Line Combos: Good bottom 6 on paper but extremely frustrating

[ottawa]

Alright bare with my long post here...and I know this is coming off after a shutout, so my judgment is impaired with disappointment and slight anger...but our team could be so much better with a bit of organization in the bottom 6. Right now we have eight bottom 6 players with players like DLR in the system who can make the jump in case of injuries...but still at least 2 of them need to go imo so we can have organization and the players can have consistent and regular line mates.


Moen, Prust, Eller, Malhotra, Bourque, Weise, Bournival, Sekac...two or more of these players need to go. Whether its for draft picks or preferably upgrades.

Imo MM, Bournival, Weise and Sekac are keepers:

Bournival - xxx - Sekac
xxx - Malhotra - Weise

So that leaves Moen, Prust, Eller and Bourque as two people that need to go.


Eller is a good 3rd liner but tries to play like he's a 2nd, he's not helping his linemates get better and he is usually the source of killing a good play before its even begun (his famous flawless carry in then giveaway or carry in, wraparound then giveaway). Does hit a lot and is usually solid defensively even when he isn't playing well. When he does play in the role he is supposed to (i.e. the playoffs) then we see him make smart passes and create good scoring chances.

Bourque, most frustrating player on the habs imo...great short, size, speed, grit but he doesn't utilize that skill set like he needs to...he has short periods of showing up (not necessarily on the scoresheet) and making a presence followed by extremely long stretches of invisibility and being a liability offensively (i.e. not engaging in the plays or making dumb decisions). Defensively he's alright, if you watch him he rarely is on the butt end of being responsible for a goal in our own end...but you guys know the story about his offense so I won't go on.

Prust had a great first year and just never progressed from that nor did he stay the same, he took a step backwards. He isn't always the energy guy we need him to be, and he needs to be the type of guy that leads our forwards in hits all year and that isn't him (usually because of injuries though). Usually drops them to defend a player so he brings size to the habs and grittiness.

Moen, great on the PK and defensively aware but he lacks offensive instincts. Cannot start up a rush or carry a play, but thats not required of him either. He hits and fights (not as much as we'd like to) but like Prust, he brings in size. He is also the only veteran with a ring that we have, not sure how important that is for us. Basically he doesn't hurt us nor does he help us.

tl;dr: Team has good bottom 6 but too many players, causing line changes that mess up the chemistry and sees better players like Sekac being benched or sees 4th liners playing in the roles of 3rd liners and vice-versa. Trades for picks or trades for upgrades might be necessary

Click to read more...

 

[Richiebottles]

Prust and Moen need to go.

Moen has been deadwood on this team for over a year and Prust isnt his old self anymore.

OT: Are you making a rant thread because you lost all your Vcash

 

[Kachino]

Injuries will occur and everybody will have a chance to play. You currently see the depth as a problem but during this long season, you'll be happy to have so many interchangeable pieces on the 3rd and 4th line.

 

[Natey]

Prust and Moen need to go.

Moen has been deadwood on this team for over a year and Prust isnt his old self anymore.

OT: Are you making a rant thread because you lost all your Vcash

Moen isn't an everyday player anymore, but he's been fairly good this year.

I wouldn't cry if either of them left though.

Bournival and Sekac should be in the line-up.

I wouldn't mind Bourque in a 4th line role either, he's defensively responsible and if he can ever get going, he'd be a threat down there. I think he'd be fine on Malhotra's line in a defensive two-way role. No one's taking that contract anyway.

Maybe;

Bournival-Eller-Sekac
Bourque-Malhotra-Weise

Personally, I'd love to see Andrighetto up.. but I'd also like to see him scored 30 in the AHL this year.

 

[Ineverplayedthegame]

I don't actually think it's a good bottom six on paper. At least the one we're icing. Am I the only one? There's only one non fourth liner in the entire bottom six and one above average fourth liner on the fourth line, that's pretty bad.

 

[CH25]

Bourque and Moen need to be shipped out. They're both a complete waste of roster spots. Combined salary of 5m+to do nothing but float around all game.

 

[MasterDecoy]

2 games ago we had one of the best fourth lines and a very good third. now they suck

they, along with the rest of the team, had a bad game. nothing else. moen is finished though

 

[ninjagaiden]

i don't want to get rid of moen because the team needs a bit of toughness, i'd probably agree with you though if you said he plays too much

habs have moen, prust, tinordi who will drop the gloves and you need that sometimes

i agree with pretty much everything you said ottawa, weise didn't really show up this season until last game and he was a big difference maker on the ice

mm this was probably his worst game but other than that he's been solid this year

i really don't think the problem with this team when we lose is in the bottom 6 though except when therrien relies on them too much

 

[ottawa]

2 games ago we had one of the best fourth lines and a very good third. now they suck

they, along with the rest of the team, had a bad game. nothing else. moen is finished though

Our bottom 6 doesn't suck...no one said that and especially not me in the OP reading 101

Read the tl;dr if it makes this whole situation any easier on you

 

[Compile]

Moen and Bork.

Moen had a total of 5 fights last year I think (someone correct me) and was brutal all season.

Bork because he's a lazy **** that can't be bothered. You'd think in a contract year he'd be playing the best of his life (like most players do), but he doesn't give a ****. My source told me that he wanted to be dealt away from Montreal the year we got him, he does not like the city, the issue is there is no team that wants him because he's a lazy ****, hence him turning it around in the playoffs.

Those are the 2 guys I have wanted off this team for the past 3 years.
Prust might not be himself but he is still a silent leader in the room even though him and MT DO NOT get along. More on this below.

My source told me that Prust last season told MT to **** off and play Chucky more because a certain player on the team was ****. MT told him that he's the coach and makes the decisions, Prust replied with "you may be making the decisions, but they are flat out ****ing Pejorative Slured."

 

[MasterDecoy]

Our bottom 6 doesn't suck...no one said that and especially not me in the OP reading 101

Read the tl;dr if it makes this whole situation any easier on you

was commenting in general, i know you didn't say that. the 'suck' was thrown around very liberally in the gdt

 

[ottawa]

was commenting in general, i know you didn't say that. the 'suck' was thrown around very liberally in the gdt

yeah Habs fans tend to turn bipolar in GDTs and especially in PGTs lol

 

[ninjagaiden]

Moen and Bork.

Moen had a total of 5 fights last year I think (someone correct me) and was brutal all season.

Bork because he's a lazy **** that can't be bothered. You'd think in a contract year he'd be playing the best of his life (like most players do), but he doesn't give a ****. My source told me that he wanted to be dealt away from Montreal the year we got him, he does not like the city, the issue is there is no team that wants him because he's a lazy ****, hence him turning it around in the playoffs.

Those are the 2 guys I have wanted off this team for the past 3 years.
Prust might not be himself but he is still a silent leader in the room even though him and MT DO NOT get along. More on this below.

My source told me that Prust last season told MT to **** off and play Chucky more because a certain player on the team was ****. MT told him that he's the coach and makes the decisions, Prust replied with "you may be making the decisions, but they are flat out ****ing Pejorative Slured."

how come bork didn't like calgary it's an awesome city

not so big that it's a metropolis but not so small that there's no real culture

the flames play some really boring hockey though especially when he was there so i'd give him that

doin it like dead puck

 

[Spearmint Rhino]

Eller - Many tools but no tool box - getting better at moving the puck but still pretty low offensive skills, should be tried at wing where he can just react and not think
Bourque - Grand total of 38 pts in 137 games with Montreal when there really is 2 big points available - deal him or bubble wrap til April
Weise - Tweener, head swells up with a bit of success (happened in NY and Van) and thinks he is too good for the 4th line but isn't a full time 3rd liner, 4th liner with the occasional scratch to deflate the ego
MM - Great on the face-off and takes the pressure off Pleks so it's a plus - the odd goal would be nice tho
Moen - Done like dinner but is a vet so gets a pass from MT, can't fight, doesn't hit, should be dealt
Prust - See Moen, drive is higher but body is broken, every fight waiting for him to walk away with his shoulder dragging along the ice, should be dealt
Sekac - Fast and was improving before getting scratched, matches the other 6 for goal totals combined - should be playing
Bournival - 100% convinced he could at least equal the other 6 players goal totals in their 48 games played and brings the missing energy, should be playing

 

[Tuggy]

Bourque is a joke. Sekac or Bournival can't be worse than him. He brings nothing to the table.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Moen and prust gone please

 

[sharks9]

Put Sekac and Bournival in to get some more speed in the lineup

 

[jpchabby]

Put Sekac and Bournival in to get some more speed in the lineup

wouldn't be against it

 

[Dagistitsyn]

I don't get all the Prust hate. He is great for what he is, a 4th liner. Not sure why you guys expect so much. He's all heart, limited skill, does his job. Moen can go, move Weise down to the 4th, put in Sekac.

Bournival is injury replacement, they should send him down until he is needed.. or if Bourque continues to go scoreless for another 5 games.

 

[Blind Gardien]

It's alright to have wakeup calls. Bourque has had his chances, it's his turn to sit and try to wake up while an energetic youngster plays. And Prust and Moen need to bring some consistent crash and bang style on the 4th line, they are doing ok in some other areas, but it's ideal if they can add more... so you can always shuffle them around.

Sooner or later the team will have injuries and not have the luxury of shuffling the lineup around.

It's overall a good situation to have, I wouldn't try to trade anybody right now. Well, ok, I'd take anything I could get for Bourque at any time, just because I know he'll ultimately become an albatross to try to deal, but it's not specifically motivated by his play right atm, more by an overall perspective on him over the years. His play right now is perfectly par for the course for him as a player. I expect nothing more.

 

[Tuggy]

I don't get all the Prust hate. He is great for what he is, a 4th liner. Not sure why you guys expect so much. He's all heart, limited skill, does his job. Moen can go, move Weise down to the 4th, put in Sekac.

Agreed. Prust is fine as a 4th liner.

 

[gusfring]

People want Prust gone? You cannot have 12 Sekac's out there. Won't work. Never has, never will.

 

[Et le But]

People want Prust gone? You cannot have 12 Sekac's out there. Won't work. Never has, never will.

Considering Sekac is completely unproven I don't think anyone alive thinks 12 Sekacs is a good idea.

But neither is playing Moen, Prust, and Weise at the same time. Especially when you also have Malhotra (not much offense) and Bourque (in theory offense, but a below average possession player out there. That's not a good bottom 6 on paper or in reality.

The problem with players like Prust is they have a limited shelf life, and become Moens. Moen still can play, but he can't move fast enough to play overly physical, and was never a good offensive player to begin with. Prust probably has the most heart of anyone on this team and his willingness to stand up to anyone makes him more valuable than his play, but he's degrading as a player and that is significant. He shouldn't be playing more than 10 minutes most nights and he definitely shouldn't be off the 4th line. He probably shouldn't be playing every night if we actually want him to be physical and not die out there in fact.

People want to see Sekac and Bournival because they can get better, while Moen is only going to get worse. And quite frankly Bournival has a long way to go when it comes to offensive upside, so if Sekac is overrated, it's because he's our best hope at preventing our 3rd line from being an offensive black hole.

Eller isn't the problem, sorry. The mythical third liner who can make Bourque and Weise a good supporting cast doesn't exist, because that isn't anything close to a third liner.

 

[WeThreeKings]

Prust shouldn't be an everyday player. Sure play him against Boston rangers etc. But he does not need to play against the oilers.

 

[Fire Everyone]

Bork because he's a lazy **** that can't be bothered. You'd think in a contract year he'd be playing the best of his life (like most players do), but he doesn't give a ****. My source told me that he wanted to be dealt away from Montreal the year we got him, he does not like the city, the issue is there is no team that wants him because he's a lazy ****, hence him turning it around in the playoffs.

Bourque isn't a contract year.

Yep, there are two years left on his ****ing contract.