To me, this game is a make or break one. Not in the sense that the season is on the line, but you're at home facing a division rival you're fighting neck and neck with for a playoff spot. If they come out flat, especially after everything said the last few days, I think we need to see some big changes. I just don't know what those are.
As constructed, this team still lacks center depth. Rask has been up and down, but ultimately hasn't really been capable of driving play or anchoring a line. I'd love to see him on the wing. Aho and Lindholm both have center potential, but it's hard to break up the TSA line since that's pretty much the only thing working right now. I'm interested to see how Lindholm looks with Skinner tonight, who's basically played with Carolina 3rd liners this year, who are probably more like 4th liners on your average team. Trading him would be a mistake and it would remind me too much of giving up on Eric Staal (something I and a lot of other people were comfortable with when it happened), who's been flourishing with Minnesota over the last year and a half. I think, aside from a few other wingers like Teravainen and Williams, many of the rest are the sorts of players they've had through here over the last decade, just with a different number on their backs. They're all the same -- average at a lot of things but not really great at anything. It's easy to defend when everyone you're facing is no different from each other.
Offensively, I might roll something like
Aho // Staal // Teravainen
Skinner // Lindholm // Williams
Rask // Ryan // Stempniak
McGinn // Kruger // Nordstrom
The top six almost looks like a playoff team, but the rest sucks. I think McGinn is what he is and is probably better suited for the 4th line, but then you've got a pretty soft top 9 for only a bit more skill. And putting Rask on the wing is gonna force somebody out of position. Flip as necessary. I don't know -- I just think, ultimately, they should load up and adjust ice-time accordingly.
Defensively, I don't know what happened to Slavin after the first 20 or so games. He was looking great, and he just took a nosedive hard with flashes of brilliance every now and then. He's pretty much tethered to Pesce at this point, who seems to be a bit of a stabilizing presence. Faulk has been shit all season with a rotating cast of partners, though TVR/Hanifin are good enough as a bottom unit. I don't see many options for variety here. McKeown isn't ready, and Fleury hasn't been that good. Honestly, it's almost worth exploring a potential package of Fleury + to see what that would bring in return. You've got 4-5 guys already in the NHL that could be here for several more years, plus McKeown in Charlotte and Jake Bean in the pipeline. Someone is expendable.
In goal, they're married to Darling so he needs to figure things out. Ward has at least played well at times, but he's going to be run into the ground, again, if they keep riding him too hard. I don't think there's anything you can do here.
Honestly, it's almost worth being buyers and sellers at the deadline. Plunge the bottom six of crap and let young, talented wingers from Charlotte get a look, and also get a f***ing center because they have like 1.5 right now.
