Line Combos: 2018/19 Roster Discussion

[DomBarr]

I really don't think we will see 4 traditional lines next season. I think we will have a clear #1 and clear #2, but our 3/4 will essentially be a pair of 3rd lines. No matter how we slice things, 2 of Bennett, Czarnik, Frolik, Jankowski and Ryan will be on the "4th" line in a healthy lineup.

The top 6 is pretty clear cut at this point in time.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm/Neal
Tkachuk - Backlund - Lindholm/Neal

The bottom 6 on the otherhand.... nothing is a given, not even what positions guys will play and there are too many possible line combinations to list. The 5 all but guaranteed roster spots are in bold.

Potential LWers - Bennett, Dube, Ehliz, Frolik, Graovac, Jankowski, Klimchuk, Lomberg, Mangiapane, Quine, Rychel
Potential Cs - Bennett, Czarnik, Dube, Foo. Graovac, Jankowski, Quine, Ryan
Potental RWers - Czarnik, Dube, Ehliz, Foo, Frolik, Hathaway, Klimchuk, Ryan, Robinson

Ugh, you type out the potential bottom 6 centers and it makes me hope that Neal gets played primarily with Gaudreau and Monahan and they play Czarnik/Ryan with Tkachuk and Backlund and shift Lindholm to center.
Running a line - up with the centers being Monahan/Backlund/Lindholm/ one of Jankowski,or Ryan
just looks deeper and closer to a contenders center depth. That said everything about Peters shows that he is a line blender and is willing to shuffle players shift to shift so who knows what we will see..

 

[Flameshomer]

I think that Lindholm will play centre here. This team is better when Backlund can be our "#3" centre.
Also this might be an unpopular opinion (for good reason...) but why not give Rychel a shot in the preseason alongside best buddy Monahan and Johnny. They were able to make Ferland look a lot better than he really was.

Tkachuk-Lindholm-Neal could become second line (I think it sounds beautiful)
Bennett-Backlund-Frolik then our 3rd line (the only time Bennett has had sustained success in this league)
Jankowski-Ryan-Czarnik as a 4th line...

I think we have fixed our forward depth issues. Lots of guys will be pushing to play on those bottom two lines. Three of the best offensive players in the AHL last season will be duking it out for a spot.
I am still concerned about our top d pairing now though. Very nervous about TJ. Also nervous about Smith staying healthy.

Optimistic about this season overall!

 

[Rangediddy]

I like that lineup assuming:
1) Lindholm and Neal play well together (no idea how each of them would play with ANY of our currently players anyways)
2) Bennett being back with Backlund helps him break out (feels like it puts everyone on that line a step backward though)

That lineup is only possible if whoever is playing top line RW is successful there, doesn't even have to be Rychel. Could be any of Foo, Czarnik, Dube, Klimchuk, Hathaway, etc.

 

[Lunatik]

I love Lindholm but if he's at C he is still behimnd Backlund for now.

 

[Johnny Hoxville]

I love Lindholm but if he's at C he is still behimnd Backlund for now.

I don’t disagree but it will also vary game to game.

 

[hooknshoot]

I've never seen the same proposed line up twice. Gotta love the depth the Flames have yet!

 

[Lunatik]

I've never seen the same proposed line up twice. Gotta love the depth the Flames have yet!

I'd argue it's more versatility than anything. Including international tournaments and junior/college, guys have played the following positions:

Gaudreau (LW/RW)
Tkachuk (LW/RW)
Neal (LW/RW)
Lindholm (C/RW)
Frolik (LW/RW)
Ryan (C/RW)
Bennett (C/LW)
Jankowski (C/LW)
Czarnik (C/RW)
Lazar (C/RW)
Hathaway (LW/RW)

so for our 13 forwards, the only that haven't played multiple positions are Monahan and Backlund.

To be clear, we certainly have okay depth now, but the versatility of these 11 guys and the 6-7 guys fighting for spots makes it impossible to guess what the combinations will be.

 

[The Gnome]

lots of options. But I agree Backlund is still ahead of Lindholm. It just may help balance our lineup more if Lindholm could take the 2C slot. Backlund alone can make any two guys on his line seem quite useful.

 

[Lunatik]

So, I'm going to screw around with the idea of splitting up Bennett and Jankowski. I have always put them together, but I think it's better for our depth to split them up to balance our lines 3a & 3b.

So assuming the top 6 is:

Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm/Neal
Tkachuk - Backlund - Lindholm/Neal

Perhaps something like this could work for the bottom 6 (ignore which is listed first, it has no relevance)?

Bennett - Ryan - Czarnik
Klimchuk/Dube - Jankowski - Frolik

Since Peters said he likes his bottom 6 guys being able to play special teams, I do think it gives Klimchuk & Dube an advantage over other guys fighting for roster spots as both are potential penalty killers.

PP1: Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm - Neal - Giordano
PP2: Tkachuk - Backlund - 2 of Bennett/Ryan/Czarnik - 1 of Hanifin/Brodie/Andersson/Stone

PK1: Backlund - Lindholm - Giordano - Hamonic (1:45-2:00 per game)
PK2: Jankowski - Frolik - Brodie - Stone (1:00-1:15 per game)
PK3: Tkachuk - Bennett - Giordano - Hamonic (0:45-1:00 per game)
PK4: Dube/Klimchuk - Monahan - Brodie - Stone (0:15-0:30 per game)

 

[Lunatik]

@The Gnome I was mistaken before, Derek Ryan did get PP time (I was thinking he played PK and not PP, but it was the other way around),

Peters appears to have used 4 forwards and one defenseman (w/ Faulk often double shifting by the looks of it) on both powerplay units. Ryan was 8th among forwards and 9th overall in PP TOI per game.

 

[Fig]

Backlund -Monahan -Tkachuk
Gaudreau - Lindholm - Neal
Jankowski - Lazar - Frolik
Lomberg - Bennett - Ryan
Hathaway

 

[Lunatik]

Backlund -Monahan -Tkachuk
Gaudreau - Lindholm - Neal
Jankowski - Lazar - Frolik
Lomberg - Bennett - Ryan
Hathaway

What the f***? How did you mix up Monahan and Ryan?

 

[Mobiandi]

I still really like the idea of stacking down the middle

Gaudreau-Monahan-Neal
Bennett-Backlund-Tkachuk
Frolik-Lindholm-Czarnik
Mangiapane/Klimchuk-Jankowski-Ryan

 

[Flames Fanatic]

Part of me is intrigued by the idea of a Frolik-Backlund-Ryan line.

Requires Lindholm to play C though most likely, or pray that Peters gets Bennett going and put him with Tkachuk and Neal/Lindholm.

 

[Lunatik]

I don't understand the logic behind "stacking" down the middle. When they say you need C depth, they don't mean that you need to have 4 good centers on 4 different lines. It's about depth when there is an injury and we have that insurance still with Lindholn on the wing too

 

[Mobiandi]

Part of me is intrigued by the idea of a Frolik-Backlund-Ryan line.

Requires Lindholm to play C though most likely, or pray that Peters gets Bennett going and put him with Tkachuk and Neal/Lindholm.

Canes fans have said that Ryan was quite sheltered with a lot of Ozone starts and was a very weak player defensively, getting knocked off the puck very easily so I'm not sure if that's a good idea

 

[Lunatik]

Canes fans have said that Ryan was quite sheltered with a lot of Ozone starts and was a very weak player defensively, getting knocked off the puck very easily so I'm not sure if that's a good idea

That's part of the reason j suggested Ryan with Bennett and Czarnik, it's a line you'd feed offensive starts. The other being Bennet is a shooter and both Ryan and Czarnik are mire inclined to be playmakers

 

[FlamerForLife]

The Lines I'd like to see in at least 1 pre-season game:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Neal
Bennett-Lindholm-Tkachuk
Frolik-Backlund-Ryan
Foo/Mangi/Klim/Dube/Rychel-Janko-Czarnik

If this doesn't work, especially the 2nd line then I'd be fine with the perceived status quo at this point:

Gaudreau-Monahan-Lindholm
Tkachuk-Backlund-Neal
Bennett-Ryan-Frolik
Foo/Mangi/Klim/Dube/Rychel-Janko-Czarnik

PP:
Tkachuk
Lindholm-Monahan-Gaudreau
Giordano

Bennett
Czarnik-Backlund-Neal
Hanifin

PK:
Backlund-Frolik
Giordano-Hamonic

Jankowski-Lindholm
Brodie-Stone

Monahan-Bennett as the extra forward PKers.

 

[Fig]

What the ****? How did you mix up Monahan and Ryan?

Oops, good call.

Backlund -Lindholm -Tkachuk
Gaudreau - Ryan - Neal
Jankowski - Bennett - Frolik
Lomberg - Lazar - Monahan
Hathaway

 

[DomBarr]

I don't understand the logic behind "stacking" down the middle. When they say you need C depth, they don't mean that you need to have 4 good centers on 4 different lines. It's about depth when there is an injury and we have that insurance still with Lindholn on the wing too

I get what you are saying except that a combination of Ryan, and Jankowski as the 3rd and 4th line Centers is meh and kind of kills my optimism for the year and does not compare to the centers that other contenders can put out. Especially when I think the 3rd best center on the team (Lindholm) and the player that could help drive legitimate 3rd line offence is playing on the wing of the top 2 lines. We have enough skill on the wings to not do that.

 

[Rubi]

Mix and match all you want but please don't put Bennett in the center position. Been there done that.

 

[Dack]

I know Lindholm seems to be slated at RW but I'd prefer to use him at C and get 4 deep lines out of it.

Gaudreau-Monahan-Ryan/Neal/Rookie
Tkachuk-Lindholm-Neal/Ryan
Bennett-Backlund-Czarnik
Rookie/Ryan-Jankowski-Frolik

 

[Lunatik]

Is rolling 4 lines worth weakening our top line? I vote no

 

[Dack]

Is rolling 4 lines worth weakening our top line? I vote no

I dont think Monahan and Gaudreau need all that great of a linemate to succeed. Plus we could still have Neal on that one if need be.

 

[DomBarr]

Is rolling 4 lines worth weakening our top line? I vote no

There are a lot of teams that do not load up their top 2 lines and get increased team scoring as a result. The Flames dramatically improved their Right Shot Forward depth and skill this off season to load up the top 2 lines with the best 2 LW, 2 Center and 2 RW, while ignoring the fact that the teams 3rd best center is also one of the top 2 RW does not dramatically improve the bottom 6. The gap between Lindholm as a C and Ryan/Jankowski i believe is much larger than the gap between Lindholm as RW and Ryan/Czarnik.