Scoring Depth

[LongIslandCircus]

Haven't started a thread before or been on here lately, so I apologize if this has already been beaten to death. However, with the improved performance of this team (most notably our top line and defensive play) one has to wonder how much more success we could have with even the slightest bit of secondary scoring. Yes we've been winning lately, but many times it is by the skin of our teeth and is exclusively dependant on our top lines output.

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I see #21, 91 and 26 heading off the ice for a line change I literally feel like grabbing a beer and coming back to the TV in 2-3 minutes to watch their next shift. It is crazy how much we rely on them to carry this team and painful to think about all the 1 goal games we lost this year because other lines havent chipped in regularly.

Simply put, our other forwards have not been bringing it. I will admit our 4th line is back to banging bodies, but overall our bottom 3 lines have been underwhelming all year.

Bailey: I'm his biggest supporter, and I see all the tools there. But for God sake man, take control out there. Lead the play for once instead of playing it safe all the time.

Clutterbuck: Pick up your head and pass the puck once in a while. I appreciate his willingness to shoot, but there are numerous plays that never develop because of his tunnel vision. Ask Strome.

Nielsen: Always a solid player for us, but without his powerplay production I really don't see this "dangerous second line center" I read on here regularly. 5-on-5 he's as responsible as they come, but he's been playing a perimeter game more times than not in the offensive zone.

Grabner: Looking better but is totally predictable. Needs to find another element to his game other than looking for partial breakaways.

The reason I mention these 4 is because they are all capable of much more and need to be a part of the solution. Trust me, Im a fan of all of them.....but this team is desperate for a stronger contribution....especially if we are going to make a real run at the wildcard spot.

Thoughts?

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[islesfan186]

Haven't started a thread before or been on here lately, so I apologize if this has already been beaten to death. However, with the improved performance of this team (most notably our top line and defensive play) one has to wonder how much more success we could have with even the slightest bit of secondary scoring. Yes we've been winning lately, but many times it is by the skin of our teeth and is exclusively dependant on our top lines output.

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I see #21, 91 and 26 heading off the ice for a line change I literally feel like grabbing a beer and coming back to the TV in 2-3 minutes to watch their next shift. It is crazy how much we rely on them to carry this team and painful to think about all the 1 goal games we lost this year because other lines havent chipped in regularly.

Simply put, our other forwards have not been bringing it. I will admit our 4th line is back to banging bodies, but overall our bottom 3 lines have been underwhelming all year.

Bailey: I'm his biggest supporter, and I see all the tools there. But for God sake man, take control out there. Lead the play for once instead of playing it safe all the time.

Clutterbuck: Pick up your head and pass the puck once in a while. I appreciate his willingness to shoot, but there are numerous plays that never develop because of his tunnel vision. Ask Strome.

Nielsen: Always a solid player for us, but without his powerplay production I really don't see this "dangerous second line center" I read on here regularly. 5-on-5 he's as responsible as they come, but he's been playing a perimeter game more times than not in the offensive zone.

Grabner: Looking better but is totally predictable. Needs to find another element to his game other than looking for partial breakaways.

The reason I mention these 4 is because they are all capable of much more and need to be a part of the solution. Trust me, Im a fan of all of them.....but this team is desperate for a stronger contribution....especially if we are going to make a real run at the wildcard spot.

Thoughts?

Nielson - having a career year....least of my worries when it comes to secondary scoring
Bailey - needs to do something or GTFO
Clutterbuck - yeah agreed, he really needs to not ALWAYS shoot the puck. I mean its nice to see a guy that won't hesitate to let it rip, but more often then not they are low percentage chances
Grabner - see Bailey...though he has been improved of late. still need to see more from him though

 

[rikker]

Bailey: I'm his biggest supporter, and I see all the tools there. But for God sake man, take control out there. Lead the play for once instead of playing it safe all the time.

Clutterbuck: Pick up your head and pass the puck once in a while. I appreciate his willingness to shoot, but there are numerous plays that never develop because of his tunnel vision. Ask Strome.

Nielsen: Always a solid player for us, but without his powerplay production I really don't see this "dangerous second line center" I read on here regularly. 5-on-5 he's as responsible as they come, but he's been playing a perimeter game more times than not in the offensive zone.

Grabner: Looking better but is totally predictable. Needs to find another element to his game other than looking for partial breakaways.

The reason I mention these 4 is because they are all capable of much more and need to be a part of the solution. Trust me, Im a fan of all of them.....but this team is desperate for a stronger contribution....especially if we are going to make a real run at the wildcard spot.

Thoughts?

good post.

i think that Cappy is playing the snot out of our top line. giving them lots of offensive zone starts. most of the PP time (at least 1.5 minutes) too. hard for them not to have a big impact, IMO. our 2nd line is getting 15 min or so, and the 3rd and 4th, 10 - 13. hardly any PP time.

if we are a 'one line team', it is all on Cappy. he should spread it around, but it's hard to argue our success with Vanek in the line up, and i get a feeling about his choices. pure speculation, mind you.

he is trying to give Vanek the best possible scenario to succeed, with the hope that he will want to stay. this is HUGE for Garth and the team, if TV does stay. that said...

Bailey - too bad he couldn't be grittier. i like everything that he has to offer, except his toughness. he seems ok as a third liner, but i think he is now topping out, as a 2nd liner.

Clutterbuck - definitely not a 2nd liner. a good 3rd liner or excellent 4th liner. no reason for him to be on the PP, IMO. i can see the need for some prescence in front of their net on the PP, but he does not have the hands to warrant being there. PK is where he belongs.

Nielsen - i have mixed emotions about him. if he can mix up his shots and passes, he will be a lot more successful, IMO. he is so 'pass first', that other teams aren't even bothering playing his shot. not a corner grinder type, so he does have his weaknesses. he can be an excellent 3rd line C, when paired with a grinder and a shooter. deserves 2nd unit PP, IMO. on a strong team.

Grabner - him and CBuck should buy a net, and practice their shots in the driveway. his speed is such an asset, that it's hard to get rid of him. if he can master his shot, he would be great on the PK, and would warrant a look on the PP.

to sum... i think the boys are playing about as good as they can right now. i think we can squeeze more from them, but it falls on Cappy. he has been ok with his combinations, but i think he can be better. been surprised with Poulin's play lately, and am almost at the point where i feel comfortable with him and Nabby. i am now believing that a good Dman will benefit us the most, over any other position.

 

[WangMustGo]

When Nielsen is our #3 center and Strome is ready to takeover as the #2 center I think we will be in good shape offensively. One part of our secondary scoring that has not contributed is defense. Our defense cannot put up points at all, and its a big reason our second and third lines are failing to put up decent offensive stats.

 

[Frankie41987]

I'm very tempted to say take okposo and put him back with Bailey and Nielsen but i'm also terrified that doesn't work and then we lose production of our 1st line with no improvement in our 2nd. As solid as Frans is, he's not a "take over the play" type player. Obviously, neither is bailey and I think that line needs a catalyst. Again, Okposo fits that mold but I can't really see Cappy breaking up the only line that is working right now.

 

[majormet]

It is a good post, I think the goalie situation and defense situation are actually not as bad as scoring depth. Our defense is building and we have 2 first rounders on the horizon so we should be improving there, and Poulin is going to be great and is showing it more often.

Taking Okposo off the first line might be a good gamble for a game or two and I would play him with Nielsen and Nelson, and controversial as it might sound, Cizikas might be able to play on that first line, I think Cizikas has a lot more upside, but I would only do it for a game or 2.

Josh Bailey - I think the project is over would be interesting to try and package him to get a guy like Mike Cammalieri at this point... Bailey seems like he should be a 3rd liner in the Rocky Mountain Time Zone in Canada.

Grabner - great for the 3rd line and penalty killing, if he pots 15 goals a year in the process, even better

Clutterbuck - another 3rd line guy, 20-25 points a year, also great for penalty killing

Nielsen - as someone said... our current 2nd line center and when Strome passes him, the 3rd line center of the above 2 names.

I think we need to add a vet forward and Camallieri might be the answer.

 

[SI90]

What is this"scoring depth" you speak of. I know not what that term means.
Sounds important though.

 

[Hockey Overlord]

Bailey needs to step up his game no doubt. I'm sure he will be right there when we need him the most. I'm pretty satisfied with the rest though. They are giving their best each night. Keep in mind that the NHL playing level rose with the conference fusion. Several players still struggle through it.

 

[LongIslandCircus]

I'm very tempted to say take okposo and put him back with Bailey and Nielsen but i'm also terrified that doesn't work and then we lose production of our 1st line with no improvement in our 2nd. As solid as Frans is, he's not a "take over the play" type player. Obviously, neither is bailey and I think that line needs a catalyst. Again, Okposo fits that mold but I can't really see Cappy breaking up the only line that is working right now.

Absolutely. The way Kyle is playing this year, he can single handedly spark our second line. Him and Bailey have always played well together and i really wish they would give it a shot. The challenge as you mentioned is keeping our first lines production going. Although I'm not a big fan of throwing young guys into big roles.....Nelson would be a good fit. He played on our top line in montreal and filled in nicely. Brock is one of those players that can play wherever he's needed and do it well.

 

[A Pointed Stick]

Not to take away from the topic but we have a good 1st line and the best 4th line in the league. They also have the pieces for a good checking unit so when you point to the forwards and say that is the biggest problem, when we could arrange 9 out of 12 slots well enough, while we lack a reasonable top 4... I just don't get your math op. Vis and Hamonic are out with concussions, and the slack is picked up by a totally overacheiving rookie and third pair players... I just have to greatly disagree. The 2nd and 3rd lines are a mess by the way Capuano has them, and they have their awful underacheivers, and in general we lack size in the top 9 which is a big problem, but they could straighten the lines out to have three good ones if they wanted to. We have one top 4 defense an and a rookie, and third pair for the rest, if that much. Defense is the number one need, along with goaltending.

 

[LongIslandCircus]

Not to take away from the topic but we have a good 1st line and the best 4th line in the league. They also have the pieces for a good checking unit so when you point to the forwards and say that is the biggest problem, when we could arrange 9 out of 12 slots well enough, while we lack a reasonable top 4... I just don't get your math op. Vis and Hamonic are out with concussions, and the slack is picked up by a totally overacheiving rookie and third pair players... I just have to greatly disagree. The 2nd and 3rd lines are a mess by the way Capuano has them, and they have their awful underacheivers, and in general we lack size in the top 9 which is a big problem, but they could straighten the lines out to have three good ones if they wanted to. We have one top 4 defense an and a rookie, and third pair for the rest, if that much. Defense is the number one need, along with goaltending.

I don't really think we are disagreeing that defense is a major need of ours. What I'm pointing out that this team is not getting the production it needs from its bottom three lines. And I'm very hesitant to claim we have the best 4th line in hockey. Czikas is a very good player, but outside of him there isn't a ton of skill out there. Martin is great at his role but hasn't taken the steps we all thought he might in regards to offensive production. McDonald doesn't even make it on the roster for most other teams.

You're absolutely right about our thin blue line....I'm just concerned about the minimal production of some of our forwards who are very capable of more. Ultimately, as mentioned by others, it should have been addressed by capuano by mixing more of a balance in our lines.