Best and worst 4th liners in the NHL?

[teravaineSAROS]

Who are the best and worst 4th line calibre players in the NHL?

And are there any who just shouldn't be in the NHL but played there due to lack of depth?


Cullen has got to be one of the best, but he might technically be a 3rd liner on most teams? Brodziak is also solid.

Boll doesn't strike me as very good, same goes for McCormick or McClement.

Click to read more...

 

[Liminality]

Not sure if he's considered one of the best but when the Leafs got Boyle for their hole at center on the 4th line, it was a massive upgrade over Ben Smith. Great defense first and face off guy and wasn't a liability on the ice.

 

[The Gongshow]

Brian Boyle. Whether in Tampa or Toronto he was fantastic in his role. Also killed penalties and sometimes got PP time. Great leader, has some decent moves and isn't afraid to throw the body and even drop the gloves. Good for some goals as well.

Would love to have him back on Tampa. Nothing bad to say about the guy

 

[Canada4Gold]

Brian Boyle -> Ben Smith. Leafs pretty much covered both ends of this spectrum last year.

 

[mnwild*]

lets make a thread about whos the best and worst without putting in my own opinion

 

[Roboturner913]

Viktor Stalberg and Joakim Nordstrom were hoss 4th liners for Carolina this year. They were so good it didn't seem to matter that the guy who centered their line (Jay McClement) was kinda bad.

I hated when we traded Stalberg at the deadline. He is just about the perfect 4th liner IMO.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

lets make a thread about whos the best and worst without putting in my own opinion

fine i'm on it

 

[kmo429]

Casey Cizikas is easily one of the best. Even though he is more of a 3C who plays on the Islanders' 4th.

 

[Fugazy]

Brian Boyle has always been a great 4th liner wherever he's played.

 

[suddeninterest]

I don't even know what a 4th liner is anymore. If you look around the league you have a lot of "4th liners" playing in the top 6, or guys with top 6 skill playing 3rd or 4th line. Just look at Hyman in Toronto. I'd say he's a very good 4th liner or at best a poor 3rd liner in terms of skill, but he plays with Matthews on the top line. Does that make him one of the best 4th liners in the game or one of the worst 1st liners? Even though he plays on a certain line doesn't mean he's that level of player. Same with Galchenyuk who I believe played "4th line" for a bit on the Habs this season? Well there's your best 4th liner folks. Depends on how you define it imo.

Let's say a 4th liner is a guy who's career toi is less than 15 minutes a game and has never scored more than 25 points. Who is near the top of those criteria? Those would probably be your best "4th liners."

As for worst 4th liners well that's too broad because there are a ton of guys who play "4th line" who shouldn't be in the NHL at all so I'm not getting into that.

 

[hagelin1381]

Chris Kelly has to be one of the worst. As does Tanner Glass.. People have already mentioned Cullen and Boyle as the best and I'd have to agree

 

[Roboturner913]

Product of the salary cap, coaches trying to spread offense throughout the lineup to make up for financial constraints. Numbering lines is becoming an outdated concept IMO. Matt Cullen isn't a 4th liner any more than those guys playing with Crosby are legit 1st liners.

 

[LeafsNation149]

Hymans an amazing 4th liner playing on the 1st line. Idk if that counts.

 

[McWeber]

Mark Letestu has been stellar, especially on special teams.

 

[Menzinger]

A guy like Boyle - but he's really more of a good 3rd line guy who gets 4th line usage.

Always felt the term elite 4th liner to be a bit of an oxymoron

 

[Territory]

Boyle was fantastic for us. Hope we can get him back.

 

[VanIslander]

Matt Martin led all NHL forwards in hits with an incredible 300 and yet only played 8:54 minutes a game. EVERY NHL team wants a fourth liner like that!

Ryan Reaves in St. Louis actually played a shave less per game and yet had 13 points and 239 hits.

Also:

Brett Connolly in Washington had 15 goals on under 11 minutes a game!
Also under 11 minutes was Chris Stewart in Minnesota with 13 goals and
Scott Wilson in Pittsburgh with less goals but 26 points.

 

[MessierII]

Mark Letestu is hands down the best "4th" liner in the NHL.

 

[tgo0]

The "worst" portion of this screams Chris Thorburn. He's the Mark Stuart of forwards, (yet somehow has 2 of the nicest goals in Jets 2.0 history...go figure) just a constant liability when he's on the ice and not punching faces.

 

[A4T1L6]

best:

jay mcclement
brian boyle
matt martin
worst:
ben smith

 

[Paxon]

Deslauriers is no bueno

 

[Fig]

Matt Stajan is one of the best in the bottom 6. Defensively responsible, good IQ player who can elevate his line mates. Consummate pro, doesn't complain while playing there. Can be asked to work with, mentor energy/checking/rookie line mates. Helps a lot to anchor our bottom 6. He is however, overpaid. But that was done mostly to help reach the salary floor in seasons past.

Only 3 seasons ago, he was playing C on the first and second lines. Stajan was pretty good playing wing with Backlund on our 2nd line, but then our bottom 6 was a mess and easy to exploit. At the beginning of the season, I've been thinking Stajan should play 1RW a la Hudler, but Ferland exceeded expectations and developed great chemistry with Mony and Johnny.

I honestly think he's going to be an underrated piece to lose if our C don't pan out as quickly as expected. I hope Jankowski or Lazar can replace him within a season.

 

[TOGuy14]

Wasn't a full time thing, and also obviously isn't where he will end up but Kapanen was playing 4th line/PK for his call up with the Leafs. For a player of his skill set that is an obvious mismatch, but the other lines were already rolling and had chemistry going.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Mark Letestu has been stellar, especially on special teams.

Yep.

 

[Shakey Rustie]

For worst I'd nominate Chris Thorburn but Maurice has been known to slot Thorbs in on the 3rd line at times, so I'm not sure if it fits this thread.