TheOtherOne
Registered User
- Jan 2, 2010
- 8,276
- 5,273
I know this question is kind of dumb, but I've been mulling it over and I think it's interesting to think about.
Exactly what impact would Lidstrom have on the current team with no other changes?
It's easy to say he would win us a Cup instantly because he has hockey god status, but realistically, he did miss Cups in the past with better teams. And he's only one person. And there are a lot more complaints about our team than the defense, although the defense is easily the most important problem right now.
Does it make us a Cup contender? A mediocre playoff team? A bubble playoff team?
The biggest impact is he gives all our other defenders easier assignments, of course. He plays 30 minutes against Crosby and suddenly maybe lesser guys look better as they're no longer in over their heads.
Lidstrom - Green
Dekeyser - Daley
Kronwall - Ericsson
or
Lidstrom - Ericsson
Green - Dekeyser
Kronwall - Daley
or what?
If our top unit can go toe to toe against anyone in the league, does Green score even more points against easier opponents? Do both our goalies suddenly look 10x better? Or are they still a weak link?
How would it affect our forwards? Would net-front guys like Abby suddenly be scoring goals regularly? Would our possession game suddenly be tops in the league? Would Larkin Mantha AA benefit more from elite passing? Would we have 2 defensemen on a powerplay unit?
The point of this thread isn't really to answer specific questions, I'm just posing them as starting points. Just discuss whatever comes to mind. I just think it's interesting to explore exactly how much impact 1 single player can have, when he is one of the greatest of all time.
Exactly what impact would Lidstrom have on the current team with no other changes?
It's easy to say he would win us a Cup instantly because he has hockey god status, but realistically, he did miss Cups in the past with better teams. And he's only one person. And there are a lot more complaints about our team than the defense, although the defense is easily the most important problem right now.
Does it make us a Cup contender? A mediocre playoff team? A bubble playoff team?
The biggest impact is he gives all our other defenders easier assignments, of course. He plays 30 minutes against Crosby and suddenly maybe lesser guys look better as they're no longer in over their heads.
Lidstrom - Green
Dekeyser - Daley
Kronwall - Ericsson
or
Lidstrom - Ericsson
Green - Dekeyser
Kronwall - Daley
or what?
If our top unit can go toe to toe against anyone in the league, does Green score even more points against easier opponents? Do both our goalies suddenly look 10x better? Or are they still a weak link?
How would it affect our forwards? Would net-front guys like Abby suddenly be scoring goals regularly? Would our possession game suddenly be tops in the league? Would Larkin Mantha AA benefit more from elite passing? Would we have 2 defensemen on a powerplay unit?
The point of this thread isn't really to answer specific questions, I'm just posing them as starting points. Just discuss whatever comes to mind. I just think it's interesting to explore exactly how much impact 1 single player can have, when he is one of the greatest of all time.