Line Combos: Canucks Line-Up Discussion (Assuming No More Trades)

[Canucks LB]

Let's get Started,

First of all, I am having a Hell of a time trying to figure out a Line-up that makes sense, Is Nicely Balanced, and works for all the pieces involved, Here are TWO I came up with that seem to "fit" What we have, and give proper opportunities.

Line up #1 - (I like this one Less)
Miller Pettersson Boeser
Kuzmenko Horvat Mikheyev
Garland Dickinson Podkolzin
Pearson Lazar Joshua
Höglander

Line up #2 - (I like this one more)
Kuzmenko Pettersson Boeser
Garland Miller Mikheyev
Pearson Horvat Podkolzin
Hoglander Lazar Joshua
Dickenson

The Forward group is obviously pretty stacked, But there is a Clear weakness, so much so, I would honestly have him play in Abbotsford for the upcoming Season, and somehow find a replacement #3 C on the Market who fits the role better.
That problem is Dickinson, 100%. The only way to fix this issue with the current roster is have JT Miller as our 2nd Line Center, and play him on a purely speed/attacking/aggression line with Garland and Mikheyev.

Kuzmenko get's his opportunity on the top 6 to start the year, and have the "2 way line" In pearson, Horvat and Podkolzin.
I think this Balance works out nicely.

DEFENSE

Hughes OEL
Dermott Myers
Rathbone Poolman
Burroughs / Schenn

Defense is a lot more Tricky, and it's a clear weakness on this team.
I wanna give Rathbone an oppertunity to make this roster, Have him on the Left side third pairing, with another good Skater in Poolman.
Move OEL to the Right Side for a significant portion of the Season and play him with Hughes.
And have Myers and Dermott "Try" To be our shutdown line.
Like I said, There is a clear weakness right now, We have no true shutdown D-man, and it's the biggest problem on this team, I do feel this is the best way to deal with this.

Have Schenn and Burroughs come in from time to time, Or if Rathbone is not ready, Move OEL back to the left side, put Schenn with Hughes again for another year.

And that's basically the way I see things.

Demko holds the fort, playing 70% of the games, Martin get's the other 30%, and he needs to stand on his head.

Thoughts?

Click to read more...

 

[CanucksSayEh]

Kuz/Hog-Miller-BB
Garland-EP-Podz
Kuz/Hog-Horvat-Mikheyev

Don't like Garland and JT together. Takes too much puck away from JT.

 

[Canucks LB]

Kuz/Hog-Miller-BB
Garland-EP-Podz
Kuz/Hog-Horvat-Mikheyev

Don't like Garland and JT together. Takes too much puck away from JT.

Honestly, Just don't see the Balance at all with this Roster.
Kuz - Miller - Boeser Just seems way to slow of a line, It could work, But it really hurts the following depth downward.
Giving Pods a top 6 Opportunity already is a bit premature, Especially with the depth on the roster.
Mikheyev was not brought in to be a bottom 6 guy.
As for Hoglander, I just feel his defensive problems are pretty significant, and would need to show serious improvement in that regard to get more of an opportunity.
Horvat is not great defensively also, and having Mikheyev to make up for it, just seems a bit of a waste of his speed, especially if he plays with Garland.
Also, Not a fan of Garland and EP40 together last year.

Also on Hogs, I feel if he played with Josh and Lazar, I feel the skill/size/tenacity of that line would be incredibly effective, and Hogs can jump back into the top 9 if any injuries happen.

I don't mean to be overly critical, I just don't see the balance.
At least we both agree Dickenson should be nowhere near our top 9

 

[Kryten]

Balanced forward lines,
Kuzmenko Miller Boeser
Mikheyev Pettersson Garland
Pearson Horvat Podkolzin
Dickinson Lazar Hoglander
Whoever

Hughes Schenn
OEL Myers
Rathbone Dermott
Whoever Whoever assuming Poolman is Ferlanded

Or

Stacked top 6, unbalanced lines,
Miller Pettersson Boeser
Kuzmenko Horvat Garland
Mikheyev Dickinson Podkolzin
Pearson Lazar Hoglander
Whoever

Hughes OEL
Dermott Myers
Rathbone Schenn
Whoever Whoever assuming Poolman is Ferlanded

 

[Canucks LB]

Balanced forward lines,
Kuzmenko Miller Boeser
Mikheyev Pettersson Garland
Pearson Horvat Podkolzin
Dickinson Lazar Hoglander
Whoever

Hughes Schenn
OEL Myers
Rathbone Dermott
Whoever Whoever assuming Poolman is Ferlanded

Or

Stacked top 6, unbalanced lines,
Miller Pettersson Boeser
Kuzmenko Horvat Garland
Mikheyev Dickinson Podkolzin
Pearson Lazar Hoglander
Whoever

Hughes OEL
Dermott Myers
Rathbone Schenn
Whoever Whoever assuming Poolman is Ferlanded

Apparently there was an interview recently saying the poolman is pretty much healthy and ready to start the season.

 

[rypper]

I think I might want to put Mikheyev with some of the guys who aren't the fastest skaters. Let him bring up the speed of the line. Ie. Boeser. I could have sworn I heard talk about Kuzmenko's foot speed as well?

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

hoglander pettersson podkolzin
kuzmenko miller mikheyev
garland horvat boeser
pearson lazar dickinson

hughes schenn/burroughs
dermott OEL
rathbone myers

tried to even out the scoring lines, but could mix and match the middle six. boeser’s best chance of succeeding imo is with a strong center drawing the brunt of the attention and a play-pushing LW, so he can just hang out and wait for open shots. garland’s overhandling of the puck might actually be useful here.

in any event, three good second lines, and you can roll them pat quinn style.

trust quinn to carry a safe partner, load up the second pair (not sure which one plays the RS) to ice heavy shutdown minutes, and shelter rathbone and myers. in a low minutes/low pressure role, myers is fine, even sometimes good.

 

[cc]

Pearson Miller boeser - 2/3 of the 649 line should be OK even with Pearson instead of petey

Kuz EP Pod - not sure how good Kuz is or whether he has chemistry with EP or not. It's worth trying I think. In theory they should complement each other.

Garland boho Mikheyev - Speed with some bigger bodies for Garland to interact with. I see them playing a more simple but effective style

Hog dickinson/joshua lazar. - all about speed on the forecheck with some tenacity. I can see this giving some teams fits. Hopefully dickinson can up his game

The defense I'd pretty much keep the same and hope improved offense and goaltending can bail the team out somewhat
Oel Myers
Hughes schenn
Rathbone poolman
Dermott Burroughs

I would balance Pp1 and 2 time wise a little more

Pp1
Kuz miller ep
Brock Hughes

Pp2
Garland Bo mik
Oel Rathbone

 

[wonton15]

Podkolzin Pettersson Garland
Pearson Miller Boeser
Kuzmenko Horvat Mikheyev
Hoglander Lazar Dickinson/Joshua

Probably even-ish minutes for all top 3 lines. Pretty balanced. Mikheyev on offwing and maybe you swap him with Pearson but Pearson works with Miller. All the wingers on the top 3 lines will get swapped over the year for sure

OEL Myers
Hughes Schenn
Rathbone Dermott

 

[Vector]

Here's around how I suspect things will shake out if training camp was held tomorrow.

Mikheyev - Miller - Boeser
Kuzmenko - Pettersson - Podkolzin
Pearson - Horvat - Garland
Dickinson - Lazar - Hoglander
Joshua

Hughes - Schenn
OEL - Myers
Dermott - Poolman
Rathbone/Burroughs

Demko
Martin

Summary
Without an actual 3rd line centre, this team needs to play Miller, Pettersson, and Horvat down the middle. Poolman, as far as we know, will be in the opening line-up. Apart from Boeser on the top-line, I can see 6 other wingers moving around into the available 5 top-9 winger slots. Boudreau and company have a lot of options and can throw together a lot of different looks. Second unit powerplay will be very interesting as there's not enough slots. I suspect we'll see a lot of rotating pieces on that unit with a few unconventional looks.

Mikheyev - Miller - Boeser
Would be crazy, to me, to sign Mikheyev and Boeser to those contracts and not put them in the best chances possible to succeed. Mikheyev's straight ahead speed and forechecking would force Boeser to constantly move his feet. When Boeser is moving his feet, he's an excellent player. Miller would have to do quite a bit of work making up for both of these player's shortcomings but his came is built around tenacity and chaos rather than pure playmaking. I see Kuzmenko or Hoglander as alternatives in this spot.

Kuzmenko - Pettersson - Podkolzin
The big wild car is Kuzmenko. If you listen to the experts, you'd have absolutely no idea what style he even plays. I'm going with the optimistic assumption that he's a playmaker and neutral zone disrupter. Pettersson would get to be the undisputed line general and focal point of the offense with Kuzmenko and Podkolzin facilitating that with playmaking and boardwork. I could see Kuzmenko, Garland, Mikheyev, and Hoglander as options on the left or right sides.

Pearson - Horvat - Garland
As much as I would love to have Hoglander on the left side and move Pearson down, I just don't see it happening. Pearson and Horvat have been married to each other since he got here but the bigger reason is the having both Hoglander and Garland on the same line would give up a lot of size on the wings. As long as Pearson can effectively return from his injury, he's a good complimentary forward that's defensively responsible. He knows his role and allows Garland to be antagonizing and Horvat creative. My concern with this line is that all three are prone to cold streaks. Ideally, I'd love to see a return of the Hoglander-Horvat-Boeser line but I really don't see that happening.

Dickinson - Lazar - Hoglander
Joshua
I'm not confident this line will actually exist. Hoglander is a candidate to move up with a good camp or an injury to anyone in the top-9. While small he's effective in holding on to the puck and 2nd unit PP time could be a decent supplement to his even strength minutes. Dickinson is the most likely player in the entire line-up to lose his spot. If he doesn't have a good camp, he'll lose time to Joshua. When Joshua draws in, I think he and Lazar will split the centre duties depending on which side of the ice the faceoff is on. With Hoglander moves up, Dickinson-Joshua-Lazar would be a heavy 4th line with good speed and lots of forechecking. Telling Dickinson to just simplify his game and focus on having fun should be the first step in getting him back on track.

Hughes - Schenn
It will be very disappointing if this is, once again, the top unit. I like what Schenn brings but he's far better as a Rathbone/Dermott mentor with loads of PK time. Top unit duty stretches him thin and exposes his lack of footspeed. Very valuable player, though.

OEL - Myers
The coaching staff really doesn't have a choice in this. They aren't a match-up pairing but will be forced into that duty once again. OEL's transformation into an excellent transitional defender was unexpected and can hopefully progress to another level. The main hope is that with a full season together and training camp with this coaching staff they've gained a lot more familiarity and can be more effective for longer periods of time.

Dermott - Poolman
Rathbone/Burroughs
The big question mark is Poolman's concussion history. Last season was extremely worrying for his career and if he can't get through training camp and pre-season games then that fear moves into his life beyond hockey. Poolman is actually a good option as a 3rd pairing mentor for Dermott or Rathbone. He's mobile and responsible, allowing his partners to take some risks and be more creative. If Poolman can't go, Rathbone moves up and Dermott slides over. The downside to this is Dermott becomes the mentor and his game will stagnate more. Burroughs is comfortably in the 8th defencemen-zone. Good local kid with some snarl and effort and it's not like his development is going to be ruined by sitting on the bench. A wildcard is Brady Keeper. I don't think anyone knows what the team has in him. The most likely scenario is he goes to Abbotsford and serves as the team's top defensive call-up.

Demko
Martin
Can Martin continue his play? I mean we all hope he can. He's an easy guy to cheer for. They're really only asking him to be effective for 15-20 games. He'll probably get the reverse Ryan Miller treatment.

 

[rypper]

I think if they could find someone else to play with Myers they might move OEL to the right side and pair him with Hughes.

 

[Vector]

I think if they could find someone else to play with Myers they might move OEL to the right side and pair him with Hughes.

I think that's the scenario they've been trying to accomplish. If they could acquire a very good LD then they'd move OEL to the top-spot with Hughes and, hopefully, balance out the top-4. That way they aren't limiting themselves.

In that event, would either need assurance that Poolman isn't coming back or someone from that group would need to get moved out.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Seems like a waste to me, having Pearson, a $3M player ..(who's good for 15-20 goals a year if healthy) on a 4th line. He's over qualified for that...Boudreau leaned heavily on Pearson, in all situations.

While Pearson is fair value for his salary, he's looking a bit redundant in the big picture.

 

[Peen]

Seems like a waste to me, having Pearson, a $3M player ..(who's good for 15-20 goals a year if healthy) on a 4th line. He's over qualified for that...Boudreau leaned heavily on Pearson, in all situations.

While Pearson is fair value for his salary, he's looking a bit redundant in the big picture.

I mean, any of these older players are of no care in the big picture. At least, they should be.

However, he isn’t redundant for the roster next season. They need a defensively responsible, physical LW for a matchup line.

The redundancy is finding two spots in a top nine for BOTH Hoglander and Garland (especially when you already are allocating two spots to Mikheyev and Boeser). Neither showed utility on the PP, neither can PK, both were inconsistent last season but, on the balance, are both small, skilled es drivers.

And the market dictates Garland has no value right now.

 

[ziploc]

The only reason to keep Dickinson in the lineup, and on the 4th line, is for PK duties. Throw him out there for every PK, tell him to block shots, use him to keep other players from getting injured, and maybe in situations to try to preserve a lead. With him, Pearson, Mikheyev and Lazar in the lineup we should have a decent roster of PK forwards.

 

[CherryToke]

Garland Pettersson Podkolzin
Kuzmenko Miller Boeser
Hoglander Horvat Mikheyev
Pearson Lazar Dickinson

Don't want to look at the D

 

[Diamonddog01]

Here's around how I suspect things will shake out if training camp was held tomorrow.

Mikheyev - Miller - Boeser
Kuzmenko - Pettersson - Podkolzin
Pearson - Horvat - Garland
Dickinson - Lazar - Hoglander
Joshua

Hughes - Schenn
OEL - Myers
Dermott - Poolman
Rathbone/Burroughs

Demko
Martin

Summary
Without an actual 3rd line centre, this team needs to play Miller, Pettersson, and Horvat down the middle. Poolman, as far as we know, will be in the opening line-up. Apart from Boeser on the top-line, I can see 6 other wingers moving around into the available 5 top-9 winger slots. Boudreau and company have a lot of options and can throw together a lot of different looks. Second unit powerplay will be very interesting as there's not enough slots. I suspect we'll see a lot of rotating pieces on that unit with a few unconventional looks.

Mikheyev - Miller - Boeser
Would be crazy, to me, to sign Mikheyev and Boeser to those contracts and not put them in the best chances possible to succeed. Mikheyev's straight ahead speed and forechecking would force Boeser to constantly move his feet. When Boeser is moving his feet, he's an excellent player. Miller would have to do quite a bit of work making up for both of these player's shortcomings but his came is built around tenacity and chaos rather than pure playmaking. I see Kuzmenko or Hoglander as alternatives in this spot.

Kuzmenko - Pettersson - Podkolzin
The big wild car is Kuzmenko. If you listen to the experts, you'd have absolutely no idea what style he even plays. I'm going with the optimistic assumption that he's a playmaker and neutral zone disrupter. Pettersson would get to be the undisputed line general and focal point of the offense with Kuzmenko and Podkolzin facilitating that with playmaking and boardwork. I could see Kuzmenko, Garland, Mikheyev, and Hoglander as options on the left or right sides.

Pearson - Horvat - Garland
As much as I would love to have Hoglander on the left side and move Pearson down, I just don't see it happening. Pearson and Horvat have been married to each other since he got here but the bigger reason is the having both Hoglander and Garland on the same line would give up a lot of size on the wings. As long as Pearson can effectively return from his injury, he's a good complimentary forward that's defensively responsible. He knows his role and allows Garland to be antagonizing and Horvat creative. My concern with this line is that all three are prone to cold streaks. Ideally, I'd love to see a return of the Hoglander-Horvat-Boeser line but I really don't see that happening.

Dickinson - Lazar - Hoglander
Joshua
I'm not confident this line will actually exist. Hoglander is a candidate to move up with a good camp or an injury to anyone in the top-9. While small he's effective in holding on to the puck and 2nd unit PP time could be a decent supplement to his even strength minutes. Dickinson is the most likely player in the entire line-up to lose his spot. If he doesn't have a good camp, he'll lose time to Joshua. When Joshua draws in, I think he and Lazar will split the centre duties depending on which side of the ice the faceoff is on. With Hoglander moves up, Dickinson-Joshua-Lazar would be a heavy 4th line with good speed and lots of forechecking. Telling Dickinson to just simplify his game and focus on having fun should be the first step in getting him back on track.

Hughes - Schenn
It will be very disappointing if this is, once again, the top unit. I like what Schenn brings but he's far better as a Rathbone/Dermott mentor with loads of PK time. Top unit duty stretches him thin and exposes his lack of footspeed. Very valuable player, though.

OEL - Myers
The coaching staff really doesn't have a choice in this. They aren't a match-up pairing but will be forced into that duty once again. OEL's transformation into an excellent transitional defender was unexpected and can hopefully progress to another level. The main hope is that with a full season together and training camp with this coaching staff they've gained a lot more familiarity and can be more effective for longer periods of time.

Dermott - Poolman
Rathbone/Burroughs
The big question mark is Poolman's concussion history. Last season was extremely worrying for his career and if he can't get through training camp and pre-season games then that fear moves into his life beyond hockey. Poolman is actually a good option as a 3rd pairing mentor for Dermott or Rathbone. He's mobile and responsible, allowing his partners to take some risks and be more creative. If Poolman can't go, Rathbone moves up and Dermott slides over. The downside to this is Dermott becomes the mentor and his game will stagnate more. Burroughs is comfortably in the 8th defencemen-zone. Good local kid with some snarl and effort and it's not like his development is going to be ruined by sitting on the bench. A wildcard is Brady Keeper. I don't think anyone knows what the team has in him. The most likely scenario is he goes to Abbotsford and serves as the team's top defensive call-up.

Demko
Martin
Can Martin continue his play? I mean we all hope he can. He's an easy guy to cheer for. They're really only asking him to be effective for 15-20 games. He'll probably get the reverse Ryan Miller treatment.

Nice write-up and I more or less agree however have Hoglander in place of Mikheyev for puck retrieval (you did note that as a potential option) and Mikheyev with Pearson and Horvat as that line will once again end up being the matchup line so it makes sense for Mikheyev to play with those two as well as compensate for their lack of speed. I still see Garland being moved for an RD to play with Hughes...well I hope that happens which results in your fourth line of Dickinson - Lazar - Joshua.

 

[Peen]

Nice write-up and I more or less agree however have Hoglander in place of Mikheyev for puck retrieval (you did note that as a potential option) and Mikheyev with Pearson and Horvat as that line will once again end up being the matchup line so it makes sense for Mikheyev to play with those two as well as compensate for their lack of speed. I still see Garland being moved for an RD to play with Hughes...well I hope that happens which results in a fourth line of Dickinson - Lazar - Joshua.

If Miller can’t even fetch us an RD, how would Garland?

 

[Fatass]

Seems like a waste to me, having Pearson, a $3M player ..(who's good for 15-20 goals a year if healthy) on a 4th line. He's over qualified for that...Boudreau leaned heavily on Pearson, in all situations.

While Pearson is fair value for his salary, he's looking a bit redundant in the big picture.

Pearson, just like too many of the Benning signings, is not fair value for his contract. He has negative value.

 

[Love]

This is what I like:

Kuzmenko-Miller-Garland
Podkolzin-Pettersson-Boeser
Mikheyev-Horvat-Hoglander
Pearson-Lazar-Dickinson
Lockwood

Hughes-Schenn
OEL-Myers
Rathbone-Burroughs
Dermott

I much prefer having our 3 centres on different lines instead of Miller or Petey playing wing. That’s a massive advantage we have over other teams and now we even have enough good wingers so that none of our 3 centres are hung out to dry playing on a line without any help. Honestly the forwards look great to me. Realistically Hoglander will be on the 4th line instead of Pearson but this is just my preference.

I also like having Podkolzin, Garland, and Mikheyev all on different lines. These guys are the “engines” on their lines in my view. They work their asses off and create space and opportunities for their teammates. For this reason I like the idea of them separated and each of our top 3 centres gets to play with one of them.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

Pearson, just like too many of the Benning signings, is not fair value for his contract. He has negative value.

Wrong.

How Tanner Pearson proved everyone wrong this season and what that means for the Canucks

When Tanner Pearson was inked to an extension just about a year ago to...

canucksarmy.com

 

[Fatass]

Wrong.

How Tanner Pearson proved everyone wrong this season and what that means for the Canucks

When Tanner Pearson was inked to an extension just about a year ago to...

canucksarmy.com

There is zero chance Pearson could be traded to clear his full cap. We would either need to retain, take back a contract, or add sweetener. He is on another Benning special.

 

[Hit the post]

There is zero chance Pearson could be traded to clear his full cap. We would either need to retain, take back a contract, or add sweetener. He is on another Benning special.

Not really. He wasn't that bad for us on his remaining contract first signed with the Pens (in fact, when you consider what we gave up in NoGoodBranSuck; the fact he didn't suck ass would still net that trade a huge plus for us). Benning only eff'd up by re-signing him to that "Benning special" deal before that contract ended.

A true "Benning special" is a piece of turd player that was acquired by Jim & never played more than a good shift or two for us.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

There is zero chance Pearson could be traded to clear his full cap. We would either need to retain, take back a contract, or add sweetener. He is on another Benning special.

Teams are practically giving good players away to get under the cap...Just because you would have to add, or take back a contract to trade him ( currently,you probably would have to take back money for most of the players in the league) does not mean that he is underperforming relative to his contract.

 

[me2]

This is what I like:

Kuzmenko-Miller-Garland
Podkolzin-Pettersson-Boeser
Mikheyev-Horvat-Hoglander
Pearson-Lazar-Dickinson
Lockwood

Hughes-Schenn
OEL-Myers
Rathbone-Burroughs
Dermott

I much prefer having our 3 centres on different lines instead of Miller or Petey playing wing. That’s a massive advantage we have over other teams and now we even have enough good wingers so that none of our 3 centres are hung out to dry playing on a line without any help. Honestly the forwards look great to me. Realistically Hoglander will be on the 4th line instead of Pearson but this is just my preference.

I also like having Podkolzin, Garland, and Mikheyev all on different lines. These guys are the “engines” on their lines in my view. They work their asses off and create space and opportunities for their teammates. For this reason I like the idea of them separated and each of our top 3 centres gets to play with one of them.

Mikheyev will need to go with Horvat IMHO as Horvat's going to be getting matchup duty and he's going to need help and Mikheyev is have down the best defensive winger. Those two need a defensively sound winger who can make a pass. I'd like to see Pod here myself but I think he'll be used to prop up another line.