Bryanbryoil
Pray For Ukraine
- Sep 13, 2004
- 86,300
- 35,004
After watching Bouchard last night, unsurprisingly his skillset is much needed on this team. From a team with no true offensive defensemen last season (Nurse has taken great leaps forward this season, but I'm not quite ready to call him a true offensive defenseman because his passing is a bit lacking, but more of a solid two way guy that can score with a good shot) suddenly we have 2 very capable ones in Barrie and Bouch. Clearly we need some players that can PK and break up the cycle too to have a good mix.
Here's what I'd like to see going forward this season:
Nurse-Barrie (this is the pairing that I wanted to see from the start of the season)
Lagesson-Bear (when Ethan is ready to return, he is better defensively than Bouch and Lagesson gives us a cycle breaker to replace Larsson)
Russell-Bouchard (Russell's experience will go a long ways towards helping Bouch break in)
Koekkoek-Jones (Both could challenge Lagesson, Russell and Bouch if they stumble)
IMO the improved breakout, ability to keep the puck in the zone and score from the point by Barrie and Bouch outweigh their defensive shortcomings. Adding both to the lineup will allow the top 2 lines to go even more beast mode with extra touches in the O zone and cleaner breakouts.
IMO we should move Larsson for futures as I really don't see a spot for him going forward.
Here's what I'd like to see going forward this season:
Nurse-Barrie (this is the pairing that I wanted to see from the start of the season)
Lagesson-Bear (when Ethan is ready to return, he is better defensively than Bouch and Lagesson gives us a cycle breaker to replace Larsson)
Russell-Bouchard (Russell's experience will go a long ways towards helping Bouch break in)
Koekkoek-Jones (Both could challenge Lagesson, Russell and Bouch if they stumble)
IMO the improved breakout, ability to keep the puck in the zone and score from the point by Barrie and Bouch outweigh their defensive shortcomings. Adding both to the lineup will allow the top 2 lines to go even more beast mode with extra touches in the O zone and cleaner breakouts.
IMO we should move Larsson for futures as I really don't see a spot for him going forward.