Line Combos: 2021-22 lines

[Captain97]

Have me some David krejci as the stop gap #2

Yo let's double down on this

Grab Krejci and Chara for the luls

Eddy - Petry
Chiraot - Savard
Romanov - Chara

F*** it Bruins fans heads exploding everywhere would be funny.

 

[Captain97]

In all seriousness though I'm betting we go after Dvorak, Tierney, or one of the Stromes.

My money is on Tierney

For

Lehkonen and a pick (between 2 and 4)

 

[No More Subban]

So many forwards....

But I'm gonna say this now. I think it would be stupid to let Lehky and Byron go. They are our best PKers. Especially with Danault gone now too.

 

[Miller Time]

After we make this trade:
To Avs
Drouin, Byron, Kulak

to Habs
Kadri, EJ


Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - JKO - Gallagher
Lekhonen - Kadri - Anderson
Perrault - Evans - Armia
Paquette, Poehling

Edm - Petry
Chiarot - EJ
Romanov - Savard
Wideman

Price
Allen

 

[Belial]

After we make this trade:
To Avs
Drouin, Byron, Kulak

to Habs
Kadri, EJ


Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - JKO - Gallagher
Lekhonen - Kadri - Anderson
Perrault - Evans - Armia
Paquette, Poehling

Edm - Petry
Chiarot - EJ
Romanov - Savard
Wideman

Price
Allen

And what's the incentive for Colorado to do this if they don't even gain cap space and lose Kadri in the process? Just to get rid of Johnson?

 

[Prairie Habs]

Is Kuznetsov still on the block? Would be an amazing compliment to Suzuki as our other top 6 C. Would almost certainly cost us Kotkaniemi though.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Is Kuznetsov still on the block? Would be an amazing compliment to Suzuki as our other top 6 C. Would almost certainly cost us Kotkaniemi though.

Caps have 20 guys with $2.6M in cap space. Got to sign Samsonov. If you make a trade with them, you got to take a contract and not send one back or if you send a contract, it has to be less than the one your are getting. Caps appear to need help on left wing. They would save $2.4M and maybe try to sign Krejci after this trade?

Drouin and Poehling
for
Kuznetsov

 

[crazyd74]

What happens if Drouin goes to Europe....breach of contract...no more cap hit....

 

[crazyd74]

And what if Drouin decides to go to Europe?....breach of contract....no more cap hit?

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

You guys are laughing, but as things stand right now for both teams, Perreault would probably have a shot at playing on the Leafs' top-6. I have no idea what Dubas is trying to do.

 

[Archijerej]

In all seriousness though I'm betting we go after Dvorak, Tierney, or one of the Stromes.

My money is on Tierney

For

Lehkonen and a pick (between 2 and 4)

Wasn't Tierney left unprotected in the expansion draft?

I'm not a fan of trading Lehkonen. I think him and Gallagher are two thirds of an excellent matchup line.

I think Tierney would be a good target, though.

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

I keep thinking about line combos, and my perception changes from hour to hour. So I'm going to come up with my latest shot.

If things stay the same (which I think is impossible at this point), or Lehkonen gets traded:
Hoffman - Suzuki - Caufield
Drouin - KK - Anderson
Toffoli - Evans - Gallagher
Perreault - Paquette - Armia
(Lehkonen)/Byron

In a scenario where Drouin stays with the Habs, we have to insulate him and give him soft matchups. The need for a shutdown line will be even bigger, hence why I put Toffoli, Evans and Gallagher together. I think they would form a formidable 2-way line. I also think a 4th line of Perreault, Paquette and Armia can be competent in their own zone.

If Drouin is the one being traded:
Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - KK - Anderson
Armia - Evans - Gallagher
Perreault - Paquette - Lehkonen
Byron

This is where I change the approach. You still have a checking line (this time Armia, Evans and Gallagher). But in that scenario, I put Hoffman with KK and Anderson. Anderson is a very good power forward and Hoffman would probably get tons of space to get his thing going. At this point, you shelter that line, give them easy matchups/offensive zone starts, and see what happens. If Kotkaniemi doesn't product in that environment, you can forget about him ever being a successful offensive player in that league. He's still young but it's his 4th year. If you spoon-feed him easy matchups, a 30 goals scorer and one of the best power forwards in the game, he should produce. It's as simple as that. Perreault-Paquette and Lehkonen would act as a "B" checking line. Toffoli would provide Suzuki an Caufield a responsible defensive presence, and all three showed good chemestry in the playoffs together before Toffoli got hurt.

Ideally, in any of those two scenarios, you acquire a C, just so you have a backup plan when/if Kotkaniemi chokes. Maybe Drouin or Lehkonen will be part of a package to get just that.

 

[Miller Time]

And what's the incentive for Colorado to do this if they don't even gain cap space and lose Kadri in the process? Just to get rid of Johnson?

Replace Saad & Donskoi while unloading EJ.
Assumes they'd be bullish on Drouin excelling in a complimentary role with his junior running mate & Newhook being ready for regular minutes.

Would also remove Byron & add pick/prospect from them if cap flexibility mattered more.

 

[crazyd74]

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Armia - Evans - Anderson
Perreault - Poehling - lehkonen

 

[Kosseca]

What happens if Drouin goes to Europe....breach of contract...no more cap hit....

I dont think he can sign a contract in Europe.

 

[crazyd74]

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Armia - Evans - Anderson
Perreault - Poehling - lehkonen

We could have a 3P line:
Perreault - Poehling - Paquette

 

[Habs Halifax]

And what if Drouin decides to go to Europe?....breach of contract....no more cap hit?

He's not walking away from that money

 

[26Mats]

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Armia - Evans - Anderson
Perreault - Poehling - lehkonen

If we go get Eichel for Kk and futures, plus Byron and Drouin to even out the salaries, I could see this being the lineup, with Eichel in KK's spot.

But otherwise, how did Byron and Drouin's 8.9M combined cap hits disappear?

 

[Astormynight]

He's not walking away from that money

If i was him i'll think about it ... he could get more than a million euro to play in quiet place in Switzerland and becomes a legend there without being that pestered by reporters. I think for someone who likes hockey that much it could be an interesting choice... Some people prefer less money more comfort in life... But honestly I don't thinkl Drouin will do that.

 

[crazyd74]

If we go get Eichel for Kk and futures, plus Byron and Drouin to even out the salaries, I could see this being the lineup, with Eichel in KK's spot.

But otherwise, how did Byron and Drouin's 8.9M combined cap hits disappear?

Pick a card, any card...nothing up my sleeve.....<<pouf>>....Nice trick, ugh

 

[Kudo Shinichi]

Byron out 5 months.
Poehling and Norlinder will likely have a chance to crack the roster

Hoffman - Suzuki - Caufield
Drouin - KK - Anderson
Toffoli - Evans - Gallagher (shutdown line)
Perreault - Poehling - Armia
Lehkonen, Paquette

Edmundson - Petry
Chariot - Savard
Romanov - Norlinder
Kulak

Price
Allen

 

[SpezNc2]

Byron out 5 months.
Poehling and Norlinder will likely have a chance to crack the roster

Hoffman - Suzuki - Caufield
Drouin - KK - Anderson
Toffoli - Evans - Gallagher (shutdown line)
Perreault - Poehling - Armia
Lehkonen, Paquette

Edmundson - Petry
Chariot - Savard
Romanov - Norlinder
Kulak

Price
Allen

I suspect that Wideman start the season but Norlinder could be the dark horse.

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - KK - Anderson
Drouin - Evans - Gallagher (shutdown line)
Perreault - Poehling - Armia
Lehkonen, Paquette

Call up option : Vejdemo, Belzile, Dauphin, Dea, Ylonen

Edmundson - Petry
Romanov - Savard
Chariot - Wideman
Kulak

Dark Horse: Norlinder

Call up option : Brook, Ouellet, Schueneman, Delpedio

Price
Allen

Call up option : Primeau​

 

[26Mats]

I suspect that Wideman start the season but Norlinder could be the dark horse.

Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - KK - Anderson
Drouin - Evans - Gallagher (shutdown line)
Perreault - Poehling - Armia
Lehkonen, Paquette

Call up option : Vejdemo, Belzile, Dauphin, Dea, Ylonen

Edmundson - Petry
Romanov - Savard
Chariot - Wideman
Kulak

Dark Horse: Norlinder

Call up option : Brook, Ouellet, Schueneman, Delpedio

Price
Allen

Call up option : Primeau​

We may go into the season with that center line. But it feels like when we went into the season with a LD of Alzner, Schlemko, Benn, and Mete. Things may not go so well - in fact I'd be shocked if they did.

 

[SpezNc2]

We may go into the season with that center line. But it feels like when we went into the season with a LD of Alzner, Schlemko, Benn, and Mete. Things may not go so well - in fact I'd be shocked if they did.

not wrong.

unfortunately most teams are already having their roster set. Less opportunities for a trade now. There is still the Eichel sweepstake and maybe Dvorak from Arizona but there is a legit possibility that we stay put.

Losing Danault is obviously creating a temporary hole at center.

 

[Redux91]

My best guess right now is:

Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield (keep playoff chemistry)

Hoffman-Kotkaniemi-Gallagher (it took one playoff run playing through an injury for people to forget that this team completely falls apart without Gallagher, he's not a 3rd liner. His play driving may be able to offset Hoffman's awful 5v5 play. KK is an underrated playmaker)

Drouin-Evans-Anderson (Evans isn't a top-9 center, but Anderson's North south game should help and Drouin's decent in transition as well. And imbalanced line, but should work as a 3rd)

Byron/Lehkonen-Paquette-Armia (Two 3rd line wingers between a replacement-level C. Don't love it, but fine for the 4th line).

Edmundson-Petry (it just works)

Romanov-Savard (Savard needs a D partner that can skate. Romanov needs a responsible D partner. Fit makes sense)

Chiarot-Kulak (Works fine for a 3rd pair)

Price
Allen

I don't know, this group feels very incomplete. They've got too many wingers, a need for a C and an imbalanced D core. I'd be shocked if Bergevin didn't have a significant trade he's working on.

I too think Gallagher should be tried next to KK, let's see what happens

What you've made apparent to me tho is each of those 3 top 9 LWs you have there are completely interchangeable on all 3 lines really, which can help

And that our 4th line is pretty damn not too bad really

Missing 1 top 4 D and of the PMD variety tho, I agree