Line Combos: 2013 Minnesota Wild

[SPMaximus]

Parise - Koivu - Granlund
Zucker - Bouchard(?) - Coyle
Heatley - Larsson - Clutterbuck
Mitchell - Konopka - Setoguchi

Suter - Brodin
Gilbert - Spurgeon
Stoner - Scandella

Gustafsson
Hackett

make it happen

 

[Puhis]

Parise - Koivu - Setoguchi
Heatley - Brodziak - Granlund
Bouchard - Cullen - Clutterbuck
Rupp - Konopka - Mitchell

Suter - Brodin
Gilbert - Spurgeon
Stoner - Scandella

Flip Spurgeon and Scandella if necessary.

In case of injury/roster shake, try Bouchard - Brodziak - Coyle.

 

[cutfast]

Parise - Koivu - Granlund
Heatley - Bouchard - Coyle
Setoguchi - Cullen - Clutterbuck
Rupp - Konopka - Brodziak

Suter - Brodin
Falk - Spurgeon
Gilbert - Stoner

Trade Block: Setoguchi
Scratches: Mitchell, Scandella
In line to replace Setoguchi: Zucker or Larsson

Here is why I have the lines this way.

1st line: I have felt Granlund has been playing good all season except in our own zone. Put him with 2 guys who will hold him accountable and still make him a better player.

2nd line: Move Heatley down to 2nd line so Coyle can learn from him and one of the best playermakers we got. Let Bouchard do his thing while Heatley and Coyle theirs. Bouchard will get them the puck they just have to bury it.

3rd line: You have all the energy here you will ever need. Chance for a big goal, chance for blocked shots, chance for big hits, chance for something fierce to swing our way.

4th line: Let them go out there and put bodies on bodies. These guys are the Tough guy line for sure. Gave them enough to get under the skin of the opponents and lots of physical play.

D-pairings:
1st: they are working so well together, why ever split them up?

2nd: these 2 interest me. I think it could work out but it would be a slow rolling thing to develop chemistry but once there the pair would be set.

3rd: Another pair of guys who are just working so well together right now.

As a side note I would like to see Genoway up. I think he could work some sort of magic that few people believe he can, but I have seen him play many times in person and much like Parise he is often the hardest worker out there, that is when magic happens.

 

[Temego]

Parise - Koivu - Granlund
Heatley - Bouchard - Coyle
Setoguchi - Cullen - Clutterbuck
Rupp - Konopka - Brodziak

That's actually pretty good. Only weakness could be that the 2nd line may not get anything done, but in that case you could switch Parise-Heatley around.

 

[Haite]

Bouchard doesn't play center.

 

[nickschultzfan]

Parise-Koivu-Granlund
Coyle-Cullen-Bouchard
Mitchell-Brodziak-Heatley

Three lines that can score.

Granlund - Damn it, he did look more comfortable at wing. But only for this year!

Heatley - He's been terrible the last 5 games or so. But he was fantastic with Brodziak last year.

Coyle - Kid is legit.

Clutterbuck - Been a complete non-factor this year. Trade bait.

Setoguchi - See Clutterbuck.

Mitchell - Dude can play. He is a great checking line winger. Can forecheck and has enough talent to creat offense. And he can actually protect the puck.

 

[roon]

Bouchard doesn't play center.

Move Clutterbuck to the 4th line and bump cullen and Brodz up 1.

 

[nickschultzfan]

I know it is probably impossible, but I love if Fletcher could move Setoguchi, Clutterbuck, and Cullen for a decent top-6 forward. But quantity for quality trades are rare.

 

[DeuceMN]

Parise-Koivu-Granlund
Coyle-Cullen-Bouchard
Mitchell-Brodziak-Heatley

Three lines that can score.

Granlund - Damn it, he did look more comfortable at wing. But only for this year!

Heatley - He's been terrible the last 5 games or so. But he was fantastic with Brodziak last year.

Coyle - Kid is legit.

Clutterbuck - Been a complete non-factor this year. Trade bait.

Setoguchi - See Clutterbuck.

Mitchell - Dude can play. He is a great checking line winger. Can forecheck and has enough talent to creat offense. And he can actually protect the puck.

I actually like these lines for the most part.

Personally, I still wouldn't mind Butch on the top line however. He and Koivu have played well together in the past, and that line would have filthy puck control as well as good speed and shooting.

As is though, Granlund did look pretty good at wing last night, and maybe that line combo would be the spark he needs. He has shown that he definitely has the skill, he just needs some help from his linemates to clear him some space and give him options.

 

[DeuceMN]

Move Clutterbuck to the 4th line and bump cullen and Brodz up 1.

Good God man, you must have started drinking early today!

No...No....

Brodziak has looked horrible this year.

Cullen can't stay off his ass for more than two strides AND has bad puck control, let's not even talk about when he's being pressured by an opposing player.

Clutter. For as much as I rag on him, he has been ok this year, minus the scoring. He is at least good at pressuring the opposing team, hits well of course, and is strong on the pk and forecheck. Third line is perfect for him, and we need his edge.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

Clutter has been fine. He is playing nearly the same as he always does. He's forechecking hard and doing great on the PK. He's never been a good passer nor able to find people, and his hands are meh. He gets goals because he shoots a lot and he's still shooting a fair amount.

 

[Jarick]

Kind of liked the lines last night, but a couple tweaks...

Parise - Koivu - Bouchard
Butch is a dynamic player, Heatley is looking slower and slower...make a great line better. "BUT WHO'S GOING TO SHOOT???" All three of them.

Granlund - Cullen - Coyle
Still think Granlund with a big body like Coyle would be great. Cullen is what he is. Maybe next year Larsson?

Heatley - Brodziak - Clutterbuck
Just see what happens.

Mitchell - Konopka - Setoguchi
Same as above.

 

[traffic cone]

Dany Heatley needs a playmaker on his line. It's not wise to play him with guys like Clutterbuck or Brodziak. One of Granlund, Koivu and Parise needs to play with him if you want to get the most out of him.

 

[DeuceMN]

Kind of liked the lines last night, but a couple tweaks...

Parise - Koivu - Bouchard
Butch is a dynamic player, Heatley is looking slower and slower...make a great line better. "BUT WHO'S GOING TO SHOOT???" All three of them.

Granlund - Cullen - Coyle
Still think Granlund with a big body like Coyle would be great. Cullen is what he is. Maybe next year Larsson?

Heatley - Brodziak - Clutterbuck
Just see what happens.

Mitchell - Konopka - Setoguchi
Same as above.

Yes!!

This needs to be tried!! Heatley can stay on the pp1 unit, but move his big ass off that top line!

Another idea, and this is just an idea:
Hasn't Coyle played center? Heatley-Coyle-Granlund
-Just trying to work with what we have... Just not a huge fan of Cullen at C, but it might be the best we can do.

I am really looking forward to when they bring up Larsson. He might be the final cog, if he can live up to the hype and his potential.

 

[Jarick]

Dany Heatley needs a playmaker on his line. It's not wise to play him with guys like Clutterbuck or Brodziak. One of Granlund, Koivu and Parise needs to play with him if you want to get the most out of him.

We're trying to make the team successful, not just Heatley.

 

[Jarick]

My PP lines would be:

Parise - Koivu - Heatley - Gilbert - Suter
Granlund - Bouchard - Coyle - Brodin - Cullen

 

[traffic cone]

We're trying to make the team successful, not just Heatley.

I doubt GMCF wants to see Heatley playing on the 3rd line. He was brought in Minnesota to be the #1 goal scorer.

 

[tomgilbertfan]

I doubt GMCF wants to see Heatley playing on the 3rd line. He was brought in Minnesota to be the #1 goal scorer.

And he's not doing that right now. I'm sure GMCF would rather have a team make the playoffs with Heater getting the shortened season equivalent to 20 goals, then have them miss and he scores 30.

 

[DeuceMN]

I think our pp unites are fine as is. They just need to work on moving the freakin puck around faster... Every damned thing they do is so slow, the opposing team always has time to setup for whatever will happen. We generally try to be too pretty and get that clear shot through as well.

Our guys keep trying to pretend they're the Sedin sisters and find that wide open net because their passing is like synchronized swimming and just mesmerizes and confuses everyone else. We can't do that. We're ugly, we need to play ugly.

Pass quickly and get a shot through, then crash the crease area trying to get that rebound.

 

[DeuceMN]

I doubt GMCF wants to see Heatley playing on the 3rd line. He was brought in Minnesota to be the #1 goal scorer.

Heatley can't cut it as a top line player anymore, and he's dragging down what Koivu and Parise can do. He'll make a fine secondary scoring threat, but not a primary.

 

[FVM]

Kind of liked the lines last night, but a couple tweaks...

Parise - Koivu - Bouchard
Butch is a dynamic player, Heatley is looking slower and slower...make a great line better. "BUT WHO'S GOING TO SHOOT???" All three of them.

Granlund - Cullen - Coyle
Still think Granlund with a big body like Coyle would be great. Cullen is what he is. Maybe next year Larsson?

Heatley - Brodziak - Clutterbuck
Just see what happens.

Mitchell - Konopka - Setoguchi
Same as above.

I like this. First two lines could be really balanced if they click.

 

[Lapa]

Hypothetical question: does Heatley have any trade value at the moment?

E: ****. Wrong thread. Oh well.

 

[Beegoalie]

I don't see them moving Heatley below the top two lines..you don't pay a guy 7.5 million to play on your third line. On top of that Broziak has been brutal this year so theres no reason to believe there gonna reward him with playing with better players. If anything he could be a scratch candidate.

 

[Beegoalie]

I actually liked the lines last night and thought there was some chemistry brewing..Granlund looked good on the wing, Setoguchi had a jump in his step. The first PP was great minus not shooting enough and Coyle looked good with Cullen and Bouchard. I also really liked Mitchell's game and thought we had a decent third line as well.

 

[Randy BoBandy]

I don't see them moving Heatley below the top two lines..you don't pay a guy 7.5 million to play on your third line. On top of that Broziak has been brutal this year so theres no reason to believe there gonna reward him with playing with better players. If anything he could be a scratch candidate.

Have you heard of Scott Gomez. When a player no longer can play you don't give him a lineup position based on his name.