GDT: 3/23/19 - 8:00PM EDT - Tampa Bay @ St. Louis

[DFC]

I don't think they'd do that with Cirelli being so vital on the #1 PK unit, which is a shame, because I definitely see the same thing. Best puck retrieval guy we've got.

There was more good than bad last night, but I feel like we continue to get exposed on our backend. Rutta and Sergachev, less so Rutta because he'll eventually be a scratch, but Sergachev has had a bad week and a half paired with Heddy after showing some initial promise.

Stamkos plays both the PK and PP, so I don't see why Cirelli couldn't handle the minutes. He also gets fewer minutes at ES, so this would bump him toward 18 per night? I'd be fine with that. I think right now it's more a pecking order thing than anything else, but it feels like whatever option we come up with, realistically, Cirelli probably does all those same things, probably better, and some other things on top of it. Like, Cirelli is better at puck retrieval and board battles than either Miller or Palat right now. Probably better than anybody on the team outside of Point--but Point, I'm convinced, has a freakish ability to track pucks before anybody else, so he gets a headstart on most battles.

 

[DFC]

McDonagh was pretty brutal in this game. Gave away the puck on two Blues goals if I remember right.

He had some bad giveaways vs. Carolina too. Might be good to give him a night off. Other guys (Hedman) look like they can smell the playoffs coming, but McDonagh's been sloppy for at least a couple of games.

 

[Rschmitz]

Stamkos plays both the PK and PP, so I don't see why Cirelli couldn't handle the minutes. He also gets fewer minutes at ES, so this would bump him toward 18 per night? I'd be fine with that. I think right now it's more a pecking order thing than anything else, but it feels like whatever option we come up with, realistically, Cirelli probably does all those same things, probably better, and some other things on top of it. Like, Cirelli is better at puck retrieval and board battles than either Miller or Palat right now. Probably better than anybody on the team outside of Point--but Point, I'm convinced, has a freakish ability to track pucks before anybody else, so he gets a headstart on most battles.

None of our guys are on the top unit for both the PK and PP, I think that is purposeful in an effort to eliminate consecutive high leverage minutes and provide continuity instead of mixing up our special teams. Hedman is the last to do that before we acquired McDonagh, but doubling up as a defender isn't the same as being a workhorse along the boards like Cirelli.

This might be something to explore next season if they really wanna do it, there is no chance they meddle with the #1 PP and #1 PK unit heading into the playoffs.