2014-15 Lines

[FrolikFan67]

Fleischmann-Barkov-Jokinen
Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Pirri
Bergenheim-Bolland-Boyes
Kopecky-MacKenzie-Upshall
Hayes
Thornton

Kulikov-Campbell
???-Gudbranson
Mitchell-Ekblad

Luongo
Montoya

i think pirri will ultimately be on the RW. huberdeau, bergenheim, fleischmann, jokinen, pirri can all play LW in the top-9, but only 3 can. I'm sure bergy will be on the 3rd, huberdeau on the 2nd, so unless they expect to play pirri on the top line, which i doubt happens, he'll be a RW, but we'll see.

 

[CHGoalie27]

Fleischmann-Barkov-Jokinen
Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Pirri
Bergenheim-Bolland-Boyes
Kopecky-MacKenzie-Upshall
Hayes
Thornton

Kulikov-Campbell
???-Gudbranson
Mitchell-Ekblad

Luongo
Montoya

i think pirri will ultimately be on the RW. huberdeau, bergenheim, fleischmann, jokinen, pirri can all play LW in the top-9, but only 3 can. I'm sure bergy will be on the 3rd, huberdeau on the 2nd, so unless they expect to play pirri on the top line, which i doubt happens, he'll be a RW, but we'll see.

Olsen

 

[Dread Clawz]

If Pirri is gonna be at left wing, then I hope it ends up as:

Pirri-Barkov-Jokinen
Huby-Bjugs-Boyes
Flash-Bolland-Upshall
Bergy-Mac-Hayes

 

[FrolikFan67]

Olsen

for now yea. but we'll bring in a vet via trade I'm sure.

 

[FrolikFan67]

lets assume the 3rd line is Bergenheim-Bolland-Boyes, and the 4th is Kopecky-MacKenzie-Upshall (hayes and thornton as scratches), what do we all think the winger combinations will be for the top 2 lines? normally i say huberdeau on the 2nd with bjugstad but lately I've been thinking maybe pair him with barkov.

as critical as i (and all of us) have been on huberdeau this past season, i think he'd be a much better fit next to barkov than bjugstad. i don't know if bjugstad is the best center to pair with him, bjugstad is not a passer, kinda similar to jeff carter. huberdeau will not act like st.louis to bjugstad where he's setting him up for every goal, and i think huberdeau plays best when he has someone who can pass the puck along with him (actually, it seems like most of his goals are when others set him up). barkov will be able to find huberdeau and can play the style huberdeau likes. my only worry is if they'd be too slow but honestly i have no concerns with barkov's skating, watching him this past season he looked absolutely fine, i just hope he didn't lose any strength in his legs due to the knee injury, and I'm hoping huberdeau (with a healthy offseason) can gain some lower body strength and work on his speed. jokinen would be the other winger, more of a shooter/scorer to compliment the two. pirri and fleischmann would both be with bjugstad, and i feel like those 2 are better fits with bjugstad since they're more shooters/scorers.

and it doesn't really matter which you call the 1st line and the 2nd line, we'll be running all 4 lines often and the top-3 lines i assume will all be pretty close in ice time. I'm sure they'll experiment with different combos as the season moves along anyways.

 

[IM Clutcm]

Why does everyone have Hayes as a scratch? I thought he looked good last year. Much better than Kopecky. I think he'd be great on the 4th line with some powerplay time as a screen.

 

[Dr Beinfest]

Anyone who neglects Hayes simply forgot of his existence. Hayes will see an increased role given his performance from last season.

 

[CHGoalie27]

Why does everyone have Hayes as a scratch? I thought he looked good last year. Much better than Kopecky. I think he'd be great on the 4th line with some powerplay time as a screen.

Anyone who neglects Hayes simply forgot of his existence. Hayes will see an increased role given his performance from last season.

No kidding! !

 

[Laus723]

If Pirri is gonna be at left wing, then I hope it ends up as:

Pirri-Barkov-Jokinen
Huby-Bjugs-Boyes
Flash-Bolland-Upshall
Bergy-Mac-Hayes

That lineup just demands a trade, doesn't it? Bergy is a 3rd liner and Flash certainly is not.

 

[MintyFresh88]

That lineup just demands a trade, doesn't it? Bergy is a 3rd liner and Flash certainly is not.

I disagree. Tallon has been preaching about having organizational depth for years. Not only is it important for developmental reasons, but it also increases competition. As it stands, lots of guys will be fighting for jobs in camp. Making trades because "we have too many wingers" or "too many bottom sixers" makes no sense. Unlike last year, guys like Kopecky, Upshall, Flash etc. are going to have to earn a place in the lineup and actually do their job to retain it. Trading depth is like trading away competition and that's when complacency sets in. I think it's a good "problem" to have right now.

Remember the Booth trade? Tallon will have no issue trading someone away early if they aren't contributing, but I see no reason to do it right now.

 

[Laus723]

I agree with that, but we still have 'kids' that can come up as well.

I'm just still hoping for Sharp! Lol

 

[Chino Oscar]

Fleischmann-Barkov-Jokinen
Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Pirri
Bergenheim-Bolland-Boyes
Kopecky-MacKenzie-Upshall
Hayes
Thornton

i think pirri will ultimately be on the RW. huberdeau, bergenheim, fleischmann, jokinen, pirri can all play LW in the top-9, but only 3 can. I'm sure bergy will be on the 3rd, huberdeau on the 2nd, so unless they expect to play pirri on the top line, which i doubt happens, he'll be a RW, but we'll see.

I you believe Harvey, Tallon himself has said Pirri will play left wing.

Jokinen-Barkov-Boyes
Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Flash
Pirri-Bolland-Upshall
Bergy-McKenzie-Hayes

 

[BeezKnees]

I'm not too worried about what line guys like Flash/Pirri/ Bergy end up playing on. It seems like a tricky situation at first, but remember, for us to be successful, we should be rolling each of our lines out as much as possible....Meaning the 3rd line's icetime shouldn't really be much less than our 2nd line. Maybe even our 1st as well.

I think chemistry within the lines is most important, not necessarily the number.

 

[nvrsoft]

Fleischmann - Barkov - Jokinen
Huberdeau - Bjugstad - Boyes
Bergenheim - Bolland - Upshall
Kopecky - MacKenzie - Hayes
HS : Thornton, Butler, Crabb

Kulikov - Campbell
Gudbranson - Ekblad
Mitchell - Olsen
HS : Robak, Zanon

Luongo
Montoya/Ellis

 

[Coach Nate]

Fleischmann - Barkov - Jokinen
Huberdeau - Bjugstad - Boyes
Bergenheim - Bolland - Upshall
Kopecky - MacKenzie - Hayes
HS : Thornton, Butler, Crabb

Kulikov - Campbell
Gudbranson - Ekblad
Mitchell - Olsen
HS : Robak, Zanon

Luongo
Montoya/Ellis

You have 2 too many players and that's without Pirri anywhere on the team.

 

[MintyFresh88]

Hayes must be looking for a 1-way deal and Tallon is offering a 2-way. I don't see any other logical reason as to why it's taking this long to get done. If it's a 1-way, he should be coming in around the $750-850,000 per year. I don't see how arbitration is going to get him any more than that...

How does arbitration work regarding 1-way vs 2-way contracts?

 

[ShootIt]

Hayes must be looking for a 1-way deal and Tallon is offering a 2-way. I don't see any other logical reason as to why it's taking this long to get done. If it's a 1-way, he should be coming in around the $750-850,000 per year. I don't see how arbitration is going to get him any more than that...

How does arbitration work regarding 1-way vs 2-way contracts?

Not sure it matters.

He'll be waiver eligible this upcoming year, and he'll probably be claimed by some team.

 

[Dread Clawz]

Yeah, why would they offer him a 2 way? He'd get claimed. I hope it's about money. No rush to get it done, and they can only be apart by a couple 100k or so.

 

[Piglet]

I really like the offensive depth of this team. I mean people are for example - for good reasons - putting Bergenheim in the fourth line. I challenge you to name me one better fourth line winger than Bergy would be. Problem with the offense seems to be once again high-end know-how. I am afraid that the tip of the blade just isn't sharp enough (pun intended).

And the defence is.. well.. who knows. On paper it's not too promising but who knows what kind of stud Ekblad is or if Kuli and Gudbransson finally take the leaps towards their full potential. I'd love to see Mitchell-Campbell top pairing, in theory it should be an awesome combo.

If Montoya plays like he did last season he could easily start 25-30 games, absolutely loving that acquistion.

 

[ucanthanzalthetruth]

I agree with that, but we still have 'kids' that can come up as well.

I'm just still hoping for Sharp! Lol

Would not be at all surprised to see Sharp as a Panther in 2015, not happening this year though.




At least this team will be unstoppable in shootouts.

 

[IceManCat]

Bergenheim-Barkov-Boyes

Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Pirri

Fleischmann-Bolland-Jokinen

Thornton-McKenzie-Upshall


3 scoring lines ^

 

[CHGoalie27]

Bergenheim-Barkov-Boyes

Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Pirri

Fleischmann-Bolland-Jokinen

Thornton-McKenzie-Upshall


3 scoring lines ^

Now that makes some damn sense. Maybe switch Huber and Flash?

 

[pb1300]

Bergenheim-Barkov-Boyes

Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Pirri

Fleischmann-Bolland-Jokinen

Thornton-McKenzie-Upshall


3 scoring lines ^

I like the production from the Barkov line last season, but I think Jokinen plays with Barkov, at least to start the season.

 

[RCDeltaFixer]

Now that makes some damn sense. Maybe switch Huber and Flash?

First of all, Huberdeau should NOT be playing on the 3rd line unless his play is worse than what we expect. ESPECIALLY since Gallant is the new HC.

Secondly, Jokinen is almost definitely playing on Barkov's line. That was one of the biggest reasons for signing him.


Jokinen-Barkov-Boyes

Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Pirri

Fleischmann-Bolland-Bergenheim

Thornton-McKenzie-Upshall

Don't know where these guys fit in: Kopecky, Hayes


Campbell - Kulikov (I don't know how this one will work)
Guddy - ???
Ekblad - Mitchell

LUUUUU
Montoya


Hopefully Flash will have a much better season. I'm hoping that Gallant will use him correctly. If you put him on the top line, or on the point for the freaking PP, he's going to have another bad year. Maybe playing third line minutes and not playing the PP will do him some good.

 

[IM Clutcm]

First of all, Huberdeau should NOT be playing on the 3rd line unless his play is worse than what we expect. ESPECIALLY since Gallant is the new HC.

Secondly, Jokinen is almost definitely playing on Barkov's line. That was one of the biggest reasons for signing him.


Jokinen-Barkov-Boyes

Huberdeau-Bjugstad-Pirri

Fleischmann-Bolland-Bergenheim

Thornton-McKenzie-Upshall

Don't know where these guys fit in: Kopecky, Hayes


Campbell - Kulikov (I don't know how this one will work)
Guddy - ???
Ekblad - Mitchell

LUUUUU
Montoya


Hopefully Flash will have a much better season. I'm hoping that Gallant will use him correctly. If you put him on the top line, or on the point for the freaking PP, he's going to have another bad year. Maybe playing third line minutes and not playing the PP will do him some good.

Hayes is going to play more than Thornton. I think the bottom line wIll typically be Upshall-McKenzie-Hayes with Thornton as a scratch for a majority of games. And if Kulikov is on the top pairing, Olsen will play with Gudbranson. Those two looked good together last year before Gudbranson got paired with Jovo...