1rw

[Barry Amsterdam]

Assuming nothing changes and the first line is Ovechkin- Backstrom- ?

Which player do you want started there

Click to read more...

 

[Holtbyisms]

Oshie all day. I feel like in the past splitting our talent was a valid option because we were thin on it. Now we're not. Oshie might be a little too free balling of a player to stabilize a line that consist of Kuznetsov and Burakovsky. That's of course assuming Bura beats out MaJo for 2LW.

Even still I'd probably be inclined to go Williams with Majo and Kuznetsov.

I think when you can load up all your skill and talent on a top line and still have a scary skilled second line you do it.

 

[Raikkonen]

Since when Oshie is superior talent over Williams?

Voted for Justin. Just for Ovi-Kuz-JW sake.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

TJ, he's crafty with the puck.

 

[txpd]

its going to end up being both.

 

[Melkor]

Oshie. He's not a big fella but tough and skilled. And some of his dekes reminds me very much of Semin. Williams for 2nd line would be a perfect fit. Trotz said that he'd like to mix Kuzys and Bura's youth and JW's experience there and I believe it makes some sense.

 

[txpd]

I don't think Burt and Kuzy are a lock for the same line. I think over the first 40 or 50 games we are going to see a lot of packages

 

[PB12]

It's too much pressure on Oshie in my opinion to be the leader on that 2nd line. If we want TJ to have a career year then put him with Nick and Ov.

 

[Melkor]

I don't think Burt and Kuzy are a lock for the same line. I think over the first 40 or 50 games we are going to see a lot of packages

Perhaps, youre right. But anyway there are going to be certain combinations that Trotz would use most of the time.

 

[Hivemind]

Williams is pretty much the perfect fit. What the top line has been missing since Knuble is someone who can be dangerous without the puck. Someone who knows how to put themselves in the high scoring parts of the ice and make themselves available for a pass. Someone who can pot rebounds and deflect pucks. Williams does all of that in spades. He can allow Ovie and Backstrom to be the puck carriers, and get in position to prolong or finish plays.

 

[txpd]

Knuble and Clark are the sign posts to recall on. Not Semin. Semin was never a primary partner on the first line. Of the two Williams is more of the gritty finisher than Oshie.

Oshie is a pass first player who will only be perceived as demurring to Ov like so many other 3rds on that line have been perceived as.

My view is that if Oshie is to play with Ov, that Kuzy is the better center fit because he is far more of a finisher than is Backstrom.

Look for some early games with Backy not yet in the lineup and Kuz and Burt as the two top centers. Burt gets veterans Jojo and Williams on his wings. Kuz gets Oshie to pass him the puck some instead of it always going to Ov.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

I think Oshie could show his shooting ability on the top line. He's got the second best right handed shot among our forwards. He could score 25 goals just by putting in the tap ins that MJ or Brouwer used to fan on.

 

[Corby78]

Williams is pretty much the perfect fit. What the top line has been missing since Knuble is someone who can be dangerous without the puck. Someone who knows how to put themselves in the high scoring parts of the ice and make themselves available for a pass. Someone who can pot rebounds and deflect pucks. Williams does all of that in spades. He can allow Ovie and Backstrom to be the puck carriers, and get in position to prolong or finish plays.

This is exactly why I voted JW. I also like the thought of Bura/kuzy/Tjo on a line. Should tie up defenders in knots, and if they develop chemistry it could be a highlight real a night line.

 

[Melkor]

Knuble and Clark are the sign posts to recall on. Not Semin. Semin was never a primary partner on the first line. Of the two Williams is more of the gritty finisher than Oshie.

Oshie is a pass first player who will only be perceived as demurring to Ov like so many other 3rds on that line have been perceived as.

My view is that if Oshie is to play with Ov, that Kuzy is the better center fit because he is far more of a finisher than is Backstrom.

Look for some early games with Backy not yet in the lineup and Kuz and Burt as the two top centers. Burt gets veterans Jojo and Williams on his wings. Kuz gets Oshie to pass him the puck some instead of it always going to Ov.

Yeah, he wasnt a prime partner there but he played from time to time alongside Ovi and Backy in 2008-2010 including the playoff series against PHI back in 2008 and against NYR in 2009 (yeah, I know Ovi played mostly with Fedorov in those days). And that line looked lethal offensively. Oshie hasn't that level of skill that Semin has but he's tougher, more aggressive and intense as a player.

 

[txpd]

Semin on the first line was always used as a late game catchup maneuver. it was used on occasion when the first line went flat. but that is it. the rw on that line is the puck retriever. Is that Oshie?

 

[Ajax1995]

Semin on the first line was always used as a late game catchup maneuver. it was used on occasion when the first line went flat. but that is it. the rw on that line is the puck retriever. Is that Oshie?

Except the reason Semin was rarely kept on the 1st line for all that long had nothing to do with him not being a puck retriever. And frankly the idea that the 3rd guy on that line has to be a puck retriever is absurd IMO. There are lots of ways to put together a scoring line and lots of different types of players who could make that line click.

I think Ovechkin and Backstrom can be a decent amount better than they have been over the last few seasons at even strength. And I don't feel the reason they haven't been is simply because the 3rd guy wasn't good enough to take advantage of all the good they do. I feel Oshie is more likely to make them better and I'd like to see that for a while and if it doesn't work then sure go to Williams with the idea that he is going to more efficiently convert what they have already been doing over the last couple seasons.

Based on how frequently Trotz changed up his lines last season I'm sure we will see both options for at least a decent stretch anyway.

 

[g00n]

If grinding and puck-digging was so important for that RW1 spot we wouldn't have seen the top line go cold at ES so much and we wouldn't have grabbed two new guys with skills better than plugs.

The line needs guys who can drive play and draw defenders. If you have a couple of pass-first swedes, plugs, or timid rookies up there then everyone knows you just double or triple team Ovechkin and take away the passing lanes for everyone else. That's why they go cold at ES

 

[Midnight Judges]

I would try Oshie first, but who knows, Williams or even Burakovsky might be the best fit.

 

[txpd]

The line needs guys who can drive play and draw defenders. If you have a couple of pass-first swedes, plugs, or timid rookies up there then everyone knows you just double or triple team Ovechkin and take away the passing lanes for everyone else. That's why they go cold at ES

sort of my point. Oshie is much more of a pass first player. in the end we will see Oshie, Williams, Wilson, Burt, Beagle in that spot. I still think the best center for a line with Ov and Oshie would be Kuzy.

 

[g00n]

sort of my point. Oshie is much more of a pass first player. in the end we will see Oshie, Williams, Wilson, Burt, Beagle in that spot. I still think the best center for a line with Ov and Oshie would be Kuzy.

I watched Oshie's goal video from last year and he was shooting from all over the place, going to the net, etc. I haven't watched him on a daily basis but when I think "pass first" I don't think of players who can and will shoot and score like Oshie.

If he's a capable playmaker who can finish then that already puts him above almost everyone we've tried at that spot. It's not a knock if he can pass so long as he doesn't seem afraid to shoot.

 

[Devil Dancer]

I really don't care, try them both there and see who fits better.

 

[txpd]

I watched Oshie's goal video from last year and he was shooting from all over the place, going to the net, etc. I haven't watched him on a daily basis but when I think "pass first" I don't think of players who can and will shoot and score like Oshie.

In a goal video you will see goals. If you saw Johansson's goal video, you would see him shooting.

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

Nice problem to have for once.

 

[g00n]

In a goal video you will see goals. If you saw Johansson's goal video, you would see him shooting.

Aside from the obvious joke about a Mojo goal highlight video, try reading what I wrote instead of ignoring it and making your own point. A guy just looking to pass and having no scoring ability isn't going to shoot from those places and do those things. A defense has to respect that all over the ice, not just in high scoring areas when nobody else is around to pass to.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Oshie sure isn't a shoot first guy. What's that leave you?