the last couple pages of this thread is just wild to me. I swear to god
@LSCII digs in on arguments just to be stubborn. Lonnie, you're not even being rational and you're utterly ignoring the points people are making. You keep making emotional appeals and projecting hyper-emotional arguments onto the people you're debating with.
Nobody is saying Krejci "deserves" good linemates more than Bergeron. This isn't about which player is better offensively either. All
@Mainehockey33 is arguing is that for the overall balance of the team, if they aren't going to go out and acquire a top 6 wing or two then keeping Krejci with Marchand & Pasta and putting Bergeron with kids or whoever might result in a more productive team
overall. It's not about Krejci being better offensively (he's not), or deserving it more, or crapping on Bergeron, or "demoting" him or whatever weird, oddly offended spin you want to put on it. It's about using the talent they have in a way that hopefully generates offense from more than 1 line.
Krejci has shown that with good wingers he produces at a 1st line level and with average or inconsistent wingers he produces significantly less. Bergeron's motor is on another level and we've seen him be productive with a rookie Marchand and a 40+ year old Recchi and that was arguably a version of Bergeron that was inferior offensively to the one we have today. The whole argument some are trying to make is that Krejci on line 1 gives you a terrific 1st line while Bergeron on line 2 might finally give you some secondary scoring that Krejci can't seem to generate when carrying his wingers. People seem offended by this suggestion as if it's some affront to Bergeron when it's actually a
compliment because it acknowledges that Bergeron drives play more and better than Krejci. Krejci needs more help from his wings than Bergeron does. Like...this is literally the thing that you (Lonnie) have been arguing for years and
@Mainehockey33 is suggesting something that is in total agreement with that belief and
you are arguing with him instead of like...considering it.
Now, maybe Marchand-Bergeron-Heinen and Debruskj-Krejci-Pasta accomplishes the same thing, but the more I see of this group the more I think it's the Marchand+Pasta combo that is what's really driving the offense and the part that shouldn't be split up. That's why the Krejci vs Bergeron question is even being discussed.
and before you go back to the "well Krejci should just play better and carry his wings!" argument... Look...he's just not that player. I acknowledge it. I'm a fan, but we know he isn't capable of carrying a streaky Debrusk and stone-hands Nordstrom. Hell Nordstrom having 5 goals already is arguably a credit to Krejci, but ultimately Krejci needs legit top 6 wingers in order to produce at the 70 point pace that everyone demands of him. Yes it would be nice if none of this was true, but that's who he is and he's not going anywhere so all we can do is hope they construct the team accordingly instead of sticking him with stiffs and pouting about it.