I'll change my tune on Parise playing with Koivu when they stop dumping and chasing the puck and grinding along the boards and start making plays and attacking the offensive zone with a scoring mindset. Parise said this offseason he wants to carry the puck more and I see it. Unless Koivu gets quicker, I don't see him carrying the puck through the NZ. Same with Vanek. Doesn't have the foot speed. Those two look sluggish out there.
Coyle has some speed and can carry the puck sometimes, but he reflexively grinds rather than attempting to make plays with the puck. He seems to be shooting a bit more after others make plays, but when he's leading the zone entry rather than trailing (as he will be with Vanek and Koivu), is he going to evade the backchecker and make moves to get the puck to Koivu/Vanek? Or will he dump the puck and chase and lay a hit on the defender as the D moves the puck to his partner behind the net who will start the breakout with a pass because Vanek and Koivu are just entering the zone?
In a way, I could see Coyle as a finisher like Pommer or Vanek. So playing him with a guy who has some speed where Coyle can crash the net, that seems like a plus to me. Hence my curiosity of playing him with Zucker. He seems to be doing fine with Haula as well.
For Vanek, same kind of thing, I see him as needing someone who can carry the puck up ice to him, or create some space by drawing defenders. Koivu hasn't been that guy for years, and I don't see that out of Coyle. Maybe he would work better with Granlund and Pommer? I think that would be one alternative. I could also see Haula's breakout passes as well as IF Nino keeps the foot on the gas, opening up some space for Vanek.
I've been disappointed by Haula's slow start this year. A lot of things broke well for him last year and so far he seems a bit stymied. BUT. His line has nearly as many SOG as the second line, and they have been threats all year. I'd like to see that play out more.
I guess the heart of the issue for me is that Coyle is, once again, given the preferential treatment to play on the second line with increased ice time and PP time. Over Nino, over Zucker. There's a disconnect between his performance and his rewards from the coaching staff. I know a lot of people write me off (that's perfectly fine) because I haven't liked Coyle or Koivu that much the last couple years, but there's a lot of people I see on these boards asking the same questions. Why is it always Coyle who gets bumped up and not Zucker or Nino? We hear the LW answer...but then why did Zucker get half a game on the second line when he scored with them earlier? Why was Nino playing RW half of last year? I don't buy it.
Scoring solves a lot of problems, and if the Wild played twice as many games and likely had more success, we probably wouldn't be having these conversations. Hell, Koivu could have 5 points in the next two games and I look like an idiot. I guess we'll just wait and see. But if Yeo keeps going to the same well that has not produced, why keep going to it over and over? I'd hate to see another 10-15 games where the team struggles offensively save for a few good games, and then they have a hard draw in the first round.
He's quite worthless in that role, which is why I didn't think Yeo would go for that. Koivu's been deployed against high level competition for a long time (if it hasn't been top lines, it's been top D and 2nd lines) and it's his thing, but not Vanek's. That doesn't mean he won't score at all while he's there, but if you acquire a guy like him with a very specific skillset, at least have the decency to use him right for God's sake.
