Line Combos: 2019-2020 Roster Speculation

[M88K]

Dellandra is a threat to make the team this season, but I don’t see him making it past 9 games. Robertson will likely spend this year in the AHL and if he does well and fixes the holes in his game he will play in 2020/21.

Robertson has less holes in his game than Dellandrea.

Robertson is the most polished prospect we have, the only thing holding him back was his skating which has improved quite a bit since he was drafted

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

Robertson has less holes in his game than Dellandrea.

Robertson is the most polished prospect we have, the only thing holding him back was his skating which has improved quite a bit since he was drafted

I don’t watch the OHL so I’ll have to take your word on it. My understanding was that Dellandra has a much stronger skating, defensive, and physical game than Robertson based on scouting reports.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

I don’t watch the OHL so I’ll have to take your word on it. My understanding was that Dellandra has a much stronger skating, defensive, and physical game than Robertson based on scouting reports.

You are correct.

 

[eartotheground]

not sure if there's a place this is already compiled, but i just glanced at a few (like, 5) teams' top point scorers for last season. the 6th forward ranged from 36-52 points. as much as i'm not sold on hintz being a complete lock, i feel pretty good with him getting ~50 points, but i'd also consider him needing to be forward #5 for us. it's that #6 that's scary.. neither dickinson nor gury have proven it, so they're by definition a risk.
and, and to whomever said, 'you have nothing to lose,' by trying gury up with hintz and pavs... yes, you do- games. you can't just throw stuff against the wall and hope it sticks or you'll be climbing out of a st. louis sized hole.. or.. wait. maybe you can?

really want to know those stats.. avg top 6 players totals for the year, avg top 6 fwds totals for the year. might have to put it together if it's not out there. (quick google failed me)

 

[Kcb12345]

not sure if there's a place this is already compiled, but i just glanced at a few (like, 5) teams' top point scorers for last season. the 6th forward ranged from 36-52 points. as much as i'm not sold on hintz being a complete lock, i feel pretty good with him getting ~50 points, but i'd also consider him needing to be forward #5 for us. it's that #6 that's scary.. neither dickinson nor gury have proven it, so they're by definition a risk.
and, and to whomever said, 'you have nothing to lose,' by trying gury up with hintz and pavs... yes, you do- games. you can't just throw stuff against the wall and hope it sticks or you'll be climbing out of a st. louis sized hole.. or.. wait. maybe you can?

really want to know those stats.. avg top 6 players totals for the year, avg top 6 fwds totals for the year. might have to put it together if it's not out there. (quick google failed me)

There really is nothing to lose by trying it out. Monty is gonna scramble the lines until something works like he did nearly every game last season.

With that being said I'm sure we will first see it in a preseason game or two and will get a pretty good idea there. Perry will get the first shot there though I'm sure

Benn-Seguin-Perry
Hintz-Pavelski-Radulov

Is what we should start with

 

[FirstRowUpperDeck]

Leta just hope Perry doesn't spear Benn out of muscle memory......

 

[BigG44]

Robertson has less holes in his game than Dellandrea.

Robertson is the most polished prospect we have, the only thing holding him back was his skating which has improved quite a bit since he was drafted

Robertson is probably hands down the best offensive prospect that they have, but I've never heard anyone say he was an all around forward with no holes.

In fact, around March of this year in an interview with the Athletic, Rich Peverley said his two-way game, commitment to defense, and back checking was a work in progress. He said Robertson took those suggestions that Peverely was giving him to heart and that he was making progress, but it wasn't something that would happen over night. He's just like most other extremely talented, offensive players in the CHL who've usually just been more talented than most of the people on the ice and didn't have to pay as much attention to that end of the ice.

The tone of Peverley's interview was very positive. He was essentially saying that after Robertson proved over the summer that he was committed to fitness and eating right after being out of shape during Texas' playoff run, he was using that same commitment to working on becoming a reliable player on the ice in all situations.

The only prospect that Dallas has had in the last 10 or more years with no holes in his game is Miro Heiskanen, predictably a Top 3 pick. Those guys just don't exist as as 18 to 20 year old players for the most part.

 

[BigG44]

Dellandrea isn't an elite offensive performer as a junior. The reason there has been talk of him making the jump sooner is more than just the situation in Flint. He is a reliable, defensive center that skates well and has offensive upside. He proved that he was capable of playing the pro game in Texas late in the season, and his all around game is pretty polished. His path to the NHL this season is much easier than Robertson. They're not going to play Robertson on the 4th line. He'd have to take a Top 6 spot which is hardly impossible. It's just much more complicated than a guy like Dellandrea who doesn't exactly have stiff competition for the 4th line center spot in Dowling or L'Esperance unless they play Dickinson at center.

Dickinson could easily end up at center, but I get the feeling based on the playoffs, he'll get a chance at wing in the Top 9 first.

 

[M88K]

Robertson is probably hands down the best offensive prospect that they have, but I've never heard anyone say he was an all around forward with no holes.

In fact, around March of this year in an interview with the Athletic, Rich Peverley said his two-way game, commitment to defense, and back checking was a work in progress. He said Robertson took those suggestions that Peverely was giving him to heart and that he was making progress, but it wasn't something that would happen over night. He's just like most other extremely talented, offensive players in the CHL who've usually just been more talented than most of the people on the ice and didn't have to pay as much attention to that end of the ice.

The tone of Peverley's interview was very positive. He was essentially saying that after Robertson proved over the summer that he was committed to fitness and eating right after being out of shape during Texas' playoff run, he was using that same commitment to working on becoming a reliable player on the ice in all situations.

The only prospect that Dallas has had in the last 10 or more years with no holes in his game is Miro Heiskanen, predictably a Top 3 pick. Those guys just don't exist as as 18 to 20 year old players for the most part.

And you still haven't heard anyone say that.
Because nobody said that.
I said he has less holes in his game than Dellandrea, and was the most polished prospect we have, which he is.
I don't know where you're getting he has no holes in his game and why you're bringing up Heiskanen at all.
Dellandrea isn't even in the same conversation as Heiskanen, neither is Robertson for that matter but that's just a completely out of left field comparison.
The difference defensively between Robertson and Dellandrea is much smaller than the gap offensively between Robertson and Dellandrea.

 

[BigG44]

You literally said the only thing holding him back was his skating, and that he'd made significant strides. If he had only one single issue that you're saying was the only thing potentially holding him back, a pretty fair interpretation of that comment would be you think he has no holes and were either entirely ignoring his play in his own zone or suggesting that it wasn't an issue or much of one ... which seems to be the direction you're now going.

Rich Peverley on the other hand, who is paid to watch these guys by the team seems to have a slightly different opinion which is why I pointed it out.

 

[Magic Mittens]

Come training camp we'll get a better idea of what's going on, but I'd bet more towards Dellandrea making the NHL then Robertson. But, if Robertson has an amazing training camp and shows chemistry with some of the top players then he could end up staying for awhile.

I wouldnt be surprised if we saw both of them at some point this year in the NHL

 

[Zrhutch]

The 4C spot is wide open, and all the wing spots are pretty full. It’s just how the roster is constructed. I could see Ty getting 9 games, and if he isn’t a world beater, JLE or Dowling will take his spot.

Janmark-Ty-Guri isn’t a terrible depth scoring line.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

We will get a nice look in pre-season and if I remember correctly, Brad Alberts promised they would show pre-season games this season after the backlash last season.

 

[M88K]

You literally said the only thing holding him back was his skating, and that he'd made significant strides. If he had only one single issue that you're saying was the only thing potentially holding him back, a pretty fair interpretation of that comment would be you think he has no holes and were either entirely ignoring his play in his own zone or suggesting that it wasn't an issue or much of one ... which seems to be the direction you're now going.

Rich Peverley on the other hand, who is paid to watch these guys by the team seems to have a slightly different opinion which is why I pointed it out.

His skating was the only thing holding him back from making the NHL, It has improved tremendously from being a hindrance to being acceptable .

Dellandrea is Faksa 2.0. Probably with the same Offensive upside even. He'll make a great 3c at some point. he might even make a passable 4c this year, I doubt it, but we'll see.
Robertson is our most NHL ready prospect. he doesn't have "holes" to fix in his game.
If defensive prowess was going to be the reason to keep him out of the NHL, Benn would be benched too, Spezza would have never played a game in his career (at least for the Stars)

If Robertson spends the year in the AHL for players like
Gurianov, Cogliano, Dowling or L'Esperance to play in the NHL it is an indictment of how lousy people evaluating the talent for this team are at their jobs.
I'd say it's likely that even at this point Robertson is ahead of Dickinson and Janmark too, at least in terms of Talent.
Of that group of "wingers" outside of Janmark and Dickinson, nobody is all that special defensively and none of them have his offensive upside.


Also to the Peverley point, Yes because that means anything.
It's not like theirs a team of Scouts (that are paid to watch these guys too) that though Gurianov was better than Barzal and Connor, despite almost everyone else in the world knowing that to be not the case. Or thought Honka was Better than Larkin
What was it McDonnel said "top 5 talent in the draft. NO question" about Gurianov? Which you know nobody else in the world had that dumb of an opinion except maybe his own parents.
We should definitely go off of their paid opinions because you know, these people are like never wrong.


Edit- yep here it is

 

[EXTRAS]

You guys don't think L'esperance is good enough to be a middle 6 NHLer?

 

[masinaLFC]

You guys don't think L'esperance is good enough to be a middle 6 NHLer?

nope

 

[Starsfansfromqc]

It would be a surprise for me if L'Esperance made it.

 

[Frozen Failure]

Big Dick(inson) signed.

 

[Satan]

Dickinson- team guy

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

You guys don't think L'esperance is good enough to be a middle 6 NHLer?

Didn’t impress me while he was up. He’s a late bloomer though so you never know.

 

[Zrhutch]

You guys don't think L'esperance is good enough to be a middle 6 NHLer?

It’s possible, but I doubt it. I’m not sold on how defensively responsible he is to take regular bottom 6 minutes, and obviously he doesn’t score at an nhl level enough for top 6.

Personally I think he’s one of the two decent candidates for the open 4C spot (Dellandrea being the other one). If he contributes there and becomes a better two way guy he’s probably gonna stick in the nhl as a good teams 10th or 11th best forward, and a bad team’s 7th or 8th. So a good 4th liner with spot 3rd line duty Id say is his upside. Either way, that’s a hell of a find as an undrafted FA signing.

 

[MrHeiskanen]

L'Esperance will be lucky to be a 13th forward. He is an AHL All-Star.. aka Travis Morin aka Justin Dowling aka Mike Hedden aka Jason Jaffray aka Curtis McKenzie

 

[EXTRAS]

12 new forward spots in the NHL once Seattle joins, so lots of those AHL All-Stars may get NHL spots. They gotta come from somewhere.

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

It’s tough for these AHL all stars to make the jump. Vegas brought in Curtis McKenzie and he never made it full time. Daniel Carr got a contract with Nashville (I’m unsure if it’s a 2 way or 1 way), but I feel like he’s a long shot to make it as well. Teams will feel more inclined to give prospects a chance than journeymen.

 

[Smelling Salt]

Daniel Carr