Why split up the top line of mac-turris-ryan?
I hope they keep Pageau up.
Those two with Conacher had good chemistry.
I feel like Mac/Turris drive the play on their line whenever they are on with their speed and smart decisions. Ryan has been opportunistic (as well as being a force at times) but I'd like to see Michalek off the top line mostly because I feel like he kills the play too much...I think MacA and Turris would do a better job compensating for that and allowing Michalek to do focus more on crashing the net and scoring as opposed to trying to play a defensive role. But maybe switch Greening and Conacher in that case.
Conacher - Pageau - Zibanejad? I wouldn't mind that line at all.
Greening - Spezza - Ryan
MacArthur - Turris - Michalek
Conacher - Pageau - Zibanejad
Three legit scoring lines that are all very dangerous.
First off, I'm pumped for Zibby, he must've really impressed them with his work down there to be back up after only 6 games. That's a faster turnaround then when Karlsson got sent down.
Second, regarding lines, I've been hoping for a while to see a reunion of Smith - Condra. Smith 11-12 was at his best when he had Condra as his winger, I think with Neil he tries to play too much of a positional game while he lets Neil run amock. With Condra, he can afford to be more aggressive.
Greening - Zibanejad - Neil
Grant - Smith - Condra
Looks like a very balanced bottom 6. Also, hopefully Zibanejad can kickstart our powerplay.
I don't know.
I'll be happy to see him play again, but this doesn't inspire confidence in Management's "plan" for him.
Unless this is just a big box of chocolates and bouquet of flowers for an apology.
It's not uncommon for organizations to give quick stints in the minors to their top young players. The best talents dominate and force management's hand, as Karlsson and Spezza did. The lesser talents, like Rundblad, Filatov etc., can toil away for a few years while carrying out management's "plan".
I'm actually really pleased Zibby was able to force his way back up so quick. It's rare that you see top end talents needing to spend a lot of time in the minors, they normally make it really hard to justify leaving them down. Zibby's trajectory, at only 20 years of age, is really promising at the moment.
It's more that DaCosta and Pageau didn't get it done with the big club the way brass had expected/hoped.
How can either of those prove themselves when one is scratched for half the games and the other is playing with Kassian
Because the top two centre spots are taken.
If he is centering Kassian and Condra I wouldn't expect much different than what we saw out of Pageau.