Lets assume that 1 of AA or Mantha will only be on the team to actually play and not sit in the press box. Whose the odd man out?
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.
I could see Vanek working well with Larkin. Larkin likes to shoot. Vanek is great in front of the net.
He is not a net guy 5x5
Well Abdelkader is on the line too, in this hypothetical scenario.
I think a Vanek-Larkin-Abdelkader line would be solid.
Niklas Kronwall is not expected to be ready for Thursday’s season opener at Tampa Bay.
Kronwall took part in today afternoon’s practice at Joe Louis Arena, but head coach Jeff Blashill said “there is a chance he won’t be ready for the opener.â€
Kronwall is dealing with a permanently bad knee, and there is concern within the organization about his short-term and long-term availability.
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.
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.
how about:
Z-Nielsen-Nyquist
Vanek-Larkin-Sheahan
Tatar-Helm-AA
Abby-Glen-Ott
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
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
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[/QUOTE
switch Abby & Sheahan & they look great! or, AA-Sheahan-Z, Helm to 4th for the BuzzSaw grindline.
how about:
Z-Nielsen-Nyquist
Vanek-Larkin-Sheahan
Tatar-Helm-AA
Abby-Glen-Ott
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.
Zetterberg needs to start playing the wing AND Larkin needs to start developing in the middle.
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.
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.
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?)
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.