-to guy, heads should roll. 4th line isn't even close to the role Colborne should be groomed for.

Aside from a couple of months almost 2 years ago Colborne hasn't come to close to proving he's too good for more development in the minors to be valuable.

D'Amigo on the other hand isn't likely to be any more than a good third liner at the NHL level. If he ends up back in the AHL, he can still get better as well, but I see the argument to bring him up being stronger. At least in his case we have a suitable opening in our lineup.

that was because colborne was playing injured. when he is healthy, he is really good.

 

[Warden of the North]

We don't have the money but I would of loved to add Morrow.

Old and slow. Do not want

 

[Porn*]

bottom 6:

bolland - colborne - kulemin
mclaren - mcclement - orr

as much as i'd prefer mcclement on the 3rd, it just doesn't make sense to give a young kid like colborne a black hole of a line to play on.