Line Combos: Predicting Forward Lines for 2013-2014

[armani]

Option A
Greening-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Michalek
Conacher-Zibby-Pageau
Condra-Smith-Neil

Option B
Michalek-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Zibby
Conacher-Pageau-Condra
Greening-Smith-Neil

Option C
Conacher-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Michalek
Greening-Zibby-Pageau
Condra-Smith-Neil

Option D
Michalek-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Zibby
Greening-Pageau-Condra
Conacher-Smith-Neil

Option E
Your forward line combos

In lieu of so many line combos that I have seen in many different threads, I thought we put them all here with some poll options. As BM has said where he wants to see Zibanejad as a centre, I am going with Option A which also has the exciting, inexperienced, Canadienesque (in size, aka anti-Aragorn), yet talented and intriguing 3rd line combo.

Click to read more...

 

[Super Cake]

I think i would go for option D.

 

[DrEasy]

My lines:

Ryan - Spezza - Michalek
MacArthur - Turris - Stone <- who plays here is the big question mark for me
Conacher - Ziba - Condra
Greening - Smith - Neil

 

[Benjamin]

I wanna see Michalek on line as the go to the net winger and not the #1 winger looking for a pass from Spezza.

 

[armani]

My lines:

Ryan - Spezza - Michalek
MacArthur - Turris - Stone <- who plays here is the big question mark for me
Conacher - Ziba - Condra
Greening - Smith - Neil

Pageau gets to start in the NHL, no doot aboot it.

 

[Karl Cowensson]

I have a feeling that Pageau will be the first call up, but won't make the team out of camp.

Conacher-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Michalek
Greening-Zib-Condra
OBrien-Smith-Neil

Could easily see Greening and Conacher flipped, but Conacher fit in great with Stamkos and St Louis, why not at least try a similar line and see what happens.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

"D"

Geening adds some nice size and speed to the 3rd line line and helps along the boards. He's a much better winger for Pageau than Conacher and a much better fit for the puck possesion style of play of Pageau/Condra.

Conacher would be great in the energy line. He's such a pest. Along with Smith and Neil, people would go ****ing BANANAS playing against that line. They'd draw so many penalties it would be great to see. It's not like Smith and Neil are terrible offensively either. Smith's offense is under rated because he doesn't get PP time and Neil has shown consistently good offense with limited ice time his whole career.

Option D is like having two equally good 3rd lines.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

E

Imo you have to have Michalek playing with spezza . He looked bad with turris. We should have conacher play right wing so he can use his offensive ability on the second line . Conacher has made it to the NHL based on his offensive ability and if hes going to stay in the NHL he'll have to be a top 6 forward or significantly change his game . I could see him and turris being a pretty annoying line . They tend to make guys wanna punch them in the head .lol
Conacher-Smith-Neil seems like an okay option for a forth line but i think PM wants to have a pure shut down line he can use . Conacher on the right wing makes too much sense to not try it . It gives him the option to be successful at what hes good at (scoring)rather then shutting down players and it also add depth to the right wing position .

My ideal lines .

Michalek-Spezza-Ryan I might be more willing to let michalek have the right side over ryan since hes the incumbent .
MacArther-Turris-Conacher
Greening-Zibby/Pageau-Condra
Pageau/Kassain-Smith-Neil

If not this option i start pageau in the AHL because in my mind if u send conacher down you've basically given up on him and the bishop trade .You cant send the former AHL top goal scorer, calder cup winner and MVP down after hes had moderate rookie success in the NHL . It's easy to say he only had success in Tampa because of stamkos but lets be real its not as if he was getting open net passes from him and St Louis. On top of that it should be noted he was playing against top pairing dmen well in Tampa.

 

[danishh]

D, probably.

although, my best bet is this:

Michalek-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Zibanejad
Greening-Conacher-Condra
Hoffman-Smith-Neil
Kassian, Dziurzynski

to start the year, with pageau being called up once they give up on hoffman/dziurzynski or have an injury. Da Costa might end up being lost to waivers in october.

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

B/D

I wanna say Zib plays 3rd C but I don't think Pageau will play poorly enough to not make the team.

 

[Vesa Awesaka]

D, probably.

although, my best bet is this:

Michalek-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Zibanejad
Greening-Conacher-Condra
Hoffman-Smith-Neil
Kassian, Dziurzynski

to start the year, with pageau being called up once they give up on hoffman/dziurzynski or have an injury. Da Costa might end up being lost to waivers in october.

i like the idea of hoffman starting in the NHL since PM promised him he'd be on the team last year but his injury really blew his shot .

 

[benjiv1]

Option E:

Conacher-Spezza-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Michalek
Smith-Zibanejad-Neil
Greening-Pageau-Condra

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

I wanna see Michalek on line as the go to the net winger and not the #1 winger looking for a pass from Spezza.

Trust me(Means I agree) my brudda.

 

[OgieO]

(e)

Ryan-Spezza-Conacher
Greening-Turris-Michalek
MacArthur-Zibanejad-Stone
Neil-Smith-Condra

My goals with these lines were:
-three balanced lines that can score.
-developing Zibby, which means giving him capable players and not pluggers, plus one guy that can stay with him for the long term (Stone)
-finding a complimentary player for Spezza&Ryan duo. Conacher excelled playing with elite players in Tampa
-Michalek would have worked for the above, but I wanted more balance and dropped him with Turris. This line also has three very effective shutdown types, I'd want to match-up against other big lines to free up the top line where possible.

 

[The Fuhr*]

In the playoffs the team scratched Conacher so Stone could play with Spezza... when Spezza came back from injury... that is very telling to me.

Stone will make the team out of camp

 

[John Holmes*]

I wouldn't read much into it.

Coach was trying to mix it up. Conacher was just the odd man out.

As great as Stache is, he does make some head scratching moves on occasion, ie: Kassian dressing over Latendresse ever.

Conacher does need to work on his D (IMO) but other than that I think you have to be pretty happy with his game, and his contributions.

With a full camp and a full season and time to get used to playing the system and with the same linemates, I think he'll be a pretty good fit.

If Stone is ready, they'll have to find a way to get him into the lineup. Count on Michalek and Spezza missing some time. Zib or Pags step into the C and a spot opens up on the wing.

Injuries happen. Depth is good.

 

[OgieO]

I think Pageau benefits from starting the year in Bingo. He's good already, but let him hone his game in the AHL for part of the year. Injuries will happen and he'll be up soon enough anyway.

I think that's how Stone makes the roster.

 

[sens83]

Stone only played a handful of minutes. I'm still scratching my head at why people think Stone NEEDS to play with Speeza just because he made two good passes in a playoff game.

If Stone does make the team, I bet you he will be send down mid-season.

 

[Karlssonlee]

I think Pageau benefits from starting the year in Bingo. He's good already, but let him hone his game in the AHL for part of the year. Injuries will happen and he'll be up soon enough anyway.

I think that's how Stone makes the roster.

I agree. Pageau is good enough to start the year but he needs to further develop his offensive game in the AHL.

I have no doubt he finishes the year with us. I would just rather see him play on Bingos top 6 So he can further gain confidence offensively

 

[The Fuhr*]

Stone only played a handful of minutes. I'm still scratching my head at why people think Stone NEEDS to play with Speeza just because he made two good passes in a playoff game.

For me... it's because I hear coaching/management talk about how they are the ideal fit together.

Quotes like this... before game 5 this year

"We have long thought that he could be a good linemate for Jason," MacLean said. "Circumstances haven't allowed that to happen up until this day."

 

[John Holmes*]

Pageau is the best of our young players at the moment.

Why is everyone so eager to send him down?

Barring a disastrous camp / preseason, I think he's a virtual lock for the big team.

 

[danishh]

Pageau is the best of our young players at the moment.

Why is everyone so eager to send him down?

Barring a disastrous camp / preseason, I think he's a virtual lock for the big team.

we have numbers issues. I know they always say 'the best players play', but teams are reluctant to expose assets to waivers, and a waiver-exempt player has to be considerably better to make the team out of camp.


Waiver-exempt forwards: Zibanejad, Conacher (for like 5 more NHL games played), Pageau, Stone

Waiver-Elibible forwards: Michalek, Spezza, Ryan, MacArthur, Turris, Greening, Condra, Smith, Neil, O'Brien, Kassian, Hoffman, Da Costa, Grant, Dziurzynky

Grant is going to pass through waivers. Dziurzynsky probably will too. That leaves 17 forwards fighting for 14 spots. Realistically, it's Pageau, Stone, Hoffman, and Da Costa fighting for one spot. I'm betting on Pageau and Stone being sent down at least to start so they dont have to expose BOTH da costa and hoffman.

 

[OgieO]

we have numbers issues. I know they always say 'the best players play', but teams are reluctant to expose assets to waivers, and a waiver-exempt player has to be considerably better to make the team out of camp.


Waiver-exempt forwards: Zibanejad, Conacher (for like 5 more NHL games played), Pageau, Stone

Waiver-Elibible forwards: Michalek, Spezza, Ryan, MacArthur, Turris, Greening, Condra, Smith, Neil, O'Brien, Kassian, Hoffman, Da Costa, Grant, Dziurzynky

Grant is going to pass through waivers. Dziurzynsky probably will too. That leaves 17 forwards fighting for 14 spots. Realistically, it's Pageau, Stone, Hoffman, and Da Costa fighting for one spot. I'm betting on Pageau and Stone being sent down at least to start so they dont have to expose BOTH da costa and hoffman.

That's a very good point.

I was counting on Da Costa being traded this offseason, but maybe that won't happen. Hoffman may stick out of camp for the reason you suggest - and he might just win the spot outright.

 

[IranCondraAffair]

We worry a lot about our players being lost to waivers, but realistically to acquire someone, a team would likely have to expose one of their own players as soon as they processed the claim so there is more risk to it than people realize.

Even if we can't find room on the roster, we can't place anyone on IR, and we can't find a trading partner, most prospects on waivers don't ever get claimed. Remember when we were all worried Brian Lee was going to be claimed? LOL

Also, there will be just as many good or better players on other teams being put on waivers at the same time and our guys won't even be at the top of the list.

We can worry about losing a DaCosta or Hoffman type guy, but it's usually the high round picks that are struggling that get claimed (see Hickey), not the 5th rounders with little-to-no NHL experience. Losing Daugavins wasn't a big deal and Hoffman and DaCosta are just as unproven if not more so. Believe me, if there was a chance a guy like Stone would be put on waivers, there would be threads about it in the Trade Forum.

 

[YouGotAStuGoing]

B is closest, but I'd do this:

Michalek-Spezza-Ryan
Conacher-Turris-Zibby
MacArthur-Pageau-Condra
Greening-Smith-Neil

I'm not really feeling MacArthur on the second line. He can score in that spot, but not consistently. Usually he's not a good fit for third lines, but since we're essentially rolling three scoring lines, I think he'd be a nice fit alongside Pageau and Condra. And if Conacher can play with the same style of reckless abandon that netted him so many points in Tampa... well, we might have something special with that second line.