Line Combos: Habs lineup 20-21 season

[Vachon23]

Next game I would do:

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - KK - Toffoli
Byron - Evans - Armia

Chiarot - Weber
Romanov - Petry
Mete - Edmundson

 

[Roadhouse]

Next game I would do:

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - KK - Toffoli
Byron - Evans - Armia

Chiarot - Weber
Romanov - Petry
Mete - Edmundson

That forward group was my starting lineup for this year when the offseason was declared 'over'.

Never knew Romanov would force his way up this quickly... it will be interesting to see if they want Romanov on the 2nd pairing sooner than later.

As for Mete coming in, I think the Julien Way is to give Edmundson the benefit of the doubt for a few games. Don't think we see Mete next game, maybe at the end of next week if Eddy is still struggling.

 

[salbutera]

Next game I would do:

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - KK - Toffoli
Byron - Evans - Armia

Chiarot - Weber
Romanov - Petry
Mete - Edmundson

By game 10 I expect Romanov will be next to Petry, then up w Weber by game 40 as long as the wheels don’t fall off.

Edmundson will solidify the 3rd pairing

 

[Vachon23]

That forward group was my starting lineup for this year when the offseason was declared 'over'.

Never knew Romanov would force his way up this quickly... it will be interesting to see if they want Romanov on the 2nd pairing sooner than later.

As for Mete coming in, I think the Julien Way is to give Edmundson the benefit of the doubt for a few games. Don't think we see Mete next game, maybe at the end of next week if Eddy is still struggling.

It’s Kulak that I scratch for Mete. I think Mete speed and ability to transport the puck could fit well with Eddy. The most important change for me is switch Lehkonen and Armia. Armia clearly dosen’t fit with KK-Toffoli and I think he would bring an other dimension to the 4th line

 

[26Mats]

It’s Kulak that I scratch for Mete. I think Mete speed and ability to transport the puck could fit well with Eddy. The most important change for me is switch Lehkonen and Armia. Armia clearly dosen’t fit with KK-Toffoli and I think he would bring an other dimension to the 4th line

Eddy amd Kulak are both going to have to get it going, because Mete could bring some more dynamism and mobility to the lineup. He's going to be hungry to seize the moment when he gets in.

 

[TannedBum]

Armia clearly dosen’t fit with KK-Toffoli and I think he would bring an other dimension to the 4th line

He clearly does. That line was way more effective than Danault's line. Little more luck and Armia and Toffoli would have been both on scoresheet. Bashing on Armia has become ridiculous. But don't worry, he's gone in few months.

 

[Vachon23]

He clearly does. That line was way more effective than Danault's line. Little more luck and Armia and Toffoli would have been both on scoresheet. Bashing on Armia has become ridiculous. But don't worry, he's gone in few months.

I don’t want him gone, He can be really useful with Byron and Evans on the 4th line and on special teams but he was lost with KK-Toffoli and that line had there best scoring chance when Lehkonen had a shift with them

 

[26Mats]

 

[ItzaGreat]

In the process of adding quality of competition/quality of teammate, but... (Edmundson moved to RD based on Bergevin's comments at today's press conference).

View attachment 381818

Weal and Byron have really good numbers together, and Poehling has much better Corsi than Evans. So, I guess anything can happen with the fourth line. Perry is likely to play all non-back-to-back games I assume though. I have a feeling Poehling could win the Center spot if he's ready because he's now 210- but I left Evans because it's probably his to lose. Byron the best all-around but we don't have cap space for him to play?
That leaves LW open between Lehkonen and Frolik..?

Strictly by the numbers tho, our best fourth line would probably be Byron-Weal-Perry.

Rafael diaz wipes the floor with all of these corsis...


WIPES THE FLOOR!!

 

[tinyzombies]

Rafael diaz wipes the floor with all of these corsis...


WIPES THE FLOOR!!

I'm right so far about Evans. He looked small and ineffective vs Toronto. Weal is just a replacement level player.

 

[SakuKoivu11]

The biggest difference I see so far is our defense.

We now have 5 guys who can play top 4 minutes. Last year we rely too much in Weber Chiarot and Petry. We even had Mete and Kulak play top 4 minutes. Then Oulette and Frolin dropping in.

This year we added Romanov and Edmundson. From what I see Romanov is a future top 3 defenceman if he isn’t already one now. People don’t like Edmundson but this guy eats up tough minutes to allow Weber to be more fresh.

Kulak last year was miscast as a top 4 defenceman. He’s better suited as #6-7. No offence to Mete and Oulette but Mete is a bottom paring at best and Oulette shouldn’t be in the NHL. Cale Fleury needed more time in the AHL if it wasn’t for the lack of depth. Not bashing Fleury but he’s also a bottom paring defenceman.

Right now we have one of the biggest and best defense group in the league.

at forward wow we really needed a power forward like Josh Anderson for last 25 years. Speed power hands. If this guy can stay healthy he is that prototype power forward.

we finally fixed our center position. Took us like 20 years. Suzuki I think is a Patrice Bergeron in the making. Kotkaniemi is still getting there, maybe he’ll turn out to be a Joe Niewendyk lite.
Toffoli is that secondary scoring winger we’ve been looking for. Basically we aren’t a one line team anymore.

if we can pull Dubois trade omg we might go all the way. 6’3” 220lbs center who can play skill physical game. Just think a Josh Anderson type but plays center and wins faceoffs.

Suzuki-Dubois-Danault at center? That’s the spine of the franchise.

 

[ahmedou]

#TheDNALine

 

[crazyd74]

I'm not pleased with the showing of Byron since the beginning of the season. I think Lehkonen and Evans are clearly the driving forces of our 4th line. They are making Byron look good.

At some point Poehling needs to play. We have a 1st round pick not playing any games which is detremental to his development. Sure, he could go down with the Rocket, but their training camp is nearly over and their season opener is within reach.

With the solid contributions by Lehkonen and Evans, I would put Poehling in that mix, him being a big capable body with some speed. Also has the benefit of having two opposite centermen on the same line.

It could also shake up the roster which was quite in a slumber against the Sens.

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Toffoli - Kotkaniemi - Perry
Poehling - Evans - Lehkonen

Eventually, if Poehling is fitting the role, I could see promoting Lehkonen on the third line pushing Perry to the 4th:
Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Kotkaniemi - Toffoli
Poehling - Evans - Perry

It will be hard for Armia to get back in the lineup as Perry is clearly fufilling his role on the roster. His intangibles are also a noteworthy contribution which is not the case for Armia.

 

[1909]

By game 10 I expect Romanov will be next to Petry, then up w Weber by game 40 as long as the wheels don’t fall off.

Edmundson will solidify the 3rd pairing

Edmundson is excellent with Petry. No need to change that. But I would see a Romanov-Weber pairing, but part time. Chiarot can play sometimes with Weber, some other times with Kulak. The actual Weber pairing is not the #1 combo anymore. The top four d-men are playing about the same minutes, and even Romanov has played sometimes as much as them. Same wit the lines. The top-9 are playing about the same amount of minutes and the 4th line is playing also quality minutes.

 

[TannedBum]

It will be hard for Armia to get back in the lineup as Perry is clearly fufilling his role on the roster. His intangibles are also a noteworthy contribution which is not the case for Armia.

That sounds like a sarcastic joke. If Perry’s role is to be a supermassive offensive blackhole, then in that case he is fulfilling his role perfectly. Armia produced more in 11 minutes than Perry in seven games. Get real.

 

[crazyd74]

That sounds like a sarcastic joke. If Perry’s role is to be a supermassive offensive blackhole, then in that case he is fulfilling his role perfectly. Armia produced more in 11 minutes than Perry in seven games. Get real.

You know what to expect from Perry - he will deliver his game and experience constantly. And chip in a few from time to time at this point in his career. Armia can be quite enigmatic and doesn't own a particuliar role on the team. We have plenty of offense coming from all lines. Moving forward - and I greatly appreciated what Armia brought to the table last year - I don't see us retaining Armia with Poehling coming up gradually and a savvy vet in Perry who has the creds of a winner.

I don't know about your "real" but mine seems to have a larger horizon. Armia isn't in no means a bad player - just maybe not a fit with how the roster is blossoming into. I find the same for Byron and Drouin btw.

 

[TannedBum]

You know what to expect from Perry - he will deliver his game and experience constantly. And chip in a few from time to time at this point in his career. Armia can be quite enigmatic and doesn't own a particuliar role on the team. We have plenty of offense coming from all lines. Moving forward - and I greatly appreciated what Armia brought to the table last year - I don't see us retaining Armia with Poehling coming up gradually and a savvy vet in Perry who has the creds of a winner.

I don't know about your "real" but mine seems to have a larger horizon. Armia isn't in no means a bad player - just maybe not a fit with how the roster is blossoming into. I find the same for Byron and Drouin btw.

 

[Canadienna]

I think after tonight a couple lineup changes are warranted. Not as an overreaction, but because it's still fairly early and we haven't done much testing.

I think we'd benefit giving Chiarot and Danault a lesser role, at least as a tryout for some other lines. I have never seen what people see in Kulak.

Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Toffoli - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Tatar - Evans - Armia
Lehkonen - Danault - Byron

Romanov - Weber
Edmundson - Petry
Chiarot - Fleury/Mete

 

[Goldenhands]

What about this:

Toffoli Stall Anderson

Drouin Kk Suzuki

Tatar Danault Gallagher

Lehkonen Glendening Armia

Trade: Evans for Glendening

 

[26Mats]

What about this:

Toffoli Stall Anderson

Drouin Kk Suzuki

Tatar Danault Gallagher

Lehkonen Glendening Armia

Trade: Evans for Glendening

I would do your idea of having Staal in the top 9 (either he or Suzuki play wing).
But, I'd keep Evans as a 4th line winger because of his cost (700k), even if we bring in a veteran 4c. We'll need the 5M spent on Armia and Lehkonen next year to re-sign KK and Danault and Tatar, or their replacements.

I've heard Glendening is great on faceoffs but slow and not good at anything else.

 

[Goldenhands]

I would do your idea of having Staal in the top 9 (either he or Suzuki play wing).
But, I'd keep Evans as a 4th line winger because of his cost (700k), even if we bring in a veteran 4c. We'll need the 5M spent on Armia and Lehkonen next year to re-sign KK and Danault and Tatar, or their replacements.

I've heard Glendening is great on faceoffs but slow and not good at anything else.

TBH, I don't know much about Glendening outside of his faceoffs skills, I was just thinking of getting a Thompson type of center for the fourth line... Evans would still be fine though, but not ideal in that role...

 

[CHfan1]

I would do your idea of having Staal in the top 9 (either he or Suzuki play wing).
But, I'd keep Evans as a 4th line winger because of his cost (700k), even if we bring in a veteran 4c. We'll need the 5M spent on Armia and Lehkonen next year to re-sign KK and Danault and Tatar, or their replacements.

I've heard Glendening is great on faceoffs but slow and not good at anything else.

Jamie McLennan from TSN, after the trade, thought Staal would be a better fit on the wing too.

I like your lines from the trade thread, with a top 9 of:

Staal-Suzuki-Anderson
Drouin-KK-Toffoli
Tatar-Danault-Gallagher

With Staal being on Suzuki’s line they could also swap taking face-offs depending what side of the ice they are on.

 

[Big Empty]

Lines from the bubble
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Drouin - Suzuki - Armia
Domi - Kotka - Byron
Lehkonen - Evans - Weal

Potential lines for playoffs
Drouin - Suzuki - Anderson
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Caufield - Kotka - Toffoli
62/40/41 - Staal - Perry

Domi, Byron, Evans, and Armia, and Weal out

Anderson, Toffoli, Caufield, Staal, and Perry in.

 

[ericd]

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Drouin - Kotkaniemi - Anderson
Perry - Staal - Armia

Chiarot - Weber
Edmundson - Petry
Mete - Romanov

Price - Allen

 

[ahmedou]