Line Combos: 11/7 vs 4D

[Squirrel in the Hole]

One of the more interesting aspects of this year's Cup final has been Cooper's use of 11 forwards and 7 defencemen, vs Quennville's focus on playing essentially 4 defencemen and relegating the third pairing to almost no ice time. In my opinion, no matter how good Keith, Seabrook, Oduya and Hjarmarsson are, they will begin to wear down and this could be Chicago's downfall in the series, but I digress.

I've been thinking about the 11/7 in regards to the Wings. Tampa runs three lines and a base of Morrow and Boyle on the fourth, then rotates in a third that double-shifts. I was thinking that we have potential (with Glenny and Miller) to set up our fourth line this way, and before you say we don't have the defencemen to do this, well, yes we do, if you count in XO and Marchy. You could potentially include Smith on the fourth line from time to time.

Do you think this is something Blash should consider? Not all the time, but occasionally?

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[InjuredChoker]

blashill should consider all options that help red wings win hockey games.

so yes, he should at least consider them.

 

[Frk It]

We are loaded at forward, and weak on defense.

So I don't think this really helps out much.

If you want to play more rookie defenseman then just trade Quincey for a pick or two.

 

[Tatar Shots]

The reason this works for Tampa is because Nesterov fills a specific offensive role. We have no one that would fill the role Nesterov does. It doesn't make any sense to have say Marchenko as the seventh D because he wouldn't fill a role that could be done by any of our other Dmen.

 

[SlavaKozlov]

The reason this works for Tampa is because Nesterov fills a specific offensive role. We have no one that would fill the role Nesterov does. It doesn't make any sense to have say Marchenko as the seventh D because he wouldn't fill a role that could be done by any of our other Dmen.

Kindl?

Kindl seems to be very good at running the powerplay from the point, but Babcock wanted to shelter his minutes at even strength. Hopefully they can find some use for Kindl, because he seems to have a ton of skill, but he ended up in Babcock's doghouse a lot. I'd hate to see them just throw him away when he has shown promise at times.

I guess many are already considering him gone?

 

[Heaton]

Kindl?

Kindl seems to be very good at running the powerplay from the point, but Babcock wanted to shelter his minutes at even strength. Hopefully they can find some use for Kindl, because he seems to have a ton of skill, but he ended up in Babcock's doghouse a lot. I'd hate to see them just throw him away when he has shown promise at times.

I guess many are already considering him gone?

Define 'very good'. In Kindl's career he has 18 total powerplay points in ~375 total PPTOI.

 

[Kronwalled55]

Our problem is that we have subpar talent playing in the top 4 to begin with, so adding/subtracting defensemen isn't going to change anything.

 

[Hammettf2b]

Define 'very good'. In Kindl's career he has 18 total powerplay points in ~375 total PPTOI.

very good compared to every other defenseman we have not named Kronwall. Nonetheless, point taken, we need that PP QB ASAP!

 

[SlavaKozlov]

very good compared to every other defenseman we have not named Kronwall. Nonetheless, point taken, we need that PP QB ASAP!

OK, I guess this is pretty much what I meant when I said "very good"...

He is the second best defenseman on this roster at running the point on the powerplay, next to Kronwall. Maybe not an elite top powerplay defenseman, but he could become a solid second unit guy. He is better than Dekeyser, better than Quincey, and Babcock rarely used Smith in that role. Ericsson didn't get much PP time under Babcock either, not that he should have.

I thought Kindl looks the most comfortable on the PP in the offensive zone. As many points as Zidlicky got in the regular season for the Wings, he took a ton of risks and turned the puck over just as much as he helped, it seemed. He was pretty useless in the playoffs too.

 

[Vladdy84]

Interesting concept. I'd consider it.

 

[Henkka]

very good compared to every other defenseman we have not named Kronwall. Nonetheless, point taken, we need that PP QB ASAP!

Yep. Time to trade for Sami Vatanen.