RememberTheRoar
“I’m not as worried about the 5-on-5 scoring.”
The Toews line needs to be rock-solid, or this team goes nowhere.
I know people keep arguing you need Schmaltz to be a 2C because there’s nobody else in the system to do it, but I still can’t help but think Schmaltz with Toews and Saad helps this team more than Schmaltz being a 2C.
Anisimov did fine as a 2C with Kane, and even if he’s not as skilled as Schmaltz, he still compliments Kane well. Further, Kane has thrived much of his career without a bona fide 2C, so I don’t really understand the desire to slam Schmaltz into that role when he could have a greater impact elsewhere in the lineup.
Schmaltz was fantastic with Toews and Panik, you have to think he’d even better with Toews and Saad. Toews and Saad played best with Hinostroza’s speed on the wing, and Schmaltz is very fast as well. In addition to that, Schmaltz is an excellent playmaker while Saad and Toews shoot a lot, so he could be incredibly useful at setting both of them up. There’s no reason all three of those guys can’t each hit 60+ points while playing together.
Lastly I’m going to argue that I’m not taking away from Kane in order to help Toews, but rather I’m actually helping out Kane as well. That’s because I’m giving Kane DeBrincat, who I feel is a better fit for the playmaking part of Kane’s game. DeBrincat can follow what Panarin did in 16-17, camp in the left circle and wait for a Kane cross-ice pass to one-time. You’d have a high producing Kane line like in 16-17, but it wouldn’t be a one line team because you’d have a complete Toews line rather than a piecemealed Toews line.
Saad-Toews-Schmaltz
DeBrincat-Anisimov-Kane
Winger who stands out in camp-Hayden/Ejdsell-Sikura
Kunitz-Kruger-Kampf
I know people keep arguing you need Schmaltz to be a 2C because there’s nobody else in the system to do it, but I still can’t help but think Schmaltz with Toews and Saad helps this team more than Schmaltz being a 2C.
Anisimov did fine as a 2C with Kane, and even if he’s not as skilled as Schmaltz, he still compliments Kane well. Further, Kane has thrived much of his career without a bona fide 2C, so I don’t really understand the desire to slam Schmaltz into that role when he could have a greater impact elsewhere in the lineup.
Schmaltz was fantastic with Toews and Panik, you have to think he’d even better with Toews and Saad. Toews and Saad played best with Hinostroza’s speed on the wing, and Schmaltz is very fast as well. In addition to that, Schmaltz is an excellent playmaker while Saad and Toews shoot a lot, so he could be incredibly useful at setting both of them up. There’s no reason all three of those guys can’t each hit 60+ points while playing together.
Lastly I’m going to argue that I’m not taking away from Kane in order to help Toews, but rather I’m actually helping out Kane as well. That’s because I’m giving Kane DeBrincat, who I feel is a better fit for the playmaking part of Kane’s game. DeBrincat can follow what Panarin did in 16-17, camp in the left circle and wait for a Kane cross-ice pass to one-time. You’d have a high producing Kane line like in 16-17, but it wouldn’t be a one line team because you’d have a complete Toews line rather than a piecemealed Toews line.
Saad-Toews-Schmaltz
DeBrincat-Anisimov-Kane
Winger who stands out in camp-Hayden/Ejdsell-Sikura
Kunitz-Kruger-Kampf