Keefe values Holl really highly - just no way he goes out barring injury/maintenance. The TOI does not lie
Ya I don't disagree. I would not be shocked if that were the case, nor would I be overly upset to see Holl in the lineup over Lilly. It's not what I'd do personally, but again, that is what healthy competition looks like.
I will say, I think Last week when Lybushkin was out against the Jets, Keefe wanted to experiment with Gio - Holl for a reason. I am not sure how long Sheldon stuck with the pairings that night but I do know they got scored on twice and at some point it looked like Sheldon put Gio - Lilly back togethr
Keefe's pregame press conference for that Jets game suggested he was looking to see what other combo's worked. Gio and Holl have played 12 mins at 5v5 together and analytically didn't look good at all. We also saw how Muzz and Holl continually tripped over themselves for large portions of the year as well so I am not 100% confident they are a perfect fit. Maybe they can fair better on a bottom pairing, but certainly not in the role we were using them before. Even if we consider their entire body of work together as a pairing and the strong history with one another, we have to proceed with a bit of caution when considering them as a pairing.
I really only see 2 options for the defense when Muzz returns:
Option 1: (What I prefer)
Reilly - Lybushkin
Muzzin - Brodie
Giordano- Liljigren
Holl
Option 2: (what is more likely)
Rielly - Lybuskin
Giordano - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Liljegren
I know you posted earlier that you were sick of seeing Lybushkin with Rielly, but I just don't see it the same way. They have been largely excellent together. In fact from an analytic perspective they've done better than Rielly - Brodie at even strength, which matches the "eye test" for me. They have been great.
Brodie and Gio is a combo that has obvious history of working. But there has also been a long gap since they've played together. So who knows what it would look like in 2022. My gut is saying there is about 1% chance that it wouldn't work again. Both of these guys are so strong defensively and have incredible hockey IQ. There is almost zero reason to think it shouldn't work, the only concern I'd have is can Gio lug 20+ minutes consistently game over game against the oppositions best lines? I personally think he's better off on a bottom pairing and getting 18 mins and exposing weaker competition. We know him and Lilly is a flat out dominant pairing in that role. Seems kind of foolish to break them up TBH.
