Line Combos: Lines 2-4 (To start training camp/pre-season)

[Freaky Styley]

With our top line set, some new faces and a lot of tweeners throughout our lineup, I was curious to see everyone's ideal lineup given our forward group entering training camp. I expect there to be a few combinations tried out before all is said and done. Post your lines 2-4 not as you expect them, but as they would be if you were Bednar. Feel free to explain.

Line 2: Jost - Kamenev - Andrighetto
I don't expect this combo to get a lot of love, but hear me out. I know it seems that they are set with Jost at C, but I still believe he is better suited to wing at this level and would thrive there. I am putting a lot of faith in Kam, but I do believe in him and this puts him a position to succeed. He also adds some size to an otherwise short line. Ghetto needs to be in the top 6 to be effective, but I am still holding out hope we package him off in a trade as he doesn't really fit in the lineup anywhere. Here's hoping he continues to produce, and with Kam and Jost he should have every opportunity to. In an ideal world, Greer tears up camp and earns this spot on the right side.

Line 3: Nieto - Soderberg - Calvert
This one is a no-brainer and doesn't take much explaining, but I am tempted to throw Calvert with Jost if he does play C. If Calvert isn't on this line I would put Wilson there, who looked good in short stints with the Nieto-Soda pairing.

Line 4: Kerfoot - Toninato - Compher
Hate to confine Kerfoot to the 4th line, but it will give him sheltered minutes to prey on weaker opponents and add some secondary scoring. This all college line should be defensively responsible and I'm a big fan of our Jay McClement Jr. and want to see him in the lineup. This gives us an exciting, defensively responsible 4th line with some offensive upside that could create mismatches.

Extras: Bourque, Wilson

What do you have?

Click to read more...

 

[McMetal]

Kerfoot - Jost - Andrighetto

Kerfoot has worked well on the wing (on the early Duchene line) and I don't see anybody on the left side with a better resume to play the second line to start. Ghetto will once again have every chance to prove he can produce at a 2nd line level.

Nieto - Soderberg - Compher

I know the conventional wisdom is that Calvert will play here, but Compher will beat him out in camp for a top 9 spot. It will be a good opportunity for him to hone his two-way game and a little bit more firepower on Soderberg's wing to hopefully get a little more offense out of this line.

Wilson - Kamenev - Calvert

Kamenev will get his NHL time out of camp, with two vets on his wing to ease him in. The cambo should be effective for a 4th line that can be used in sheltered situations. Bourque is the 13th forward, Toninato goes to the AHL to be a callup after injuries eventually move Kamanev into the top 9, and Greer is once again buried in the organizational depth.

 

[Freaky Styley]

Kerfoot - Jost - Andrighetto

Kerfoot has worked well on the wing (on the early Duchene line) and I don't see anybody on the left side with a better resume to play the second line to start. Ghetto will once again have every chance to prove he can produce at a 2nd line level.

Nieto - Soderberg - Compher

I know the conventional wisdom is that Calvert will play here, but Compher will beat him out in camp for a top 9 spot. It will be a good opportunity for him to hone his two-way game and a little bit more firepower on Soderberg's wing to hopefully get a little more offense out of this line.

Wilson - Kamenev - Calvert

Kamenev will get his NHL time out of camp, with two vets on his wing to ease him in. The cambo should be effective for a 4th line that can be used in sheltered situations. Bourque is the 13th forward, Toninato goes to the AHL to be a callup after injuries eventually move Kamanev into the top 9, and Greer is once again buried in the organizational depth.

I quite like these as well and understand the logic. Probably the more realistic possibility too

 

[Tralfamadore]

We truely lack a competitive 2nd line. Silver lining is we have three 3rd lines.

 

[CobraAcesS]

Kerfoot - Jost - Andrighetto

Kerfoot has worked well on the wing (on the early Duchene line) and I don't see anybody on the left side with a better resume to play the second line to start. Ghetto will once again have every chance to prove he can produce at a 2nd line level.

Nieto - Soderberg - Compher

I know the conventional wisdom is that Calvert will play here, but Compher will beat him out in camp for a top 9 spot. It will be a good opportunity for him to hone his two-way game and a little bit more firepower on Soderberg's wing to hopefully get a little more offense out of this line.

Wilson - Kamenev - Calvert

Kamenev will get his NHL time out of camp, with two vets on his wing to ease him in. The cambo should be effective for a 4th line that can be used in sheltered situations. Bourque is the 13th forward, Toninato goes to the AHL to be a callup after injuries eventually move Kamanev into the top 9, and Greer is once again buried in the organizational depth.

If I had to guess that's probably the most logical choices.

Part of me wants Kam at center at all costs, but we could also use another two way winger with size. Kam, Jost, and Kaut could be a good line in the future.

The size queen in me thinks against some teams Kam might end up the better choice in the dot than Jost though.

Kam Soda and Compher could be a good choice too. It's just really difficult to project Kamenev. Hopefully he's not one of those guys who has the AHL figured out but cant fully stick above the 4th line. I wonder how ok with being on the 4th line all year he would be as well.

 

[Postanin CB Ting]

With our top line set, some new faces and a lot of tweeners throughout our lineup, I was curious to see everyone's ideal lineup given our forward group entering training camp. I expect there to be a few combinations tried out before all is said and done. Post your lines 2-4 not as you expect them, but as they would be if you were Bednar. Feel free to explain.

Line 2: Jost - Kamenev - Andrighetto
I don't expect this combo to get a lot of love, but hear me out. I know it seems that they are set with Jost at C, but I still believe he is better suited to wing at this level and would thrive there. I am putting a lot of faith in Kam, but I do believe in him and this puts him a position to succeed. He also adds some size to an otherwise short line. Ghetto needs to be in the top 6 to be effective, but I am still holding out hope we package him off in a trade as he doesn't really fit in the lineup anywhere. Here's hoping he continues to produce, and with Kam and Jost he should have every opportunity to. In an ideal world, Greer tears up camp and earns this spot on the right side.

Line 3: Nieto - Soderberg - Calvert
This one is a no-brainer and doesn't take much explaining, but I am tempted to throw Calvert with Jost if he does play C. If Calvert isn't on this line I would put Wilson there, who looked good in short stints with the Nieto-Soda pairing.

Line 4: Kerfoot - Toninato - Compher
Hate to confine Kerfoot to the 4th line, but it will give him sheltered minutes to prey on weaker opponents and add some secondary scoring. This all college line should be defensively responsible and I'm a big fan of our Jay McClement Jr. and want to see him in the lineup. This gives us an exciting, defensively responsible 4th line with some offensive upside that could create mismatches.

Extras: Bourque, Wilson

What do you have?

I like these lines, this would be my choice and flip Ghetto/Kerf whenever one gets into a decent slump.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

I know everyone loves how well Matt Nieto played with Soderberg last season but we shouldn’t be so fixated on finding dream chemistry on our lower lines. Especially now with Lake gone to Dallas.

I’d stick Soderberg right on line number two to insulate Jost to start the year. If Jost looks ready, slide him into a full time #2C role but starting out i’d definitely like to take my time with him. Soderberg is the closest thing we have to a 2C based on what we saw last season.

Mac and Cheese
Jost Soderberg Ghetto
Wilson Compher Kerfoot
Calvert/Kamenev/LongBeach/Gork

 

[AvsFan29]

I know everyone loves how well Matt Nieto played with Soderberg last season but we shouldn’t be so fixated on finding dream chemistry on our lower lines. Especially now with Lake gone to Dallas.

I’d stick Soderberg right on line number two to insulate Jost to start the year. If Jost looks ready, slide him into a full time #2C role but starting out i’d definitely like to take my time with him. Soderberg is the closest thing we have to a 2C based on what we saw last season.

Mac and Cheese
Jost Soderberg Ghetto
Wilson Compher Kerfoot
Calvert/Kamenev/LongBeach/Gork

You have to think that 2nd line center is going to be the main focus early on this season. We can't expect MacKinnon to take this team to the playoffs with only one line. My guess is, assuming Jost doesn't show more offensive upside, they give Kerfoot a shot, and then look to make a trade. I think Soderberg is a solid 3rd or 4th line center. Maybe Kamenev surprises everyone and gets a shot at it. It will be interesting to see and is one of those issues that can make or break our season. Ideally Jost starts to play like he did in college, and shows some great ability down low.

 

[dahrougem2]

Landeskog - MacKinnon - Rantanen
Jost - Soderberg - Andrighetto
Calvert - Kerfoot - Nieto
Wilson - Compher - Bourque

I am higher than most on Kerfoot, and I was really, really unimpressed with what I saw from Compher last season. That said, the Wilson-Compher-Bourque line seemed to gel in the 1st round vs Nashville so I'm thinking Bednar keeps them together to start. Might be a disservice to Compher but unless he proves otherwise, the 4th line is where he belongs right now.

I'd like to give Jost a shot to play centre, but I think our best chance at success next season is with Soderberg occupying the 2C role. Hopefully Jost blows it away in camp and forces Bednar's hand to play him at centre.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Wilson-Jost-Andrigetoo
Kerfoot-Soderberg-Compher
Calvert-Nieto-Bourque

kamanev plays 1C with the eagles.

 

[Jayevs]

Calvert-Soderberg-Compher
Kamenev-Jost-Andrighetto
Wilson-Kerfoot-Nieto

Kamenev forces himself into the secondary scoring unit with Jost and they show good chemistry through camp, Compher And Calvert show to be upgrades on Nieto and Lake while the leftovers take the 4th line and feast on weaker competition.

 

[arun]

I wouldnt play nieto at center

 

[quesosauce]

any thoughts on bringing landy down to the second line to 'balance' things a tad? i know the landy/mack/rants line was fire but more balance could help the other guys get better

something like
kerfoot-mack-rants
landy-jost-ghetto
neito-soda-compher
wilson-kamanev-calvert

 

[Nalens Oga]

I can't say I like any of these combos, our 2 to 4th lines are ugly at the end of the day. I hope some of these kids took a GIANT step during the summer because anything else and one or two of our division opponents will leapfrog us.

 

[LTC Pain]

Landy-Mack-Rants
Kamanev-Jost-Ghetto
Neito-Soda-Compher
Wilson-Kerfoot-Calvert
Bourque

 

[dahrougem2]

I wouldnt play nieto at center

Nor would I play Wilson on the 2nd line

 

[AvsFan29]

I can't say I like any of these combos, our 2 to 4th lines are ugly at the end of the day. I hope some of these kids took a GIANT step during the summer because anything else and one or two of our division opponents will leapfrog us.

Jost was saying that MacKinnon had him doing Andy O'Brien work outs over the summer. Can't hurt.

 

[ljb4]

any thoughts on bringing landy down to the second line to 'balance' things a tad? i know the landy/mack/rants line was fire but more balance could help the other guys get better


something like
kerfoot-mack-rants
landy-jost-ghetto
neito-soda-compher
wilson-kamanev-calvert

I like this line-up, but I would swap Neito and Calvert.

 

[Perratrooper]

Jost-Sodaberg-Compher
Allows for Soda to have a significantly more talented player in Jost and a similar player to Nieto in Compher.
Wilson-Kerfoot-Andrighetto
I struggle having Wilson on the third line, but also don’t want Kerf and Ghetto getting completely bullied out there. I hope for this to be our dirt poor man’s version of our top line.
Nieto-Kamenev-Calvert
Both Nieto and Calvert are strong tenacious two-way vets who should help allow Kam to not have to worry as much about defensive mistakes while being the main driver of play on the line.

 

[quesosauce]

I like this line-up, but I would swap Neito and Calvert.

yea thats fine, as others have said a lot of the 3/4th liners are interchangeable

 

[Sea Eagles]

Tough one. A lot depends on where the club see's Jost future.


Landeskog - Mackinnon - Rantanen
Kerfoot - Soderberg - Andrighetto
Calvert - Jost - Compher
Nieto - Wilson - Kamenev
(Bourque)


Zadorov - Johnson
Cole - Barrie
Nemeth - Girard
(Barberio)

Varlamov
Grubauer

In a perfect world, Kaut, Bowers, Greer & Lewis develop, and push for the squad in 2020 (my favorite development forwards).
In a perfect world, Makar, Timmins, Meloche develop, and push for the squad in 2020 (my favorite development D-men).

* This will be Wilson's final year on the team (likely the NHL)

 

[UncleRisto]

It depends a lot on how Jost looks to start. One thing I'd like to see is, let's not bury Söderberg on the "2nd line" with the 100% skill-free scrubs again. If this garbage is to form any sort of second line, Söderberg and Jost have to shoulder the secondary scoring. Söderberg is by far the best all-around player in the bunch, and Jost is the only one with legit top-6 scoring potential.

It's tough to balance the lines out without seeing the depth on ice. Compher didn't yet take the steps he kind of needs to take, Kamenev lost a season, and Andrighetto and Kerfoot don't really both fit in on paper. The rest of the vets are guys who can make a good fourth line or so but you wouldn't necessarily want to see them much... So it's wait and see, really. Greer needs to either make the team or absolutely light up the AHL. He's yet to turn 22 but his career is going nowhere fast.

 

[Cousin Eddie]

24 point career high, 8 year veteran Matt Calvert getting mad mentions above the fourth line in here.

I know our offseason was uneventful but people may need to step back on the expectations.

 

[McMetal]

24 point career high, 8 year veteran Matt Calvert getting mad mentions above the fourth line in here.

I know our offseason was uneventful but people may need to step back on the expectations.

I think people are going to love Calvert in the same way McLeod got so much love, but we have way too many options for the top 9 to be putting him there. People should stop thinking of him as a Comeau replacement and think more along the lines of an upgrade on Bourque.

 

[henchman21]

I don't think Calvert should be above the 4th line, but he is a the type of player that coaches just love and tend to play above their head consistently. I'd be surprised if he doesn't get top 9 minutes.