Lets hope someone emerges as a 2c because so far no one wants the job. All 3 have been very underwhelming
I’ve been pondering it a bit, now that someone with a much higher skill level is also struggling to make it work I wonder about the job itself a little. I’m a Necas guy but he’s clearly not easy to play with. Kuzy is the first guy I’ve seen actually get a little annoyed at Necas for not passing the puck a bit more. They had a moment some time this week where Necas was dancing all over the place through the neutral zone and Kuzy made a nice run through an obvious lane for him but Necas kept it….hesitated at the line then made another move taking the line after Kuzy had charged and it was way offsides due to the hesitation. They looked annoyed at each other. Kuzy was right and he’s the first one of the three choices that had enough clout to look at Necas and say “…..really?”.
Necas does do well straight line players with little creativity in open ice as they go to obvious places and allow him to do all the creating. Drury and Noesen make pretty good linemates for Necas. So you’ve either dropped Necas to the fourth or Kuzy. If we’re rolling four I don’t know that it matters much. Kuzy can make the most of his linemates better than Necas can by a significant margin.
I agree we don’t have a clear second line imo, other than Necas is the next likely guy past the first line you’d expect to create something. This is part of why I think Necas is just done here. We’re going to miss all the good things he brings and we won’t replace them easily but I think he’s as frustrated as everyone is with him. I could see his agent making it hard knowing the team won’t pay and everyone just washes their hands of it and starts over. It feels like Skinner’s last year in a way.
Anyways we seem like a very strong team, and the moves were good but I’m a little torn on our chances. We now have a great first line but first lines can be nullified in the playoffs. The third line doesn’t seem as productive as other years and the grind doesn’t seem quite as strong. All season its seemed like the second and fourth lines are interchangeable. I like the defense. Freddie will have to finally prove himself a playoff goalie or Koochie has to take a big step.
I’d bet there’s a combo of players that would work well with Kuzy, but it’s tough to find when we’re trying to find Necas linemates.