Player Discussion: Bryan Little

Status
Not open for further replies.

Asiantuntija

C.Ronaldo > L.Messi
Nov 4, 2016
2,211
376
Sure, have Copp center Laine and Ehlers and call it a "second line".

I suspect if they "dropped" Little between Perreault and Armia, which is what I am hoping for, it would not be the "third" line for long.

I don't care is it 2nd or 3rd line. Anyway Laine & Little should be seperated soon as possible. Let's see what Copp can do with Laine. Something needs to change because 2nd line does absolutely nothing in 5 on 5.
 

ffh

Registered User
Jul 16, 2016
8,362
5,073
little isn't the problem on the 2nd line. its his wingers. laine did nothing with scheifele and wheeler either . the problem is they need a winger that can get in and forecheck and create turnovers and can do some work along the boards and behind the net. ehlers and laine are not capable of this yet. that's why last year perreault little and laine was a good line. ehlers to 1st line and perreault to 2nd with connor to 3rd is an option. but the problem is not little. and playing copp between ehlers and laine is surly not the answer.
 

Peggy

Registered User
Aug 6, 2016
5,274
1,307
little isn't the problem on the 2nd line. its his wingers. laine did nothing with scheifele and wheeler either . the problem is they need a winger that can get in and forecheck and create turnovers and can do some work along the boards and behind the net. ehlers and laine are not capable of this yet. that's why last year perreault little and laine was a good line. ehlers to 1st line and perreault to 2nd with connor to 3rd is an option. but the problem is not little. and playing copp between ehlers and laine is surly not the answer.

no. do not drop connor to the 3rd line. he's effective where he is

laine did "nothing" with scheifele
he got 36 goals as an 18 year old

if you're gonna put anyone on a 3rd line it should be ehlers or mp.
for effectiveness/depth

putting the wrong pieces on the wrong spot isn't gonna finish the puzzle

Winnipeg's 2 best forwards are scheifele and wheeler and they're on the same line

Little/wheeler should be the duo, but it's not

so connor/wheeler is the new duo

don't know why
ESL
Connor little wheeler can't be a line? is our team that bad?
 
Last edited:

Mortimer Snerd

You kids get off my lawn!
Sponsor
Jun 10, 2014
57,187
28,767
I agree. They aren’t complimenting each other right now at all. I think they need to separate those two.

Of course they aren't complimenting each other right now. That's down to the centre in between them. There is zero chemistry between the C and the RW and zero chemistry between the C and the LW. What do you expect?

It isn't about board battles or puck responsibility or buds off ice blah, blah, blah. It isn't about Ehlers and Laine, IMO except in so far as they may be developing bad habits by playing as 3 individuals instead of playing as a unit.

If it is about Little nursing an injury then the injury is serious enough to put him on IR.

I suspect that is part of the problem but that line just doesn't work. I don't expect Wheeler and Scheif to be separated until they cool off or until we start to lose more often. So try swapping Connor and Ehlers. Jeezus, try something!
 

ffh

Registered User
Jul 16, 2016
8,362
5,073
no. do not drop connor to the 3rd line. he's effective where he is

laine did "nothing" with scheifele
he got 36 goals as an 18 year old

if you're gonna put anyone on a 3rd line it should be ehlers or mp.
for effectiveness/depth

putting the wrong pieces on the wrong spot isn't gonna finish the puzzle

Winnipeg's 2 best forwards are scheifele and laine and they're on the same line

Little/wheeler should be the duo, but it's not

so connor/wheeler is the new duo

don't know why
ESL
Connor little wheeler can't be a line? is our team that bad?
at the start of the year laine started with scheifele and wheeler and was horrible. kind of what he is now with little. he played with little a lot last year and perreault and scored quite regularly till the end of year where he hit a wall. so no laine did not get 36 goals playing with scheifele he got quite a few playing with little too. they can play who ever they wish together I am ok with all the line combos just was trying to say little is not the problem but he can play better, and perreaut on 2nd line to replace ehlers would not hurt it since they played well last year together.
 

Peggy

Registered User
Aug 6, 2016
5,274
1,307
at the start of the year laine started with scheifele and wheeler and was horrible. kind of what he is now with little. he played with little a lot last year and perreault and scored quite regularly till the end of year where he hit a wall. so no laine did not get 36 goals playing with scheifele he got quite a few playing with little too. they can play who ever they wish together I am ok with all the line combos just was trying to say little is not the problem but he can play better, and perreaut on 2nd line to replace ehlers would not hurt it since they played well last year together.

I don't think so...
Pretty sure the starting line ups were little and laine on the same line
ehlers scheifele wheeler on the first
 

scelaton

Registered User
Jul 5, 2012
3,603
5,385
I might be the only one on this but I don't think Little is a problem. He'll figure it out as well as anyone can given the way Ehlers just skates around anywhere and everywhere, all the time.
Believe me, you are not the only one. People who have watched this team and NHL hockey know how common cold streaks are. As I posted previously on the Laine thread, our most prolific forward went though 2 long scoring droughts in 3 years. They passed, and so will Little's.

Patrik Laine Part VII: Eliitti! - Mod Warning Post #79

The sad part about this non-problem is how few people seem concerned about Little himself, but instead how his slump affects...you-know-who.
 
  • Like
Reactions: LowLefty

grieves

silent prayer
Apr 27, 2016
3,556
2,672
Believe me, you are not the only one. People who have watched this team and NHL hockey know how common cold streaks are. As I posted previously on the Laine thread, our most prolific forward went though 2 long scoring droughts in 3 years. They passed, and so will Little's.

Patrik Laine Part VII: Eliitti! - Mod Warning Post #79

The sad part about this non-problem is how few people seem concerned about Little himself, but instead how his slump affects...you-know-who.

It is kind of to be expected because Laine is such an incredible goal scorer and that fact is completely wasted currently in 5v5 play. Laine is exceeding his expected goal totals by an incredible margin but how many times has Little been able to set up the arguably most efficient goal scorer in the whole league? Once? Twice?

It's like having a BFG 9000 but loading it up with cat farts.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Psych0dad

scelaton

Registered User
Jul 5, 2012
3,603
5,385
It is kind of to be expected because Laine is such an incredible goal scorer and that fact is completely wasted currently in 5v5 play. Laine is exceeding his expected goal totals by an incredible margin but how many times has Little been able to set up the arguably most efficient goal scorer in the whole league? Once? Twice?

It's like having a BFG 9000 but loading it up with cat farts.

Your honour, I rest my case. :laugh:
 

grieves

silent prayer
Apr 27, 2016
3,556
2,672
Your honour, I rest my case. :laugh:

This is so tiresome...

I'm just saying that if there is any goal scorer on the team who can do what Laine can do, the team should be making sure he is not playing with a center who is not able to produce scoring chances for his line mates. This should not be should a difficult concept but if you need more clarification, just ask.

It's probably just a chemistry issue though. I'm sure Little will pick up his game in the right circumstances.
 

Adam da bomb

Registered User
May 1, 2016
12,611
9,479
Blake has scored in 3/16 games. On pace for his regular 25 again. Laine might've had that by New Years if he was playing with our top C.
And Laine might not have. If Little is hurt they should move him from the 2nd to 4th to let him heal by playing him 5 minutes a game.
 

GaryPoppins

A broken clock is right twice in a day
Sep 10, 2016
2,418
3,135
On the boat that Little has been disappointing this year. I love the Wheeler Scheifele Connor line.... but I don't see why a lineup like this wouldn't be suffice:

Ehlers - Scheifele- Laine
Wheeler- Little- Connor

Worth a try... even if it's short term to get B-Lits going. A tad concerning given he just signed a big contract. Not sure if he's hurt, or what.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ippenator

Adam da bomb

Registered User
May 1, 2016
12,611
9,479
I hate when play hurt when could miss a few games and be much better at this point of the season.
 

LowLefty

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Dec 29, 2016
7,122
12,589
It is kind of to be expected because Laine is such an incredible goal scorer and that fact is completely wasted currently in 5v5 play. Laine is exceeding his expected goal totals by an incredible margin but how many times has Little been able to set up the arguably most efficient goal scorer in the whole league? Once? Twice?

It's like having a BFG 9000 but loading it up with cat farts.

Little spends most of his shifts trying to dig out pucks for his wingers - both of whom are completely useless along the wall, in the corners, behind or in front of the net.
If I had to, I could go with swapping Ehlers and Conner - at least Conner battles to some extent. This leaves Ehlers and Laine on separate lines with 2 line mates that will work the puck at both ends
 

Gil Fisher

Registered User
Mar 18, 2012
7,649
4,945
Winnipeg
Little is definitely the problem. He loses every single board battle which is absolutely unaccetable.

I think this is an anomaly though. Through his career he's been magic at winning board battles. He's just fighting the puck at the moment. This will change....and in a big way.
 

Ippenator

Registered User
Jan 6, 2016
5,667
4,435
Espoo
Little spends most of his shifts trying to dig out pucks for his wingers - both of whom are completely useless along the wall, in the corners, behind or in front of the net.
If I had to, I could go with swapping Ehlers and Conner - at least Conner battles to some extent. This leaves Ehlers and Laine on separate lines with 2 line mates that will work the puck at both ends
This is not true at all. Little is not battling any more or better than his wingers at the moment. Ehlers has at the moment the most of takeaways of those three with 8, and Laine and Little have both 7. They all btw have clearly more of them than Wheeler for example, as he has only 4. But the real battling monster has been this season Scheifele with already 18 takeaways. The second best in the team has been Trouba with 10. Then comes already Ehlers, Laine, Little, Armia and Byfuglien. So ELL has not really been as bad in battles as people seem to think. Even in giveaways Laine (11) has only two more of them than Scheifele (9) and Ehlers (10) one more than Scheifele. Btw, Wheeler has 14 giveaways, so clearly more than Laine or Ehlers. In giveaways Little has been after all surprisingly good with only 1 registered giveaway. I checked all these numbers from NHL.com, so I think they should be pretty valid.

But honestly this might even be part of the problem. As mostly really well playmaking players very rarely have that small amounts of giveaways, as you need to be able to even take enough of relatively well controlled risks with your passes to be able to create good offence. At least too unrisky and conservative play can easily lead into complete offensive stagnation. Could it just be that each player of ELL is just put even too much to focus in to playing defensive hockey? And it has then killed their offence completely. Certainly they lack chemistry together, but is it really after all because of Maurice’s handbrake tactics that ELL is completely lost with their offence?

I have to still point out that I have been watching quite many Jets games even before this season and last season, and have seen Little years ago at his best, and I have to still say that he is definitely not the same player as he used to be. Maybe playing even too much of defence because of Maurice, but even despite that he has clearly lost a step or even two from his prime time. He just can’t do much of anything with the puck because of it. He is defensively responsible, but he can’t also create much of anything offensively, because he can’t beat anyone with his skating at the moment. Hopefully it is about somekind of injury that could be still fixed, and not about him just declining with age. But right now I definitely don’t see him as a number 2. center for a good NHL team. He could be still useful as a 3rd or 4th line center, because he does play defensively responsibly. But with his offence at the moment he just simply should not be playing in the second scoring line.

I’m pretty sure that if Maurice would have the courage to call Roslovic up and put him to the second line instead of Little, it would already make that line much, much better offensively. But Maurice is this very stubborn, rigid and conservative coach, so I guess nothing like this will happen without a bad losing streak or some key injuries. :(
 
Last edited:

Psych0dad

Registered User
Sep 27, 2017
3,347
2,912
Saint John, N.B
Of course they aren't complimenting each other right now. That's down to the centre in between them. There is zero chemistry between the C and the RW and zero chemistry between the C and the LW. What do you expect?

It isn't about board battles or puck responsibility or buds off ice blah, blah, blah. It isn't about Ehlers and Laine, IMO except in so far as they may be developing bad habits by playing as 3 individuals instead of playing as a unit.

If it is about Little nursing an injury then the injury is serious enough to put him on IR.

I suspect that is part of the problem but that line just doesn't work. I don't expect Wheeler and Scheif to be separated until they cool off or until we start to lose more often. So try swapping Connor and Ehlers. Jeezus, try something!

This is the truth.

I think this is an anomaly though. Through his career he's been magic at winning board battles. He's just fighting the puck at the moment. This will change....and in a big way.

Until it does, he should not be centering (anchoring) two top talents. They are performing at 30% of their ability right now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • Like
Reactions: Asiantuntija

10Ducky10

HFBoards Sponsor
Sponsor
Jul 5, 2015
13,778
11,422
I'm pretty sure that if Maurice would have the courage to call Roslovic up and put him to the second line instead of Little, it would already make that line much, much better offensively. But Maurice is this very stubborn, rigid and conservative coach, so I guess nothing like this will happen without a bad losing streak or some key injuries. :(
Do you really think Chevy doesn't have a say in who goes up or down and it is up to Maurice?...this isn't Maurice's decision and anyway, Roslo is playing RW for the Moose not center.
 

Psych0dad

Registered User
Sep 27, 2017
3,347
2,912
Saint John, N.B
This is so tiresome...

I'm just saying that if there is any goal scorer on the team who can do what Laine can do, the team should be making sure he is not playing with a center who is not able to produce scoring chances for his line mates. This should not be should a difficult concept but if you need more clarification, just ask.

It's probably just a chemistry issue though. I'm sure Little will pick up his game in the right circumstances.

This should be obvious to all, I don't understand how there is so much opposition to such a simple concept.

If you're going to try and get the best performance out of your Ferrari, you probably take it to a racetrack where it can be useful. Instead of using it to plow fields.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->