Line Combos: 2016-2017 Detroit Red Wings
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Number1RedWingsFan52
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Most likely one of either Miller or Ott. No way would Holland keep up either AA or Mantha only to put them in the press box. Holland already pretty much said that if neither AA or Mantha can get top 9 minutes then they will be playing in Grand Rapids so they get more playing time. It's pretty much that simple.
What I'd like to see:
Z-Nielsen-Tatar
"First" line, trying to play puck possession on offense and provide solid defense.
Nyquist-Larkin-Abby
Larkin developing line. Gives him a grinder and puck carrier to satisfy his shoot-first mentality while being versatile enough to play different styles suiting coaching demands.
Vanek-Helm-AA
Sheltered line with mostly O-zone starts. Both AA and Vanek are bad at defense but such usage should make most of their offense and decrease time they spend hammered in their own zone. AA can be slotted to C/take some faceoffs.
Sheahan-Glenny-Ott/Miller
D-zone specialists.
Z-Nielsen-Tatar
"First" line, trying to play puck possession on offense and provide solid defense.
Nyquist-Larkin-Abby
Larkin developing line. Gives him a grinder and puck carrier to satisfy his shoot-first mentality while being versatile enough to play different styles suiting coaching demands.
Vanek-Helm-AA
Sheltered line with mostly O-zone starts. Both AA and Vanek are bad at defense but such usage should make most of their offense and decrease time they spend hammered in their own zone. AA can be slotted to C/take some faceoffs.
Sheahan-Glenny-Ott/Miller
D-zone specialists.
Yemack
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- Oct 30, 2007
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I dont think grinder-carrier-playmaker/shooter style is quite as needed as before with this new system. From what I've seen briefly, passing ability and playmaking ability are going to at premium. Also great defensive awarness as well.
I am not sure if Abby Larkin combo is ideal. Abby's strength is not in playmaking and passing and Larkin will need a lot of give and go with his linemates to be dangerous whenever on ice. They need to make plays or hold puck drawing defenders attention while their mates get behind the D coverage/sight. And they need to do it fast and on the spot. Not sure if Abby can handle that.
I am not sure if Abby Larkin combo is ideal. Abby's strength is not in playmaking and passing and Larkin will need a lot of give and go with his linemates to be dangerous whenever on ice. They need to make plays or hold puck drawing defenders attention while their mates get behind the D coverage/sight. And they need to do it fast and on the spot. Not sure if Abby can handle that.
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What a waste of TV's skill sets imo. Minn did the same thing. Never paired him with equivalent skill (to be fair Minn used a defensive scheme and only had one or two other player that would fit the hands,,vision, hockey sense,skill set mold)
The Islanders used him with skill and he helped drive record point production on that line that Taverse has not seen since his departure. Why spend the 2.6 to play him with children and a 19 pt center. (which, who knows may work/ would be willing to watch the test for a while) Pair him with skill that can carry the puck in, and let him put up his 20-30 g's and 40-60 pts then drop him for a first and a prospect at the deadline whether you are in the playoffs or not.
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I could see Vanek working well with Larkin. Larkin likes to shoot. Vanek is great in front of the net.
From what I have seen he is not a net guy 5x5 unless the goal matters. He finds the seams and if the puck is there on time he will draw the d to him and pass for the easy open netter 60-70% of the time. If he is looking at the net he shoots. Generally corners, thus his hot/cold streaks .
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Well Abdelkader is on the line too, in this hypothetical scenario.
I think a Vanek-Larkin-Abdelkader line would be solid.
With those two guys he would be in the zone a while, which is good.. Do you think they could find him as often as he finds them?
My experiments would be LW to Guss,and Neilsen or even off side to z and Neilsen as a wild one. I would want him to be with guys that can enter the zone,see the ice and stay there for a while. Skating with the puck is not his strength. Skill wise he is still first line material , top six easy.
He will create some of the best scoring chances you will see in most games. Whether the other guy can finish is the question. More of those guys here than where he came from and much higher offensive skill levels here too
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Kronwall doubtful for home opener. Bolded is a concern.
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/n...roit-red-wings-niklas-kronwall-knee/91870998/
http://www.freep.com/story/sports/n...roit-red-wings-niklas-kronwall-knee/91870998/
Yemack
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- Oct 30, 2007
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With those two guys he would be in the zone a while, which is good.. Do you think they could find him as often as he finds them?
My experiments would be LW to Guss,and Neilsen or even off side to z and Neilsen as a wild one. I would want him to be with guys that can enter the zone,see the ice and stay there for a while. Skating with the puck is not his strength. Skill wise he is still first line material , top six easy.
He will create some of the best scoring chances you will see in most games. Whether the other guy can finish is the question. More of those guys here than where he came from and much higher offensive skill levels here too
I think Vanek Helm Nyquist line works well. You maybe selling Helm little short based on last couple season. He played a specific role of forechecking and getting the puck and feeding it to Datsyuk plain and simple. With the new system, he is going to be able to use his speed to really well and he has always been pretty good along the board. I was little disappointed Wings re-signed him but after seeing this new system I could see why. He is also safety net on that line. He lacks in finishing that's where Gus Nyquist comes in. Nyquist is also fast and very sneaky ******* which is why I like him. Nyquist seems to have it going with Vanek so far.
Of course, this is just a theory and based on what worked in preaseason.
I'm little hesitant on promoting Vanek unless he can prove he can win enough battles and especially win during crucial moments. Also our forward will have to play D quite a bit this season and if he shows he won't let guys get past him easily, he will probably get more chances.
Yep.. All theory and treading water until the season starts. Sheer conjecture. We will see them.. Gus Helmn, V right off the bat. I hope your take is good on Helmn finding his line mates in his new role. If you are he jumps +20 pts this year.
I think Blash got it right this time.
Z and Nielson and smart and can pass, put him out there with Tatar.
Nyquist and Vanek CLEARLY have chemistry already.
Larkin gets a net front guy and a puck retriever with Abby AND Riley. I think Riley has offensive abilities more than he's shown because he is always worried about playing so damn defensive. Pumped he might get a shot and going all out.
Ott and Glenny great chemistry. I'd throw AA on that line to be honest. Deadly fourth line. Ott and Glenny to anger the opposition, PK, and then AA to have some scoring or ripping past some fourth liners or third D pairings once and a while
Z and Nielson and smart and can pass, put him out there with Tatar.
Nyquist and Vanek CLEARLY have chemistry already.
Larkin gets a net front guy and a puck retriever with Abby AND Riley. I think Riley has offensive abilities more than he's shown because he is always worried about playing so damn defensive. Pumped he might get a shot and going all out.
Ott and Glenny great chemistry. I'd throw AA on that line to be honest. Deadly fourth line. Ott and Glenny to anger the opposition, PK, and then AA to have some scoring or ripping past some fourth liners or third D pairings once and a while
Z too high, Sheahan too high, Tatar too low, Abby too low. Nyquist probably too high.
If I was picking this is exactly what I would be doing
Tatar - Nielsen - Abdelkader
Vanek - Larkin - Nyquist
Z - Helm - Sheahan
AA - Glendening - Ott
HIFE
Registered User
Spot on, this would be my choice as well. A kick to Z's ego but too bad, this is professional sports. Always hate when Blashill says, "...either top 6 or they play in Grand Rapids." Stupid, hockey never used to work that way. AA on the 4th line would be sick.
Yemack
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- Oct 30, 2007
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I like it better than some lines suggested here.
Abby on 4th line is kinda wasted a bit I think. I see no reason to mess with 4th line yet.
Same with current 3rd line. V-H-N have it going good so why mess around?
I would have gone with something like
Larkin-Z-Sheahan
Tatar-Nielson-Abby
V-H-N
4th line
My memory is bit fuzzy on how Nielson played but I remember him doing little bit of every thing and his style is very direct and fast which might work with Abby's staight arrow style.
Z needs someone who can read him well while he is making a play behind the net. I thought him and Larkin had some good understanding of each other and found each other relatively well. While Z is not the fastest guy around he can make good transition pass to Larkin even when he is pressured which would allow Larkin to explode past D during transition.
I think based on the style we play, we are going to have to roll 4 lines because amount of heavy skating involved every shifts. We need balanced lines and need to keep shift shorter to maximize the effectiveness.
Blashill said he liked what he saw during practice so I think current line combo is worth a go. As I said I'm not too familiar with Nielson's style yet so let's see.
Honestly, I'm not too worried about our Forwards though. They are going to get open and they are going to make plays a lot more this season. It's the D that I have no idea how they will perform. It's going to be a tough test against Tampa. While Stamkos hasn't done much against Wings, he will be harder to contain with current system IMO. Just gotta check him close and remember puck will end up on his stick at the end of play.
Wood Stick
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- Dec 25, 2015
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Zetterberg needs to start playing the wing AND Larkin needs to start developing in the middle.
Yemack
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That is true but while we are working on transition from Z to Lark, we also need to win games now. My preference is based on the fact that I am not too convinced of Larkin in the middle just yet and for other reasons I stated above. But that's just my opinion based on seeing them play for 1 preseason game.
Wood Stick
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- Dec 25, 2015
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If we want to win, I think you also need Z on the wing in less minutes though. He was an offensive blackhole. His numbers per 60 were bad. Real bad. I think you roll with Larkin-Nielsen with Nielsen getting the big minutes. He's our best centre - possibly the best forward (second best Wing behind Mrazek?)
XO and Ericsson is a d-man pairing? OOF. Two guys who can't skate......just the type of pairing what works in the current NHL.
Yup. Practically gross negligence putting those two together. I can already see them uniformly pivoting at a glacial pace.
Yemack
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- Oct 30, 2007
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I dont think Larkin was a NHL ready center last season so I dont see how he is automatically best center now. Could he? maybe. I have some doubts though as of now.
Z was an offensive blackhole just like pretty much everybody else last season. He still got the most points though so I think I'm being pretty fair in trusting Z to be the go to forward of this team. I think he will struggle slightly .. well not struggle but not able to get adjusted quickly to this new system. This is just not how Swedes plays hockey and in the preseason game I saw, he had moments of indecisiveness as to what to do and where to go with suddenly new found room to make plays.
Wood Stick
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He wasn't NHL centre ready. He played wing for that reason. It was a good move. However Zetterberg can no longer play centre. He can play short stints here and there. He was bad man, bad. Everyone was an offensive blackhole but he was the worst. He had the highest quality of wingers (Dats had Richards/Pulkkinen/Helm/Jurco). Points per 60, Datsyuk, Tatar, Nyquist, Larkin, and AA were much higher. He drained the offense slowing them down.
I know everyone took a step back, but I think a big part of that was the usage of Zetterberg and the lines (Tatar-Sheahan-Nyquist, Datsyuk with those above). Z had Abby and Larkin. He had like 5 points more than Tatar and probably played over 4:30 minutes more per game.
It's time to move in a new direction. Develop Larkin. Top offensive guys should be Tatar, Nyquist, Larkin and Nielsen with some more AA.
Also I never said Larkin is our best centre. I said Frans is.
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