Line Combos: 2014-15 Lineups

[DFC]

I've seen the line get better and better with each game, and now scoring goals. I think Flip should stay on the top line for now. Because the only other option is Killorn really, since Coop does not want to put Drouin up there.

I think we might be getting close to Cooper slotting Drouin higher. The third line got a very late shift in tonight's game, and Drouin was out there near the end of OT making things happen with Stamkos. So I think Cooper is trusting him more.

 

[Leonardo87]

I think we might be getting close to Cooper slotting Drouin higher. The third line got a very late shift in tonight's game, and Drouin was out there near the end of OT making things happen with Stamkos. So I think Cooper is trusting him more.

I hope so, having Stamkos, Johnson, and Flip down the middle is going to be some serious depth.

 

[IdealisticSniper]

At no point during the season has Stamkos been arguably or best forward. Good lord.

I would say Connolly was damn near our best forward in the Edmonton game.

I'm sorry please tell me what Stamkos has to do with this?

 

[HoseEmDown]

I'm sorry please tell me what Stamkos has to do with this?

Nothing, but you want to rag on Connolly like he's sucked so far. Connolly has looked better in his role and minutes then several forwards including Stamkos. Even if Connolly stays on the 4th line I can see him scoring 15-20 which would be huge for the team and him.

 

[Tmix]

Nothing, but you want to rag on Connolly like he's sucked so far. Connolly has looked better in his role and minutes then several forwards including Stamkos. Even if Connolly stays on the 4th line I can see him scoring 15-20 which would be huge for the team and him.

 

[IdealisticSniper]

Nothing, but you want to rag on Connolly like he's sucked so far. Connolly has looked better in his role and minutes then several forwards including Stamkos. Even if Connolly stays on the 4th line I can see him scoring 15-20 which would be huge for the team and him.

I rag on connolly because he has sucked his entire NHL career sans 2 games. Stamkos has sucked for a bunch of games this season yet has 10 goals.

So basically you are happy because Stamkos at 50% is still 500% better than Connolly at 100%.

Congrats?

And connolly will be lucky to score 15-20 goals in a scoring role on the top 6. The 4th line? Yeah good luck with that.

Hell he will be lucky to get into the lineup right now with how well everyone is playing and the team winning.


You keep up these unhealthy obsessions with terrible players. Soon you'll have enough for your own team.

Lee, Lindback, Connolly. Who's next?

 

[HoseEmDown]

I rag on connolly because he has sucked his entire NHL career sans 2 games. Stamkos has sucked for a bunch of games this season yet has 10 goals.

So basically you are happy because Stamkos at 50% is still 500% better than Connolly at 100%.

Congrats?

And connolly will be lucky to score 15-20 goals in a scoring role on the top 6. The 4th line? Yeah good luck with that.

Hell he will be lucky to get into the lineup right now with how well everyone is playing and the team winning.


You keep up these unhealthy obsessions with terrible players. Soon you'll have enough for your own team.

Lee, Lindback, Connolly. Who's next?

Stamkos plays twice as many minutes a game, has better linemates and gets PP time I would hope he's producing more. He should have 3 goals in 7 games that's not hard for him to get into the teens.

I'm sorry I guess I should start sucking off Drouin, Kucherov and whoever's the next golden boy in the lineup.

 

[IdealisticSniper]

Stamkos plays twice as many minutes a game, has better linemates and gets PP time I would hope he's producing more. He should have 3 goals in 7 games that's not hard for him to get into the teens.

I'm sorry I guess I should start sucking off Drouin, Kucherov and whoever's the next golden boy in the lineup.

Stamkos gets those benefits because he has earned them and he has produced when given them. Connolly has not.

I mean you can continue to like players who suck. It's your choice. Just stop blindly defending them with ridiculous comments.

 

[Lord Stan 2020]

Stamkos plays twice as many minutes a game, has better linemates and gets PP time I would hope he's producing more. He should have 3 goals in 7 games that's not hard for him to get into the teens.

I'm sorry I guess I should start sucking off Drouin, Kucherov and whoever's the next golden boy in the lineup.

im with you i still got connolly slotted right below those two ahead of vladdy.

We will see with vladdy at times he shows flashes of brilliance but im impressed with connollys overall growth maturity and full game myself. IS people who are gonna hate brett till he puts up 30 goals.

 

[Callum]

Fully healthy lineup is going to look scary.

I don't see the Stamkos line being broken up anytime soon, it seems as if they're being forced in to finding chemistry with each other.

I think we have to look at moving a forward out if we're planning on keeping up Vladdy and Pacquette.

Filp - Stamkos - Cally
Palat - Johnson - Kucherov
Drouin - Namestnikov - Connolly
Killorn - Boyle - Pacquette / Brown

Hedman - Garrison
Carle - Stralman
Brewer - Gudas

 

[Leonardo87]

Fully healthy lineup is going to look scary.

I don't see the Stamkos line being broken up anytime soon, it seems as if they're being forced in to finding chemistry with each other.

I think we have to look at moving a forward out if we're planning on keeping up Vladdy and Pacquette.

Filp - Stamkos - Cally
Palat - Johnson - Kucherov
Drouin - Namestnikov - Connolly
Killorn - Boyle - Pacquette / Brown

Hedman - Garrison
Carle - Stralman
Brewer - Gudas

As I said above unless Drouin is going up there, need to keep the top line intact. Against Columbus Cally and Flip were making some great plays together and scored a goal, last night Stammer and Cally were finding some great chemistry and Stammer scored a beauty from a beautiful pass from Cally. It's coming together very well.

 

[chasespace]

The top line is slowly coming into it's own. The second line has been a freak of nature. The third line has been a wonderful energy line, they might make the most interceptions relative to the ice time they get. And the fourth line is playing well above my expectations.

I love it.

 

[The Macho King]

Some scuttlebutt that Tampa would be in a cap crunch if the cap doesn't go up next season... by my count we'd be okay:

CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
TBL 2015
FORWARDS
Jonathan Drouin ($0.894m) / Steven Stamkos ($7.500m) / Ryan Callahan ($5.800m)
Ondrej Palat ($3.333m) / Tyler Johnson ($3.333m) / Nikita Kucherov ($0.712m)
Valtteri Filppula ($5.000m) / Vladislav Namestnikov ($0.874m) / Cedric Paquette ($0.633m)
Alexander Killorn ($2.550m) / Brian Boyle ($2.000m) / J.T. Brown ($0.950m)
Brett Connolly ($0.893m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Victor Hedman ($4.000m) / Anton Stralman ($4.500m)
Jason Garrison ($4.600m) / Radko Gudas ($0.992m)
Matt Carle ($5.500m) / Andrej Sustr ($0.918m)
Mark Barberio ($0.918m) /
GOALTENDERS
Ben Bishop ($5.950m)
BUYOUTS
Vincent Lecavalier ($0.000m)
Ryan Malone ($0.000m)
LTIR
Mattias Ohlund ($3.607m)
RETAINED SALARIES (2.32% of upper limit)
Sam Gagner ($1.600m—33.33%)
BONUS OVERAGE
$0
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2015-16)
SALARY CAP: $69,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,450,312; BONUSES: $2,774,167
CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $5,549,688

Need an extra roster spot and a backup tender, which still leaves us with ~3mil in cap space likely. We may actually be able to make a move. One concern might be some bonuses that Namestnikov, Drouin, or Paquette may earn.

Plus, even if they don't vote for the escalator, the cap may go up a bit naturally. We'll survive. Also, backup tender may end up being Gudlevskis and there are certainly players in 'Cuse that could be callups/win a roster spot (such as Erne).

 

[Sky04]

Winning teams usually take advantage of their ELC's, I think our window might actually be the next 2 years.

 

[The Macho King]

Winning teams usually take advantage of their ELC's, I think our window might actually be the next 2 years.

Yeah, although even if the cap doesn't go up this year, it will the next, which is when we'll need it. We also have some guys that are movable if young guys get better, like Carle say if Koekkoek becomes good enough to replace him.

I think it's really important to continue drafting and developing well. Eventually some players will price themselves out, and we're going to need to keep refilling the cupboards. So far we've done a good job of it.

That MSL deal is looking better every day, I'll say that.

 

[BOLTMAN]

Yeah, although even if the cap doesn't go up this year, it will the next, which is when we'll need it. We also have some guys that are movable if young guys get better, like Carle say if Koekkoek becomes good enough to replace him.

I think it's really important to continue drafting and developing well. Eventually some players will price themselves out, and we're going to need to keep refilling the cupboards. So far we've done a good job of it.

That MSL deal is looking better every day, I'll say that.

Yes and Yes

The first yes is this is what I really would like to see continue and one of the ways is to trade A Killorn or Brown or Barbs while they have value. (While they have value is the key). Look what happened to Conager ... man I don't even remember how to spell his name that is how bad that player turned out.

And one concern I had was if we had enough in the AHL to replace one of these guys if injuries piled up. But the more I think about it we could always go with just 11 forwards if it came down to it. I mean who doesn't mind getting some extra ice time especially these youths.

 

[Leonardo87]

So do you guys think we keep Flip - Stamkos - Callahan together for longer than expected? What other options do we have? Since Drouin is not one of them according to Coop.

Last few games they started to really come together, and scored some goals also, so are getting on the score sheet as well. I also feel their growing chemistry 5 on 5 will make them even better on the PP.

I also love our PP units now. When Hedman gets back put him on the top unit, and have Stralman on the 2nd.

 

[Callum]

So do you guys think we keep Flip - Stamkos - Callahan together for longer than expected? What other options do we have? Since Drouin is not one of them according to Coop.

Last few games they started to really come together, and scored some goals also, so are getting on the score sheet as well. I also feel their growing chemistry 5 on 5 will make them even better on the PP.

I also love our PP units now. When Hedman gets back put him on the top unit, and have Stralman on the 2nd.

I think Coop will keep those 3 together, especially while we're winning more often then not. Chemistry is slowly developing for the first line and I think Coop fully expects them to be statisticaly our top line soon.

When Hedman returns I think Carle and Stralman will continue to see top pairing minutes while Hedman eases back into things with a new partner. Wouldn't mind seeing him beside Garrison or even Gudas.

 

[The Macho King]

I think Coop will keep those 3 together, especially while we're winning more often then not. Chemistry is slowly developing for the first line and I think Coop fully expects them to be statisticaly our top line soon.

When Hedman returns I think Carle and Stralman will continue to see top pairing minutes while Hedman eases back into things with a new partner. Wouldn't mind seeing him beside Garrison or even Gudas.

Oh hell no. When Hedman comes back, Hedman is with Stralman. He should be able to stay in shape since the injury is to his hand, so there shouldn't be too much concern about his conditioning of playing 22+ a night. Carle on the top pairing is a necessity right now, but it's not one we should go with longer than necessary.

Also, Garrison/Gudas actually looks like a very solid pairing and not one I want to break up. I think Carle goes with Sustr in more of a third pairing (or probably second second-pairing) role.

Agree with keeping the top line together though. They're developing chemistry and now we have three lines who can score and one line that can hold possession in the zone using speed/physicality and chip in a handful of goals themselves. Put Killorn on the 4th instead of Morrow, and we have one of, if not the, most deep forward cores in the East.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

I like the Drouin-Names-Connolly line. It's true Connolly's been very good before his injury and he has more upside than Paquette (which has a bit overachieved IMO). Paquette would make a terrific 4th liner though, he deserves a spot... Nothing against Morrow but he should the odd man out. #damndepth

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

What were these the lines after the Johnson injury?

Drouin-Stamkos-Kucherov
Palat-Filppula-Callahan
??????-Namestnikov-Paquette
Brown-Boyle-Morrow

Double shifting someone onto the third line?

Anyway, I'd like to see those lines get another look with Killorn on the 3LW. It's looked like everyone has been doing well on the boards lately, but I think we really need a little more passing skill on that top line.

 

[The Macho King]

Killorn should be ready Thursday. Slots into the third line just fine for now.

 

[IdealisticSniper]

Killorn should be ready Thursday. Slots into the third line just fine for now.

Sadly I think Drouin goes back with 90 and 13 and Killorn goes with 91 and 86.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Sadly I think Drouin goes back with 90 and 13 and Killorn goes with 91 and 86.

Yup that's probably what we're gonna see.

Killorn - Stamkos - Kucherov
Palat - Filppula - Callahan
Drouin - Namestnikov - Paquette
Morrow - Boyle - Brown

 

[Brie]

I’m not totally against seeing the Pallahan line again if it’s just for a few games, they were pretty awesome last season and maybe it would be good for Palat to play with them again for a bit and really get him going again.