Line Combos: Habs lineup 20-21 season

[salbutera]

I have no problem with the Perry and Frolik signings. I just think we have 5 guys who are similar in talent level to fill the 4th line wing spots (Byron, Armia, Lehkonen, Perry, and Frolik). I would have rather we spent more cap space on a better top 9 winger to play with KK and Toffoli/Anderson, and had 2 or 3 guys for the 4th line wing spots.

But hopefully one of these guys can emerge as a good fit with KK and Toffoli/Anderson. On paper I think it's Armia or Frolik...

Lekhonen will do the dirty work on a line with KK & Toffoli - who historically feeds better of Lhanded C than Rhanded ones.

Anderson will complement Drouin-Suzuki duo to perfection IMO - the rare W asset who can provide physical thrust without compromising pace.

I disagree with comment “we have 5 guys who are similar in talent level to fill the 4th line wing spots”, Byron brings a speed quotient Armia, Perry and Frolik do not. Also as mentioned prior I expect Lekhonen will be 3rd line LW

 

[montreal]

Thanks! Its been so long i'm surprised anyone remembers I still lurk from time to time but its been awhile since i've been this excited about a Habs roster.

My hunch is that with a short camp the temptation is going to be too strong to resist reuniting Kulak-Petry...they were pretty solid together during the play-in and playoffs so my hunch is that familiarity will win over there but certainly i could see the pairings bouce around a bit.

I'm not sure how the taxi squad will work...or if it can be a fluid thing? I just assumed that it would be more important to the Habs to get Primeau/Poehling on the ice and competing ASAP. If/when they can comfortably do that with the Laval squad then i would agree they are probably better served being down there and having guys like Lindgren and maybe Weal sitting with the taxi squad.

with camp about to start we should start hearing some info on the taxi squad in the next week or so i'd assume. will be interesting to see how they manage it since cap space is so tight.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Perry was brought here to play, listening to him speak I believe that he has been given some level of commitment from MB.

One possibility:

Drouin - Suzuki - Perry
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Toffoli - KK - Anderson
Lehkonen- Evans - Armia

TS: Frolik/Byron/?

This lineup is a little on the slow side as only Danault, Drouin and Anderson have real plus speed, but there is alot of compete and skill. I tried to separate these three players through the top nine so that every line had a speed element to it. There are a ton of potential combinations as most of these players are interchangeable up and down the lineup. Frolik and/or Byron can be brought in to play more up tempo matchups.

Perry will require some rest at times imo so Armia can fill his spot while Byron/Frolik take the 4th line RW.

 

[ABR8185]

Start Byron on the 4th line, he'll get hurt as usual, and then there will be a more permanent spot for Perry, Frolik or whoever else is a healthy scratch at first!

 

[No More Subban]

who's CJ taking out of the top 12 in favor of Perry?

Lehkonen

 

[Beer and Chips]

Can't wait to start getting reports from training camp about who Valude will have playing with who. It's these kind of things that I miss about hockey.

One good thing about Claude is that he always starts out training camp with who he envisions playing together long term. Adjustments are made. But Tatar-Danault-Gallagher have been together since Tatar's first day of training camp as a Hab.

Too bad the first day is physicals and we have to wait until the second for on ice reports...

With very little video during camp there won't be much news.

 

[Vachon23]

Lehkonen

Lehkonen is a way more useful player then Perry right know. No way Lehkonen is a Healthy Scratch

 

[bsl]

Lekhonen will do the dirty work on a line with KK & Toffoli - who historically feeds better of Lhanded C than Rhanded ones.

Anderson will complement Drouin-Suzuki duo to perfection IMO - the rare W asset who can provide physical thrust without compromising pace.

I disagree with comment “we have 5 guys who are similar in talent level to fill the 4th line wing spots”, Byron brings a speed quotient Armia, Perry and Frolik do not. Also as mentioned prior I expect Lekhonen will be 3rd line LW

I've thought about this and all of you have to agree with me on pain of horrible death. I must be the best and smartest habs board poster ever.

Drouin must play with NS. He showed his talent in the tiny PO with NS. I think NS is fast thinking enough for JD. Who can't control his crazy mind. Drou being a star will put habs into contention talk. Drou being uninterested will put habs on the golf course in May. IMO drou is the absolute dark horse key.

Add Anderson to that line. He brings size and cycling ability. And can protect his somewhat soft line-mates. And score dirty goals if his shoulder holds up.

My Children. Let us pause to pray that JA's shoulder will be protected by our Lord God this year. Whatever God you like.

Leave Danno Gally and TT together. If Anderson holds up, it reduces pressure on Gally hugely. Meaning he might not be killed by game 30, and can sneak in those dirty Gally goals with some regularity. TT is also a sneaky bugger and can do the same. Danno is not exactly Crosby, but he can take the hard assignments while KK matures for another year. This line is a smart and experienced group of players. I don't think they will be great offensively, but they are lunch pail. Especially in games with a 1 goal lead.

Toffoli must play on the left with with KK. It will give KK pass options to a player that is gritty and can score a goal now and then. I still think Armia is a very good player, big, and can pot dirty goals now and then also. Put him on the right wing with KK and let him crunch around.

Fourth line. Yeesh. I think size, defensive awareness and some brutality are required. Throw Perry out there with Evans and Lehks. I don't know what to do with Byron but he'll get hurt by game ten anyway. No worries there.

As for the rest, one more year in AHL. Or taxi squad. Though I am rooting for Teasdale. This is going to be a very interesting year.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Lehkonen

Very unlikely imo.

I think injuries/covid will open a spot but if not Byron may be more likely to sit.

 

[26Mats]

With very little video during camp there won't be much news.

It will all be interviews...

 

[26Mats]

Lehkonen

ok, but remember, Lehk is one of his favorites. Perry better be one good, defensively reliable 35 year old if he's going to get Claude to take Lehkonen out of the lineup regularly.

 

[26Mats]

Lekhonen will do the dirty work on a line with KK & Toffoli - who historically feeds better of Lhanded C than Rhanded ones.

Anderson will complement Drouin-Suzuki duo to perfection IMO - the rare W asset who can provide physical thrust without compromising pace.

I disagree with comment “we have 5 guys who are similar in talent level to fill the 4th line wing spots”, Byron brings a speed quotient Armia, Perry and Frolik do not. Also as mentioned prior I expect Lekhonen will be 3rd line LW

Byron brings a speed factor, but is weak on the boards and was constantly getting bumped off of the puck for turnovers - especially when we needed offensive pressure the most. Armia is strong on the boards (one of the strongest in the league) but has tunnel vision. Frolik may still have good vision, but is on the wrong side of 30. Perry is even further on the wrong side. Lehkonen has youth, and energy, but lacks offense.

All these players have their strong points. But I haven't seen any of them be the consistent offensive player I would like a young talent like KK to be playing with at this stage in his career. Toffoli also needs to be playing with good offensive players to use his finishing prowess.

Maybe the solution with be
Toffoli Suzuki Anderson
Drouin KK Armia

I would like to see if Drouin and Suzuki can have chemistry long term, but we'll see.

 

[salbutera]

Byron brings a speed factor, but is weak on the boards and was constantly getting bumped off of the puck for turnovers - especially when we needed offensive pressure the most. Armia is strong on the boards (one of the strongest in the league) but has tunnel vision. Frolik may still have good vision, but is on the wrong side of 30. Perry is even further on the wrong side. Lehkonen has youth, and energy, but lacks offense.

All these players have their strong points. But I haven't seen any of them be the consistent offensive player I would like a young talent like KK to be playing with at this stage in his career. Toffoli also needs to be playing with good offensive players to use his finishing prowess.

Maybe the solution with be
Toffoli Suzuki Anderson
Drouin KK Armia

I would like to see if Drouin and Suzuki can have chemistry long term, but we'll see.

The beauty of having depth with variable skill sets is to leverage them - during the regular season Byron will be of value vs say the Leafs who are more prone to defensive miscues due to their run & gun style, Byron’s speed quotient becomes more of a positive factor for Habs than say Frolic or Perry, whereas vs Cgy it’ll be Perry who will provide the better asset value etc. Then there will inevitably be the dreaded injuries....

Having depth is never a bad thing specially this season IMO

 

[26Mats]

The beauty of having depth with variable skill sets is to leverage them - during the regular season Byron will be of value vs say the Leafs who are more prone to defensive miscues due to their run & gun style, Byron’s speed quotient becomes more of a positive factor for Habs than say Frolic or Perry, whereas vs Cgy it’ll be Perry who will provide the better asset value etc. Then there will inevitably be the dreaded injuries....

Having depth is never a bad thing specially this season IMO

Bergevin did almost everything I wanted him to do this offseason. And I have no problem with the depth.

The one thing I was hoping for that didn't happen was that one more top 9 winger to play with KK. Let's hope CJ can find a trio that KK is apart of that can be a consistent offensive threat.

Armia-KK-Anderson could be a puck possession nightmare for the opposition.
Drouin-Suzuki-Toffoli could be a dynamic offensive trio.
Byron/Perry/Frolik-Evans-Lehkonen may surprise with their secondary scoring.

We shall see...

 

[Deebs]

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Toffoli - Suzuki - Anderson
Drouin - Kotkaniemi - Armia
Lehkonen - Evans - Byron

Chiarot - Weber
Kulak - Petry
Romanov - Edmundon

Price
Allen

 

[ericd]

CapFriendly.com Armchair-GM User-Generated Roster
FORWARDS (13)
Right wing: Brendan Gallagher ($3,750,000) - Joel Armia ($2,600,000) - Josh Anderson ($5,500,000) - Corey Perry ($750,000)
Centre: Phillip Danault ($3,083,333) - Nick Suzuki ($863,333) - Jonathan Drouin ($5,500,000) - Jesperi Kotkaniemi ($925,000)
Left wing: Tomas Tatar ($4,800,000) - Tyler Toffoli ($4,250,000) - Artturi Lehkonen ($2,400,000) - Jordan Weal ($1,400,000) - Michael Frolík ($750,000)
DEFENSE (6)
Right: Jeff Petry ($5,500,000) - Shea Weber ($7,857,143) - Victor Mete ($735,000)
Left: Ben Chiarot ($3,500,000) - Brett Kulak ($1,850,000) - Joel Edmundson ($3,500,000)
GOALTENDER (2)
Carey Price ($10,500,000) - Jake Allen ($4,350,000)
BUYOUTS (1)
Karl Alzner ($3,958,333)
DETAILS
Roster Size: 21
Salary Cap: $81,500,000
Cap Hit: $80,647,142
Cap Space: $852,858

 

[Holystik]

Can someone confirm?
If we go with this lineup, we are 25 000$ above the cap?

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher
Drouin-Suzuki-(Anderson/Toffoli)
Lehkonen-Kotkaniemi-(Anderson/Toffoli)
Byron-Evans-Armia
Perry

Chiarot-Weber
Edmundson-Petry
Romanov-(Mete/Kulak)
(Mete/Kulak)

Price
Allen

22 men roster.
81 525 000/ 81 500 000???

As a solution going for a 21 men roster for the first 2 games(league minimum=15K/game) would bring us down to cap compliance and then we can increase to 22 men.
Is my math correct?

Either ways, shouldn't every team go with a 20 men roster this year? I mean the taxi squad is travelling with the team and practicing anyways... Habs with 20 men roster have 1 460 000$ available?

Maybe some teams will prefer to have a 21 to 23 men roster to not gamble too much with a revolving waiver game and lose a player to an injury affected team.

 

[Deebs]

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Toffoli - Suzuki - Anderson
Drouin - Kotkaniemi - Armia
Lehkonen - Evans - Byron

Chiarot - Weber
Kulak - Petry
Romanov - Edmundon

Price
Allen

Is this roster cap compliant or does Byron have to come out for Perry?

 

[Scriptor]

Lekhonen will do the dirty work on a line with KK & Toffoli - who historically feeds better of Lhanded C than Rhanded ones.

Anderson will complement Drouin-Suzuki duo to perfection IMO - the rare W asset who can provide physical thrust without compromising pace.

I disagree with comment “we have 5 guys who are similar in talent level to fill the 4th line wing spots”, Byron brings a speed quotient Armia, Perry and Frolik do not. Also as mentioned prior I expect Lekhonen will be 3rd line LW

I agree with everything and then you lump in something off that makes me wonder how right you were before that? In fact, Frolik is a larger (than Byron) yet speedy winger as well. Frolic's strengths are his speed, a strong forecheck and defensive awareness.

The point about Anderson bringing physicality without compromising pace is an important one, especially on a line with Drouin where establishing pace might well be the way to maximize the LW's output.

Anderson and Drouin could well be accomplices on many two on ones. What has been missing from Drouin's game -- with any kind of consistency -- since his arrival in Montreal has been the use of his speed as a counter-attack asset.

 

[Scriptor]

This would be my lineup to start the season.
If you have back to back you could even insert the taxi squad of
Frolik--Phoeling---Perry
right into the fourth line for some extra energy.

A heavy fourth line could be:
Perry---Phoeling--Armia

With both Perry and Frolik bring able to play RW and LW, Jullien has a ton of option.

Juulsen need to go to the AHL for playing time of 20 minutes a night... I still think he'll be a good NHL dman, just lousy luck with injuries.

At this stage in his career, Perry is much more comfortable on RW. Frolik is more of a LW/RW than Perry. A fourth line of Frolik - Poehling - Perry might be better considering the speed element that Frolik would bring, along with a strong forechecking style..

 

[Scriptor]

Perry was brought here to play, listening to him speak I believe that he has been given some level of commitment from MB.

One possibility:

Drouin - Suzuki - Perry
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Toffoli - KK - Anderson
Lehkonen- Evans - Armia

TS: Frolik/Byron/?

This lineup is a little on the slow side as only Danault, Drouin and Anderson have real plus speed, but there is alot of compete and skill. I tried to separate these three players through the top nine so that every line had a speed element to it. There are a ton of potential combinations as most of these players are interchangeable up and down the lineup. Frolik and/or Byron can be brought in to play more up tempo matchups.

Perry will require some rest at times imo so Armia can fill his spot while Byron/Frolik take the 4th line RW.

Perry was brought here to play, listening to him speak I believe that he has been given some level of commitment from MB.

Everything he has publicly said is the opposite of what you wrote; no promise of a spot on the roster, need to prove himself, fight for a spot, etc.

So, hw can you write, "Listening to him speak," and then completely misrepresent what he said? Perry came here to play because he is a competitor, fine but, because he was promised something or given some sort of commitment? Seriously?

 

[Scriptor]

Bergevin did almost everything I wanted him to do this offseason. And I have no problem with the depth.

The one thing I was hoping for that didn't happen was that one more top 9 winger to play with KK. Let's hope CJ can find a trio that KK is apart of that can be a consistent offensive threat.

Armia-KK-Anderson could be a puck possession nightmare for the opposition.
Drouin-Suzuki-Toffoli could be a dynamic offensive trio.
Byron/Perry/Frolik-Evans-Lehkonen may surprise with their secondary scoring.

We shall see...

My only problem with Armia - KK - Anderson is that I haven't read, anywhere, anything about either aria or Anderson's ability to play LW. It's convenient to slot players where we would like but, it doesn't necessarily translate once on the ice.

In theory, that line would be, as you say, a puck possession line that could lean heavily on opposing Ds. The advantage you would get from them in wearing out opponents is that, even on off nights where they weren't producing points, they could still have a productive role for the team. Defensively, also, all three players are sound and wouldn't be a handicap in that department.

 

[Scriptor]

The beauty of having depth with variable skill sets is to leverage them - during the regular season Byron will be of value vs say the Leafs who are more prone to defensive miscues due to their run & gun style, Byron’s speed quotient becomes more of a positive factor for Habs than say Frolic or Perry, whereas vs Cgy it’ll be Perry who will provide the better asset value etc. Then there will inevitably be the dreaded injuries....

Having depth is never a bad thing specially this season IMO

Wrong when it comes to Frolik. Lumping Frolik and Perry into the same mould as sluggish skates is plain wrong.

 

[Scriptor]

Can someone confirm?
If we go with this lineup, we are 25 000$ above the cap?

Tatar-Danault-Gallagher
Drouin-Suzuki-(Anderson/Toffoli)
Lehkonen-Kotkaniemi-(Anderson/Toffoli)
Byron-Evans-Armia
Perry

Chiarot-Weber
Edmundson-Petry
Romanov-(Mete/Kulak)
(Mete/Kulak)

Price
Allen

22 men roster.
81 525 000/ 81 500 000???

As a solution going for a 21 men roster for the first 2 games(league minimum=15K/game) would bring us down to cap compliance and then we can increase to 22 men.

Is my math correct?

Either ways, shouldn't every team go with a 20 men roster this year? I mean the taxi squad is travelling with the team and practicing anyways... Habs with 20 men roster have 1 460 000$ available?

Maybe some teams will prefer to have a 21 to 23 men roster to not gamble too much with a revolving waiver game and lose a player to an injury affected team.

If there was no waiver wire, in theory, every team would go with 20-man rosters but, there are a few factors at play:

1) injuries
2) two-way contracts
3) proximity of AHL-team to the city team plays for.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Tatar Danault Gally
Drouin Suzuki Toffoli
Armia KK Anderson
Lehkonen/Frolik Evans Perry

Ive been going over the lines and someone on RW needs to play LW so I put Armia on LW and I think this is the most balanced lineup we have. Toffoli a shooter with two of the best play makers. Anderson playing with an offensive minded center who also throws his body and Armia compliments the size with defensive ability and take away. Fourth line is a buzz saw line that can crash bang but still generate offence and responsible defensively.