Top 9 should be Hall Hischier Bratt Palmieri Johansson Zajac Zacha Henrique Stafford. Need Boyle on 4th line along with Wood.In today's NHL every legit contender has 3 good scoring lines or have very good d cores to compensate. Since our d core is no where near that level, we need to run 3 good lines to achieve consistent success.
The whole fast, attacking, and supportive style is good and seems to work. The problem is when 2/3 centers in the top 9 don't have the speed to play that style it really prevents the team from achieving that fast, attacking identity. Zajac is going nowhere, he's fantastic defensively and still good offensively. Boyle is by no means a bad player but he's a 4C. He doesn't have the speed or offensive ability to hang with the top 9 on an offensive minded team.
These are the best 1st and 4th lines we've iced since the cup run, just need to figure out who slots in where in the middle 6 aside from Bratt and then stick with that lineup. I know we've dealt with injuries but the constant shifting in the middle 6 seems to have created a lack of chemistry between the players.