Line Combos: Halfway Through the 8 Game Pre-Season, Who Are the Depth Players With the Strongest Cases to Make the Team?

[ehhteen]

Watching the games right now, I know a lot of people want Ekholm to mentor Broberg on a pair. I might get flagged on this one, but since Ekholm has experience on the right side at times, maybe he can mentor Nurse on the top pair too?

At the very least, we need someone to just stay at home on a pairing with Nurse.

I’d basically have the pairs as:

Nurse - Ekholm
Kulak - Bouchard
Gleason - Ceci

(Yes I really like the way Gleason has played in preseason in comparison to Broberg/Desharnais)

 

[OfCorsiDid]

Watching the games right now, I know a lot of people want Ekholm to mentor Broberg on a pair. I might get flagged on this one, but since Ekholm has experience on the right side at times, maybe he can mentor Nurse on the top pair too?

At the very least, we need someone to just stay at home on a pairing with Nurse.

I’d basically have the pairs as:

Nurse - Ekholm
Kulak - Bouchard
Gleason - Ceci

(Yes I really like the way Gleason has played in preseason in comparison to Broberg/Desharnais)

I think it was @CycloneSweep who brought this up and he's absolutely correct. Broberg is not ready for top 4 minutes and you don't want to diminish Ekholm's ice time.

For me, it's not worth re-inventing the wheel.

Nurse-Ceci (for the time being, potential TDL pickup to push down Ceci)
Ekholm - Bouchard (I mean they were tremendous together)
Kulak - Gleason/Broberg (I can't stand watching Vinny's inability to play hockey)

With the outcome after TDL being:

Nurse-Pesce (no I don't know, don't ask for trade suggestions, I just think he'd be a good fit)
Ekholm-Bouchard
Kulak-Ceci

 

[CycloneSweep]

Watching the games right now, I know a lot of people want Ekholm to mentor Broberg on a pair. I might get flagged on this one, but since Ekholm has experience on the right side at times, maybe he can mentor Nurse on the top pair too?

At the very least, we need someone to just stay at home on a pairing with Nurse.

I’d basically have the pairs as:

Nurse - Ekholm
Kulak - Bouchard
Gleason - Ceci

(Yes I really like the way Gleason has played in preseason in comparison to Broberg/Desharnais)

I think it was @CycloneSweep who brought this up and he's absolutely correct. Broberg is not ready for top 4 minutes and you don't want to diminish Ekholm's ice time.

For me, it's not worth re-inventing the wheel.

Nurse-Ceci (for the time being, potential TDL pickup to push down Ceci)
Ekholm - Bouchard (I mean they were tremendous together)
Kulak - Gleason/Broberg (I can't stand watching Vinny's inability to play hockey)

With the outcome after TDL being:

Nurse-Pesce (no I don't know, don't ask for trade suggestions, I just think he'd be a good fit)
Ekholm-Bouchard
Kulak-Ceci

People keep talking about playing Ekholm on his off side but his game heavily suffers from doing so.
We went out to get Ekholm because we didn’t have a solid option on the second pair. Doing this just “potentially” gives us a good pair and 2 really good third pairs. You need defensive depth not just one good pair. The best thing we can do for Nurse is to get Ekholm big minutes so Nurse can take more off.

I agree with the second post, keep Nurse and Ceci together for now and hopefully Ceci can bounce back. I think throwing Broberg up there will just hurt the team and Broberg. We are trying to win a cup, the NHL isn’t a development league. Cant throw guys up when they aren’t ready.

 

[Mr Positive]

I think it was @CycloneSweep who brought this up and he's absolutely correct. Broberg is not ready for top 4 minutes and you don't want to diminish Ekholm's ice time.

For me, it's not worth re-inventing the wheel.

Nurse-Ceci (for the time being, potential TDL pickup to push down Ceci)
Ekholm - Bouchard (I mean they were tremendous together)
Kulak - Gleason/Broberg (I can't stand watching Vinny's inability to play hockey)

With the outcome after TDL being:

Nurse-Pesce (no I don't know, don't ask for trade suggestions, I just think he'd be a good fit)
Ekholm-Bouchard
Kulak-Ceci

what about Nick Jensen from Washington? 3 years at 4 million. Just turned 33. Led the Caps in ice time. Are the caps going anywhere but down? I don't know a ton about him but the locals seem to think he's a good Dman.

Or go nuts and go after Carlson, after missing out on the one with a K. He's at 8 mill x 3, although I doubt the Caps trade him.

Or yeah, I was talking about Connor Murphy last season, which would be good to try

 

[OfCorsiDid]

what about Nick Jensen from Washington? 3 years at 4 million. Just turned 33. Led the Caps in ice time. Are the caps going anywhere but down? I don't know a ton about him but the locals seem to think he's a good Dman.

Or go nuts and go after Carlson, after missing out on the one with a K. He's at 8 mill x 3, although I doubt the Caps trade him.

Or yeah, I was talking about Connor Murphy last season, which would be good to try

Sure, sounds good to me

 

[McDNicks17]

Lavoie made his bed when he signed his contract.

The difference between Lavoie and a 775k contract is an extra $75k after the deadline.

That isn't going to decide a roster spot.

 

[FlameChampion]

The difference between Lavoie and a 775k contract is an extra $75k after the deadline.

That isn't going to decide a roster spot.

Pretty much. They can’t run 22 man roster regardless.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

The difference between Lavoie and a 775k contract is an extra $75k after the deadline.

That isn't going to decide a roster spot.

Oh I thought it was more for some reason.

 

[gordonhught]

Just from the way the line ups have been deployed and the way the media talks, feels like the roster has pretty much been set before a game was played.

I am guessing the lineup will be:

Kane - McDavid - Brown
RNH - Draisaitl - Hyman
Holloway - McLeod - Foegele
Janmark - Sutter - Ryan

Nurse - Bouchard
Ekholm - Broberg
Kulak - Ceci
VD

Skinner
Campbell

I haven’t personally seen much from Sutter but I think the team just wants a veteran 4C. I don’t think the team loves having young players out there. Holloway and Broberg are already pushing it.

Lavoie, Erne, Pederson etc would really have to go on a ride to change the above imo.

So Sutter is gone. How do you adjust the roster?

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Not surprising they cut Sutter loose, he was never a strong skater, after two years out he was never going to have the skating needed.

Out of everyone who’s left, I think Lavoie is gonna start the year as the 12th skater and Ryan assuming 4C duties for now likely with 97/29/93 cycling through for 4th line spot duty from time to time. Would be nice if they can get Erne signed and signed and in the system as a call up option if they decide to waive Lavoie later on.

 

[Behind Enemy Lines]

Disappointed but pragmatic that Sutter didn't make it back from his catastrophic health issue. He was exactly what this team to anchor this team's end of roster with veteran pose and composure. I wonder if Lavoie is traded for an end of roster centre option to stabilize 4C.

I think some folks have been dreaming in techno colour thinking Broberg was going to skip a step onboarding as an everyday player moving into a second pair role on a mature cup window organization team. They need Broberg to stabilize his own zone defending and give them right sized reliable third pairing minutes against right-sized level of opposition. He showed great instinct in Vancouver jumping into a two on one chance on Lavoie's beauty goal. It's a glimpse of some risk taking and offensive instincts that are there but the kid knows entry level everyday work on this team is about earning coach's trust to defend.

Forget the dream of Ekholm Broberg second pairing imo. This will be Kulak and Broberg (and Desharnais) to work on being a stable third pair that saw off opposition support level players while feeding into the team's goals and huge priority to cut goals against and suppression need to be a true Cup contender. That's a-ok really it is.

 

[FlameChampion]

So Sutter is gone. How do you adjust the roster?

Well guess its Pederson or Lavoie/Erne. They might claim a C on waivers too.

 

[alphahelix]

Malone has shown well and if youre just looking for a 4 minute a night shutdown center you could do worse.

 

[Frank the Tank]

Jansen Harkins is being floated as a potential waiver claim by Lowetide to fill the 4C role.

 

[alphahelix]

Jansen Harkins is being floated as a potential waiver claim by Lowetide to fill the 4C role.

I like Harkins. I dont hate Toninato either, tho hes more of a grinder. Harkins looks like he has a higher ceiling that he hasnt been able to hit.

 

[Frank the Tank]

I like Harkins. I dont hate Toninato either, tho hes more of a grinder. Harkins looks like he has a higher ceiling that he hasnt been able to hit.

If the Oilers did place a waiver claim for Harkins, the Penguins had a higher priority.

 

[EXTRAS]

Any chance malone makes it as even a 13th forward?

 

[CycloneSweep]

Any chance malone makes it as even a 13th forward?

I’d say 0 chance. Oilers can’t afford 13 forwards. We will most likely go into the season with 12-7.
Malone could be a call up MAYBE but probably not.

 

[guymez]

Campbell looking really good. Good chance he is making the team.

Seriously though he had a really solid game against Seattle. He looks much calmer and seems to be tracking the puck really well. Good to see.

Aside from that XB looked good as well. Really nice pass by Broberg on XB's 2nd goal.
I was really hoping that Lavoie would force the team to keep him up but he needs to show more. Holloway looks really dynamic,

 

[guymez]

Kudos to the Seattle PbP man. Much better than Jack Michaels.

 

[mkatcherin00]

Gleason has been getting better and better

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

Not surprising they cut Sutter loose, he was never a strong skater, after two years out he was never going to have the skating needed.

Out of everyone who’s left, I think Lavoie is gonna start the year as the 12th skater and Ryan assuming 4C duties for now likely with 97/29/93 cycling through for 4th line spot duty from time to time. Would be nice if they can get Erne signed and signed and in the system as a call up option if they decide to waive Lavoie later on.

I'd prefer to keep Lavoie too. Young/higher upside than the other options, plus has size and right handed shot. It's not like anyone is blowing it away in camp besides Holloway so might as well give the last slot to the guy with more tools.

 

[YakDavid]

Thinking contracts will also play into it. At the moment I’d think it’s Lavoie and Gleason making the final two spots.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Gleason has been getting better and better

Gleason has looked decent, but I do think he stands out due to how poor the other blueliners are at making skilled plays with the puck on their stick. Lowkey, this is one spot where they miss Barrie and Keith.

I mean, Nurse is great at skating the puck up the ice, but he's not someone that's comfortable walking the line and attempting to break a defender's ankles. Even Barrie and Keith were fairly meh at this, as they didn't really attack defences due to declining skating. Tthough they did early in their careers, and at least had an eye on how to. Bouchard has decent hands, but doesn't have the skating/agility to do something like this from Sekera.


Broberg is likely the next best (Bourgault's 2nd last night is a good example), but even he is super raw. Perhaps he gains a more decisiveness as he ages, but right now the big issue with him still is the second guessing/lack of committement on what he decides to do***.

***Turning this into a Broberg point: This is my big critque with him. When he actually commits to a play, he can actually make things look easy, but often he seems scared to make the wrong choice and tries to cover everything.

Annoyingly though I don't think you're going to see an improvement on this until he gets a string of games in with a solid partner who can control the play themselves. This is why I thing you need to staple him to Ekholm or Nurse for 10 to 15 games. Put him with someone where he's the secondary piece and is able to take a step back and learn to read situations vs. going through a baptism by fire.

 

[JordanGalhanth]

Kudos to the Seattle PbP man. Much better than Jack Michaels.

John Forslund. Used to call games for the Carolina Hurricanes for over 20 years, even dating back to when they were in Hartford. He's also done national PbP for NBC and now TNT.