Line Combos: 2021-22 lines

[Maitz]

My forward lines

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Drouin - Poehling - Anderson
Lehkonen - Paquette - Armia

Poehling will not play in front of Evans

 

[Habs Halifax]

Poehling will not play in front of Evans

Agreed. Probability is low there. However, if KK don't show up ready in camp, Poehling is going coming in to steal a job.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I’m on board with Drouin at centre although I’d be more inclined to put Gallagher on his wing instead.

If we make no changes, why not try it. It's not like we are forced to stick with it forever if he struggles. Not sure I love the idea but certainly willing to try it. My wild guess with Drouin at center would be 4th line narrative.

Instead of listing them the boring and flawed way, I feel we should be listing them based on usage

Fringe #1 quality line that can play all zones:
Anderson / Suzuki / Caufield

Shutdown/200' line:
Lehkonen / Evans / Gallagher

Offensive/Neutral zone face offs:
Toffoli / Kotkaniemi / Hoffman

Above average 4th line:
Perreault / Drouin / Armia
or
Drouin or Perreault / Poehling / Armia

Go to top pairing that can play any situation:
Romanov / Petry

Defensive/Neutral zone face offs:
Chiarot / Edmundson

3rd pairing playing mostly defensive zones:
Kulak / Savard

Spares:
Paquette
Perreault or Drouin
Byron (IR)
Wideman

 

[Dagistitsyn]

I didn't want to make a new thread for this so I just looked for anything related to the upcoming season and I'll ask here. Anyone have any idea when individual game tickets might go on sale for this season? Found a really good flight deal and looking to go to the home opener. Theres some tickets available on Stubhub now but the prices are brutal. $400 each to sit up in the nosebleeds.

 

[TouzY]

Poehling will not play in front of Evans

Evans is very underappreciated

 

[BLONG7]

I didn't want to make a new thread for this so I just looked for anything related to the upcoming season and I'll ask here. Anyone have any idea when individual game tickets might go on sale for this season? Found a really good flight deal and looking to go to the home opener. Theres some tickets available on Stubhub now but the prices are brutal. $400 each to sit up in the nosebleeds.

Try and avoid stub hub......crazy prices.
Haven't heard anything from the habs on ticket sales yet...

 

[Miller Time]

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Pretty good chemistry before Toffoli was slowed by injury... regular season they could absolutely light it up with both better scoring depth in the lineup and less ability for opposing teams to game plan around shutting them down

Drouin - JKO - Gallagher
JD has the skill/vision to both complement and maximize JKOs impressive vision and tools. Gallagher adds element of intensity and leadership to keep the young guy focused and the flaky guy honest

Hoffman - Perreault - Anderson
Anderson's size and ozone disruption creates space for the smallish Hoff/Perreault to have the time they need to make the most of their playmaking and sniping ability

Lekhonen - Evans - Armia
energy line with more skill than any other "4th" line in the league, creating match up advantages either in freeing up other habs lines (by going against opposition top lines) or punishing opposing depth lines


in teh end, i hope they are flexible during camp/pre-season to play around a bit and figure out which combinations have the best chemistry. Anderson and Drouin are two challenging wild cards as we don't know what we'll get from JD, and JA's game is so one-dimensional that it's a bit tougher to figure out the best way to optimize his strengths without his lack of vision and playmaking weighing down a top-6 line.

 

[salbutera]

Poehling will not play in front of Evans

Not to start the season for sure, but Poehling has a much higher ceiling than Evans IMO.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

Based on our current roster I would expect we'd be rolling 4 lines fairly evenly at ES.

Drouin - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Evans - Toffoli
Armia - Poehling - Anderson
Perrault - Paquette

Edmundson - Petry
Romanov - Savard
Chiarot - Wideman
Kulak

- Drouin is a pass first guy so depending on how he looks at camp I'd give him a shot with CC, I'd like to see a left handed shot LW on that line instead of 3 righties.
- Gallagher is one of our best ES guys, I'd like to see him kept with KK so he has at least one consistent linemate for once. Hoffman's speed could help that line and KK and Gally can cover for him defensively.
- The 3rd line would be a defensive line that would also add some offense. Lehkonen is great on the forecheck and Evans is underrated offensively so Toffoli would still get scoring chances.
- 4th line would be a younger version of the Armia/Staal/Perry line, they'd bring energy and a strong north/south game.

 

[26Mats]

ES
Hoffman - Suzuki - Caufield
Toffoli - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Evans - Armia (shutdown line)
Drouin - Perrault - Anderson
Paquette
(ready in Laval, and may force the teams hand in camp: Poehling, Ylonen, RHP, Teasdale)

Edmundson - Petry
Chiarot - Kulak
Romanov - Savard
Wideman, Ouellet

PP1
Top of the diamond: Suzuki
Left half wall: Caufield
Right half wall: Hoffman
Bumper: Toffoli
Front of the net: Kotkaniemi

PP2
Top of the diamond: Romanov
Left half wall: Petry
Right half wall: Drouin
Bumper: Gallagher
Front of the net: Perrault/Armia/Evans

Pk1: Evans-Armia
Pk2: Perrault-Lehkonen
Pk3: Suzuki-Toffoli
(pk4 if needed: Gallagher-KK)

 

[Ozmodiar]

Based on our current roster I would expect we'd be rolling 4 lines fairly evenly at ES.

Drouin - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Evans - Toffoli
Armia - Poehling - Anderson

They need another center.

Consider this: Suzuki is the only center who didn’t spend any time behind Eric Staal on the depth chart last season.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Not to start the season for sure, but Poehling has a much higher ceiling than Evans IMO.

Poehling is coming to camp hungry to steal a job and it's flying under the radar. People are thinking about his 1st pro season and how he struggled but don't really know how his 2nd year went which was much better. He's focused and he has the skating/size to earn a job! Might need some grooming by Ducharme at the NHL level but if he is willing to listen to the coaches instructions, Ducharme will play him.

 

[crazyd74]

My forward lines

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Drouin - Poehling - Anderson
Lehkonen - Paquette - Armia

So your magic 8-ball told you that Evans is getting another concussion, right?

I know not an easy lineup to draft. We are back to a dysfunctional group of forwards and a weak middle line.

 

[crazyd74]

Poehling is coming to camp hungry to steal a job and it's flying under the radar. People are thinking about his 1st pro season and how he struggled but don't really know how his 2nd year went which was much better. He's focused and he has the skating/size to earn a job! Might need some grooming by Ducharme at the NHL level but if he is willing to listen to the coaches instructions, Ducharme will play him.

We NEED for him to steal a job.

 

[Habs Halifax]

We NEED for him to steal a job.

Depends. Even if he steals a job, I'm not sure of our path as a team this year. I don't see a team that can be either top 10 in defense or offense. I see us middle of the pack in both categories. That's a concern of mine in terms of making the playoffs and having the confidence we can get past the 1st round. You need to be good at one at the minimum.

1) Probability we can be a top 10 defensive team this year?
vs
2) Probability we can be a top 10 offensive team this year?

Probability is higher with option 1 but without Weber and Danault, we need guys to step up and play a team game. I have no doubt in my mind Ducharme will focus on D with a counter attack type strategy

 

[KevSkillz4]

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield. (perfect line, smart goal scorer and the fantastic duo).
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Anderson. (Great goal scorer, two-way C and powerforward).
Drouin - Evans - Gallagher. (reminds me of Tatar - Danault - Gallagher, Drouin the talented guy, Evans the two-way guy and Gallagher the gritty guy).
Lehkonen - Perreault/Paquette - Armia.

Edmundson - Petry.
Romanov - Savard.
Chiarot - Kulak.
Wideman.

 

[smirob]

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield. (perfect line, smart goal scorer and the fantastic duo).
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Anderson. (Great goal scorer, two-way C and powerforward).
Drouin - Evans - Gallagher. (reminds me of Tatar - Danault - Gallagher, Drouin the talented guy, Evans the two-way guy and Gallagher the gritty guy).
Lehkonen - Perreault/Paquette - Armia.

Edmundson - Petry.
Romanov - Savard.
Chiarot - Kulak.
Wideman.

Pretty much mine. Hoffman and Toffoli might be switched depending on how they play.

 

[Skip Bayless]

We are going to miss Perry on the PP. Those sweet hands and that poise with the puck is non-existent in the current squad. Closest thing is Armia, but he doesn't have the creativity down low.

 

[HabsWhiteKnightLOL]

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Pretty good chemistry before Toffoli was slowed by injury... regular season they could absolutely light it up with both better scoring depth in the lineup and less ability for opposing teams to game plan around shutting them down

Drouin - JKO - Gallagher
JD has the skill/vision to both complement and maximize JKOs impressive vision and tools. Gallagher adds element of intensity and leadership to keep the young guy focused and the flaky guy honest

Hoffman - Perreault - Anderson
Anderson's size and ozone disruption creates space for the smallish Hoff/Perreault to have the time they need to make the most of their playmaking and sniping ability

Lekhonen - Evans - Armia
energy line with more skill than any other "4th" line in the league, creating match up advantages either in freeing up other habs lines (by going against opposition top lines) or punishing opposing depth lines


in teh end, i hope they are flexible during camp/pre-season to play around a bit and figure out which combinations have the best chemistry. Anderson and Drouin are two challenging wild cards as we don't know what we'll get from JD, and JA's game is so one-dimensional that it's a bit tougher to figure out the best way to optimize his strengths without his lack of vision and playmaking weighing down a top-6 line.

I would switch KK with Perreault.

KK needs speed and pureshooter with him. Gallagher and Drouin does not provide any of that

 

[Habs Halifax]

My last guess unless we make a trade

1B: Anderson / Suzuki / Caufield
2B: Lehkonen / Evans / Gallagher
2C: Toffoli / KK / Hoffman
3B: Drouin / Poehling / Armia
Spares: Paquette, Perreault, Byron (IR)

1B: Edmundson / Petry
2B: Chiarot / Romanov
3A: Norlinder / Savard
Spares: Kulak, Wideman

1A: Price
2A: Allen

PP Unit #1:
Caufield / Gallagher / Suzuki
Petry / Norlinder

PP Unit #2:
Toffoli / KK / Hoffman
Romanov / Drouin

PK Unit #1:
Armia / Evans
Chiarot / Romanov

PK Unit #2:
Lehkonen / Poehling
Edmundson / Petry

 

[Captain97]

You know what I've got my final guess aswell now pending trade:

Drouin - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Toffoloi
Anderson - Evans - Gallagher
Perrault - Paquette - Armia

First line I think we have to try it
2nd line 2 responsible guys with Hoffman
3rd line, both Gally and Anderson are fairly independent producers and their centreman doesn't matter as much.
4th line what's left and very defensively responsible.

 

[Clumsyhab]

You know what I've got my final guess aswell now pending trade:

Drouin - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Toffoloi
Anderson - Evans - Gallagher
Perrault - Paquette - Armia

First line I think we have to try it
2nd line 2 responsible guys with Hoffman
3rd line, both Gally and Anderson are fairly independent producers and their centreman doesn't matter as much.
4th line what's left and very defensively responsible.

Where's Lehkonen? He scored the biggest goal for the Habs in the last 28 years and signed for 2+M, I highly doubt he'll be left out.

 

[BargainBinSpecial]

Hoffman Suzuki Caufield/Toffoli
Toffoli/Drouin KK Anderson
Lek/Drouin Evans Gallagher
Byron/Drouin Perreault Armia
Paquette Poehling
Drouin

I have a feeling Drouin is good as gone. His trade value is negative and BargainBin doesn't want to trade picks to unload him. This trade will go down as one of the worst ones in Habs history, along with the Gomez McDo swap.

 

[Theodore450]

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Pretty good chemistry before Toffoli was slowed by injury... regular season they could absolutely light it up with both better scoring depth in the lineup and less ability for opposing teams to game plan around shutting them down

Drouin - JKO - Gallagher
JD has the skill/vision to both complement and maximize JKOs impressive vision and tools. Gallagher adds element of intensity and leadership to keep the young guy focused and the flaky guy honest

Hoffman - Perreault - Anderson
Anderson's size and ozone disruption creates space for the smallish Hoff/Perreault to have the time they need to make the most of their playmaking and sniping ability

Lekhonen - Evans - Armia
energy line with more skill than any other "4th" line in the league, creating match up advantages either in freeing up other habs lines (by going against opposition top lines) or punishing opposing depth lines


in teh end, i hope they are flexible during camp/pre-season to play around a bit and figure out which combinations have the best chemistry. Anderson and Drouin are two challenging wild cards as we don't know what we'll get from JD, and JA's game is so one-dimensional that it's a bit tougher to figure out the best way to optimize his strengths without his lack of vision and playmaking weighing down a top-6 line.

I kinda like these lines. I don’t think Evans will be pushed to the 4th but we’ll see. Ducharme seems like a flexible coach with his lineups

 

[WinterLion]

My guesses:

-Gally will play with Kotkienemi and take the right side draws.
-Paquette will earn the 4th line C job
-Evans and Poehling will end the year on the same line
-Perrault is going to be used the way Gally has been... to kick start lines and help on draws
-Romanov and Savard will be the 2nd pair by year end
-Wdeman will beat out Kulak and play 15+ minutes