I’m just convinced that Pettersson, Miller and Boeser just aren’t the right linemates at this moment. On the surface they look like they compliment each other but they actually play different games.
Since Millers broke in to the league he’s been a tunnel vision type player. Straight line although hard working and defensively responsible, he usually looks for his shot first or tries to do too much with the puck. A tad bit on the selfish side. He definitely hasn’t deferred to either Pettersson or Boeser much.
And people might say, so what? Well when you have someone with the skill set of Pettersson on your line, everything should run through him. Pettersson is distribution is the best part of his game.
Now I’ve got nothing against Boeser but he needs a centre that forechecks and gets him the puck while he sits in the slots and winds up for that slap shot. Pettersson is more cerebral and defensively responsible. Boeser is more a fit with Horvat whose able to fly around and create plays.
Although on the surface the Miller Pettersson Boeser line looks great, I don’t think they compliment each other as well as others do. And I’ve felt this way since the beginning of the season. On the power play, definitely play them together. But 5 on 5 id actually split all three up.
Miller wouldn’t look bad centring his own line.