Right? Kerfoot is a really nice piece, and I think Barrie is equal to Brodie at worst.
I guess to be fair, Colorado didn't really have an acquisition cost for Kerfoot. They got him for free. Flames spent a pick and a ton of time developing Janko.
Now, an odd thing I wonder about Janko though, is that he was drafted for his offensive creativity and acumen, but his defensive game was super weak. So he went to Union College to work on his defensive game and leadership. I think he's struggling to put things together right now, but if we are patient, we will have a good one. However, I can't help but think that his focus on the defensive side of the game is causing problems for his offense to reappear. I think he's kinda like Bennett and Baertschi right now in that he keeps second guessing his instincts because of how he fought his offensive instincts to play a defensive game.
There are definite flashes of the offensive instincts for sure. We see that on the PK. But I also think he's struggling with the centre responsibilities alongside NHL transition and sewing his offense and defense together. I really want to see Janko stand beside Backlund to see if Backlund can show him how to put it all together the same way Backlund took a while to put it all together.
Maybe...
JG -Mony - Bennett (I know Luna will hate this)
Janko - Backlund - Frolik (Assuming no move due to Tkachuk bridge)
Lucic - Lindholm - Tkachuk (Pay ranking of centres, insulation of these guys due to no known chemistry of pairings)
Dube- Ryan - Czarnik (Undersized group with some bite?)
I mean, this is a pretty crazy line blender... Maybe bits and pieces of this will be experimented with, but not all?
But my thoughts are this... IF Janko starts piecing things together and Bennett really isn't working out on the top line as Luna predicts...
JG - Mony - Lindholm
Dube/Lucic - Backlund - Frolik
Lucic/Bennett - Janko - Tkachuk (Demanding Tkachuk start stirring the drink on a line)
Dube/Bennett - Ryan - Czarnik
Could this work too if Janko becomes more passable at 5v5 centre play?
I find it amazing how there are so many line combos that could potentially "fit" depending on how things work. It's kinda exciting to discuss from a coaching perspective. Something I don't think we've even had an inkling could be a fund discussion since even Hartley and earlier (who did line blenders mainly due to desperation, not due to experimentation). TBH, the only guy who maybe had an idea how player slotting should have worked... Darryl Sutter. But his coaches didn't have a damn clue how to use the guys he acquired.