Brian Little moving forward

What should the Jets do with Brian Little?


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Halberdier

Registered User
May 14, 2016
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Little will rebound this year, especially if they keep him away from Laine (which is assumed)

Let's hope for that rebound, but how do you assume he is kept away from Laine? Maurice never admitted making any mistakes with playing them together. On the contrary he expressed how he dislikes the idea of Laine playing with Scheifele (and Wheeler?), and then "tried" that for couple of periods to prove his "point".

Besides, it's not only that Little and Laine are toxic together. It's that the combination of Little and dynamic duo Laine & Ehlers is not working at all. PLE did work quite well, PLL did work almost OK, CLL looked promising for their really short stint together, but ELL practically never did work, eye-test or real stats wise.

Captain is RW and playing with Scheifele and I don't think Maurice can or will make anything about that. Maurice is not going to demote Little as 3rd line center (without Stastny or similar being 2nd center), and he is not that insane to play Laine as 3rd line winger. I really can't see how Little and Laine are not playing together. I would try Roslovic or Copp as 2nd line center, but I'm not Maurice.
 

Howard Chuck

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The answer to a lot of our lineup questions relies on reuniting Little and Wheeler. I'm sure there is a reason for not doing it (probably because we were having success at the time), but it would give us a better first line and a better second line. Win/win imo.
 

LowLefty

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Let's hope for that rebound, but how do you assume he is kept away from Laine? Maurice never admitted making any mistakes with playing them together. On the contrary he expressed how he dislikes the idea of Laine playing with Scheifele (and Wheeler?), and then "tried" that for couple of periods to prove his "point".

Besides, it's not only that Little and Laine are toxic together. It's that the combination of Little and dynamic duo Laine & Ehlers is not working at all. PLE did work quite well, PLL did work almost OK, CLL looked promising for their really short stint together, but ELL practically never did work, eye-test or real stats wise.

Captain is RW and playing with Scheifele and I don't think Maurice can or will make anything about that. Maurice is not going to demote Little as 3rd line center (without Stastny or similar being 2nd center), and he is not that insane to play Laine as 3rd line winger. I really can't see how Little and Laine are not playing together. I would try Roslovic or Copp as 2nd line center, but I'm not Maurice.

I'm going to assume Maurice gets it - Laine and Little is not good. Maurice doesn't need to "admit" anything - why would you assume he would?

Honestly, I can't see them together next year - Ros is one option and if the stars are aligned, the second option is Laine with Scheif - but don't hold your breath.
 

Halberdier

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May 14, 2016
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People are expecting Roslo to step into the 2C spot when he didn't hardly play center at all last year for the Jets???

This is exactly why I am not really confident about starting the season without Stastny or any decent replacement for him.

Expecting Roslo to be a decent 2C from season start is not realistic. It's borderline possible, but very improbable, so obviously you cannot count on it.
 
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Halberdier

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May 14, 2016
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The answer to a lot of our lineup questions relies on reuniting Little and Wheeler. I'm sure there is a reason for not doing it (probably because we were having success at the time), but it would give us a better first line and a better second line. Win/win imo.

There is no doubt that Wheeler will have a lot more personal points when playing with Scheifele instead of Little. There you have the reason. I don't think anyone would even pretend that Maurice had more to say where Wheeler is playing than Blake himself.

For the team reuniting Little and Wheeler should be a jackpot as that would make the 2nd line much better and 1st line not worse as Laine is proven to work really well with Scheifele. Also 1st and 2nd line would then have pretty equal ice time being effectively 1a + 1b lines preventing fatique. Something like 17-18 minutes for both lines could be optimal.
 

Jets2point0

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Oct 14, 2017
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The answer to a lot of our lineup questions relies on reuniting Little and Wheeler. I'm sure there is a reason for not doing it (probably because we were having success at the time), but it would give us a better first line and a better second line. Win/win imo.

In Wheelers contract year, he will be playing with Scheifele
 
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DRW204

Registered User
Dec 26, 2010
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It may be so, but we are stuck with that contract until Little is 36. I get Ladd contract on steroids vibes from that. And I’d rather keep Wheeler than Little, even if he has a bounce-back year.
cmon Ladd :laugh:. Ladd is at 5.5M until 38 and has had seasons of 29 and 31 pts as an Islander. Little is not that bad.
 

grieves

silent prayer
Apr 27, 2016
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In Wheelers contract year, he will be playing with Scheifele

Yep, I think this is what is going to happen as well. Contracts need to be taken into account so what exactly would be the point of putting Laine into a spot where he can score 70 goals in a lucky year right before he signs, when you can at the same time put Wheeler in that position and prop up his (already significant) value for a possible trade in the future.

As much as I'd want to see Laine on the first line, it doesn't make much sense right now, taking into account financial aspects. And before anyone starts with the "conspiracy" nonsense, just shove it right up your bottom.
 
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Spock

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Oct 5, 2017
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Yep, I think this is what is going to happen as well. Contracts need to be taken into account so what exactly would be the point of putting Laine into a spot where he can score 70 goals in a lucky year right before he signs, when you can at the same time put Wheeler in that position and prop up his value for a possible trade in the future.

As much as I'd want to see Laine on the first line, it doesn't make much sense right now, taking into account financial aspects. And before anyone starts with the "conspiracy" nonsense, just shove it right up your bottom.

That is similar to saying "don't win the Stanley Cup, the banners are too expensive."

Not putting players in a place where they can maximize your team's success on the ice is illogical. Do you cringe every time Laine scores?
 
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grieves

silent prayer
Apr 27, 2016
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That is similar to saying "don't win the Stanley Cup, the banners are too expensive."

Not putting players in a place where they can maximize your team's success on the ice is illogical. Do you cringe every time Laine scores?

No, it is similar to saying "We should probably aim to win the Stanley Cup more than this one time, so probably best not to focus on just one season like a damn lemming".

Yes, I cringe every time Laine scores. That is a very logical place to take this, Mr Spock...

As far as I understand, Laine having a lucky year with Scheifele vs not playing with Chef could be the difference of 20-30 million in cap space for the next 8 years. That's like a solid bottom 6 player right there.
 
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Spock

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No, it is similar to saying "We should probably aim to win the Stanley Cup more than this one time, so probably best not to focus on just one season like a damn lemming".

Yes, I cringe every time Laine scores. That is a very logical place to take this, Mr Spock...

As far as I understand, Laine having a lucky year with Scheifele vs not playing with Chef could be the difference of 20-30 million in cap space for the next 8 years. That's like a solid bottom 6 player right there.

What I gather from that is you want Laine to be less effective this year so that we have cap space to pay bottom-six forwards an extra million or two over the next eight years.

You're trying to win a second Stanley Cup before you've won the first one.
 

PhilJets

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Jun 24, 2012
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Somewhere nice
He should be a middle C for the Jets.
Great defensively.
Had an off year from his usual 50 points plus a year. His deployment changed dramatically though. He got a year of that so he should bounce back.
 

grieves

silent prayer
Apr 27, 2016
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What I gather from that is you want Laine to be less effective this year so that we have cap space to pay bottom-six forwards an extra million or two over the next eight years.

You're trying to win a second Stanley Cup before you've won the first one.

Yes, since there is no guarantee of winning even the first Stanley Cup, I would maximize my chances of winning in the next eight years over maximizing the chance of winning in one year, because there is still a good chance in this one year that I might win regardless of running a slightly more inefficient team. I'm not a mathematician but I'm almost certain that is the correct move.

Bottom six forwards are almost paid for with a million or two. If you don't see the benefit of that kind of cap space in a sport where there are no guaranteed wins in any case, then you are not thinking this through.

Or think of it like this: How much is worth in some adjustments in roster for two seasons, for Ehlers to be 50% off for his whole contract?

I will admit that it's not an easy answer since there are no guarantees, but we are talking about a big chunk of cap space here.
 
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Hulide

Registered User
Jul 12, 2017
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The way I see it is that Little needs to get his confidence back.. Little have been used to feel important to the team. Playing with Wheeler and Ladd. Wheeler/ Scheifs BFF story makes Little feel less important.. Wheeler all the time telling everybody that he LOVES to Play with Scheifele, how do you Think that makes Bryan Little feel??? Well a guess would be, not important or good enough. I know they are professionel but they are also people.
I Remember 2 years ago Little came back from injury and all where Saying how Much we had been missing Little... right away he played great and took the hard match up. Last season he could see Scheifele/Wheeler combo take the spotlight and he felt less important.. playing poorly almost all season.. but...but...but..
The moment Scheifele got injured Little elevated his game and was looking like the old Bryan Little for about 10 games playing with Perrault and Ehlers. Then Scheifele came back and his season went downhill again.
I Know its difficult to change a winning team but we really need the old Bryan Little back.
Scheifele/ Laine and Little/Wheeler and I dont care who the left wings are...
Little is a man who does not talk Much but he needs to feel important and needs to feel that the Coach believe in him. We get more Out of everybody in the top 6 that way.
 

JetsFan815

Registered User
Jan 16, 2012
19,119
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Voted for trading anywhere but I acknowledge nobody will eat that contract. It's an unfortunate situation/contract.

Your first post back on HFJets in months and no surprise it's a Little bashing post :laugh:. Anyways Welcome Back! :thumbu:
 

Psych0dad

Registered User
Sep 27, 2017
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Saint John, N.B
Not bashing. I just don't owe him some emotional baggage that some thrashers fans might. I look at what he is doing now and how that relates to how he was doing before. Unfortunately, it's not exactly the trend I would love to see for someone signed for 6 years over 5 million per. I don't care about how much he makes bit cap hit is an issue for maybe the best young core of players that require large extensions.

It is my opinion, based on one and a half season, that Little has lost at least a step...it probably has to do with injury and it's not at all impossible to think that he can bounce back, but it's foolish to ignore the current decline. Might not be permanent but ignorance of the issue is never bliss.

One thing is for sure, ELL is a crime against humanity. It's the chemistry not Little. He can play a lot better with guys he reads right and who read him (like Wheeler).
 

Spock

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Oct 5, 2017
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Yes, since there is no guarantee of winning even the first Stanley Cup, I would maximize my chances of winning in the next eight years over maximizing the chance of winning in one year, because there is still a good chance in this one year that I might win regardless of running a slightly more inefficient team. I'm not a mathematician but I'm almost certain that is the correct move.

I'll keep it simple. It is illogical to compromise your team's success in any way during your window to "win now." There are many variables that can lead to the Jets not winning a Stanley cup over the next 8 years.
Laine playing with Scheifele this year is low on that list.
Not putting Laine in a position to maximize his production this year is higher on that list.
 

heilongjetsfan

Registered User
Jul 4, 2011
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Yep, I think this is what is going to happen as well. Contracts need to be taken into account so what exactly would be the point of putting Laine into a spot where he can score 70 goals in a lucky year right before he signs, when you can at the same time put Wheeler in that position and prop up his (already significant) value for a possible trade in the future.

As much as I'd want to see Laine on the first line, it doesn't make much sense right now, taking into account financial aspects. And before anyone starts with the "conspiracy" nonsense, just shove it right up your bottom.

I had a boss try to stifle my development at work for his own benefit, too. He gave the promotion that I felt I'd earned to a woman he thought he could sleep with. I went to work for his competition across the street.

Look at all the nonsense we've dealt with because Trouba felt buried in the lineup. Not getting prime playing time despite producing better numbers than someone above you would be a huge point of contention at contract time.

Pissed off 40 goal Laine might cost even more than happy 70 goal Laine.

*edit* If I wanted to get Laine as cheaply as possible, I'd be negotiating an 8 year contract right now, before he goes out and puts up even better numbers than the last 2 years
 
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grieves

silent prayer
Apr 27, 2016
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I'll keep it simple. It is illogical to compromise your team's success in any way during your window to "win now." There are many variables that can lead to the Jets not winning a Stanley cup over the next 8 years.
Laine playing with Scheifele this year is low on that list.
Not putting Laine in a position to maximize his production this year is higher on that list.

It's not that easy as you make it out to be. We are not going to agree on this but I have said all I have to say about this subject. Everyone can determine for themselves what is logical.

I might be wrong on this, no doubt, but the line combos have been very strange given what we know. But hey maybe ELL will work a lot better next season so let's put arguably the best sniper the game has ever seen in a combo where his center managed 3 primary assists to him in 50 games. Makes perfect sense.
 
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grieves

silent prayer
Apr 27, 2016
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I had a boss try to stifle my development at work for his own benefit, too. He gave the promotion that I felt I'd earned to a woman he thought he could sleep with. I went to work for his competition across the street.

Look at all the nonsense we've dealt with because Trouba felt buried in the lineup. Not getting prime playing time despite producing better numbers than someone above you would be a huge point of contention at contract time.

Pissed off 40 goal Laine might cost even more than happy 70 goal Laine.

*edit* If I wanted to get Laine as cheaply as possible, I'd be negotiating an 8 year contract right now, before he goes out and puts up even better numbers than the last 2 years

Pissed off 40 goal Laine might cost even more but the odds are he won't. Not by a long shot.

Besides, Laine does not know the reasons behind anyone's deployment. The management does not owe anyone any explanations. They can just say some reason like they are saving him for the playoffs and they will have a somewhat happy 40 goal Laine.

We talking huge stacks of money here and the future decade of this franchise.
 

Spock

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Oct 5, 2017
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Pissed off 40 goal Laine might cost even more but the odds are he won't. Not by a long shot.

Besides, Laine does not know the reasons behind anyone's deployment. The management does not owe anyone any explanations. They can just say some reason like they are saving him for the playoffs and they will have a somewhat happy 40 goal Laine.

We talking huge stacks of money here and the future decade of this franchise.

It's human nature to worry, especially if you start blowing things out of proportion and believe in it. Don't panic if Laine has a "monster" year and costs an extra million dollars, annually.
 

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