zeke
The Dube Abides
- Mar 14, 2005
- 66,937
- 36,957
The game prior to Foligno making his debut, the lineup was healthy, other than Nash.
The lineup that day was:
Galchenyuk-Matthews-Marner
Robertson-Tavares-Nylander
Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Hyman
Thornton-Spezza-Simmonds
Notes:
1. With Foligno due back the next game, that sure looked like Robertson was a placeholder for him.
2. It was Brooks and Engvall out of the lineup, not any of Thornton/Spezza/Simmonds.
3. It was Simmonds that was booted out of the top 9, not galchenyuk.
4. That 4th line actually had a legit good game that night.
5. The Matthews line was pretty poor, which is maybe why Foligno debuted on the top line the next game instead of on the second line in Robertson's spot.
6. Those Hyman/Foligno/Galchenyuk slots seem pretty interchangeable, but I would guess all 3 would stay in the top 9....and I think Keefe would lean towards hoping that Galy continues to perform on a scoring line, freeing up one of Hyman or Foligno to really bolster that 3rd line and turn it into an impact checking line.
7. I don't know if that 4th line would continue to be good, but I do think Keefe will try them to start, with Nash banging on the door to replace one of them if need be.
Thinking over this, while i think this is the way Keefe is leaning, at the same time we know he's flexible and there are so many options.
He might be tempted to just stack up the best possible top two lines, and then complete the bottom 6 with one offensive leaning line and one defensive leaning line - neither being the clearcut 3rd or 4th line:
Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Foligno - Tavares - Nylander
Thornton - Kerfoot - Spezza
Mikheyev - Nash - Simmonds
This would leave Galcheyuk out - but tbh he needs to start producing if he wants to stay in the lineup. He's not good enough defensively to make up for a lack of offense with the linemates he's been given.
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