Should Nelson be LW on first line?

[Darth Milbury]

Offensive balance is nice.

But, Brock is horrendous in the faceoff circle.

Move him to JT's wing, Grabo back to center, and give Lee the second line lw slot.

Click to read more...

 

[seafoam]

But..but..size down the middle, Darth.

Size.

 

[seafoam]

With that said, I asked Staple the same exact thing yesterday...

Arthur Staple ‏@StapeNewsday Oct 11

@Mermousse Nelson's on PP1 and way more effective as a center. I don't see it happening.

https://twitter.com/StapeNewsday/status/520928865859141632

 

[JeffNYI]

We're 2-0.

 

[Darth Milbury]

We're 2-0.

Irrelevant to the question. We won our first two games. That doesn't mean welding every piece in the exact same spot.

 

[blinkman360]

No thanks. That 2nd line is great as is, and that 1st line will produce regardless of who is on that LW. I don't doubt that Nelson will improve at the dot either.

If Conacher doesn't work out, we have Lee ready and Dal Colle waiting in the wings. We are well stocked on LW. With Strome at RW and Nielsen hitting UFA status after the year, I think it makes more sense to leave Brock where he is.

 

[First Blood]

Lineup needs to be balanced, not in favor of changing things now until we start losing games.

 

[A Pointed Stick]

We can work the forward combinations any number of ways because of our depth, but going 2-0 to start... I would hold off on any major changes at the moment. Give the club some time to jell and wait until they fall into a mini-losing streak before messing the combinations up again.

I am partially intrigued by the idea of sticking Kulemin in Conacher's spot. He has a big body, can keep up, and is probably the second or third best best defensive forward on the club. Nelson owns 2C right now. Let him flourish while everyone focuses on Tavares.

 

[Darth Milbury]

We can work the forward combinations any number of ways because of our depth, but going 2-0 to start... I would hold off on any major changes at the moment. Give the club some time to jell and wait until they fall into a mini-losing streak before messing the combinations up again.

I am partially intrigued by the idea of sticking Kulemin in Conacher's spot. He has a big body, can keep up, and is probably the second or third best best defensive forward on the club. Nelson owns 2C right now. Let him flourish while everyone focuses on Tavares.

I never thought about the idea of Kule in on that spot.

I like it.

 

[islesfan3913]

No reason to change things up. I like that second line and the only thing I'd consider doing is moving Nelson to the left side and Grabo to center. If Conacher doesn't work out then bring up Lee for the first line.

 

[JeffNYI]

Irrelevant to the question. We won our first two games. That doesn't mean welding every piece in the exact same spot.

We'll see.

Because as long as we're winning, things are working, and everyone's healthy there's no reason to change up after only two games.

If Nelson is on JT's LW for game 3 I'll admit I was wrong.

 

[ScaredStreit]

No. If it's not broken-don't fix it.

 

[redbull]

We can work the forward combinations any number of ways because of our depth, but going 2-0 to start... I would hold off on any major changes at the moment. Give the club some time to jell and wait until they fall into a mini-losing streak before messing the combinations up again.

I am partially intrigued by the idea of sticking Kulemin in Conacher's spot. He has a big body, can keep up, and is probably the second or third best best defensive forward on the club. Nelson owns 2C right now. Let him flourish while everyone focuses on Tavares.

Never thought of Kuly in that role but it seems like a great idea. We've seen how much of a bull dog Kulemin can be (in the first two games), he's built like a truck and has decent hockey sense - his ability to battle down low and dislodge pucks for Tavares and Okposo makes so much sense.

Conacher's got speed and is pretty good off the rush, getting to loose pucks, but he seems to be on the perimeter of those JT-KO down low battles (at least in the first two games) - a bigger body like Lee, Nelson or Kulemin makes a lot of sense.

Offensive balance is nice.

But, Brock is horrendous in the faceoff circle.

Move him to JT's wing, Grabo back to center, and give Lee the second line lw slot.

Nelson on LW would make that top line lethal. I think it has to be tried at some point. It'll be interesting to see how they match up against the NYR, SJ for a truer test of where they are. This roster has some serious depth and flexibility!

I don't care so much about faceoffs, there are three centres on that line, even KO takes faceoffs on the top line, but I don't like Conacher on that top line. He hasn't played poorly and I like his speed and work ethic, he's far better than the lazy Boyes, Vanek, Moulson were on the top line but a bigger winger that can grind in the corners would take that line to a whole other level - be it Lee, Nelson or Kulemin (as A Pointed Stick mentioned)

 

[Sheva7]

I never thought about the idea of Kule in on that spot.

I like it.

Kule is a nice player but he doesn't have the hands, vision or skill to go up against top d pairings. Not sure it would work.

Plus, he's a really really good fit on that shutdown line.

IMO Other than Lee, Bailey brings the most to the table for that LW spot.

 

[First Blood]

I also feel that Grabovski should center again to help out the FO%

 

[13th Floor]

Nelson at 2C makes our team better. Nelson at LW1 makes our first line better. I'm sticking with the former.

 

[JetsMetsIsles]

I would love to see Bailey or Lee on that 1LW spot. Maybe when Grabner gets back then you can shake up the third and 1st line. Id leave the 2nd as is since its clicking so well.

 

[Strome18]

No. If it's not broken-don't fix it.

The world is coming to an end. I finally agree with SS.

 

[Veteran journeyman]

Yes, Nelson should be there and will be there, imo. He looks too good with JT on the power play to not give it a shot 5-on-5, and Conacher, to me, just looks a bit out of place with JT and KO. I honestly think he'd be perfect on a line with Cizikas and Clutterbuck. All three are pesky as hell and relentless on the puck, but they also bring different skills to the table outside of just energy. I would absolutely hate to play against the three of them, and I think we'd see quite a few goals from a line like that as a bonus.

 

[rikker]

i like the idea of Kool playing 1st line LW too. would feel a lot better putting that line out in defensive situations.

i like Brock on the 2nd line. he seems to be comfortable and effective there. maybe pair him with a better face-off man, and put him on the wing just for the draw? face offs seem to be his only weakness.

love him on the 1st PP unit.

so far, i have no gripes about Cappy's line combos. i am going to be watching like a hawk, to see how he reacts when we are behind a goal or two.

 

[SLAPSHOT723]

He's too good of a center, I don't want to see him move from that spot. That Grabovski-Nelson-Strome line has been damn good too.

 

[TeamKidd]

If he has a problem with faceoffs i dont see any reason why Grabo cant take them...but he should stay at C for now. Problem is that he is too good at too many things. Nice problem to have.

I'm still not in love with Conacher on the 1st line, I dont think he's added much. not as bad as some others have been, but...just meh. I'd like to see Lee in that spot.

 

[Strummergas]

So far, it's working with him on 2nd line C duty. Let's see what happens.

 

[Words Of Wisdom]

Not at all. We need a balanced offense. Nelson is becoming our second best player to Tavares, keep them separated, don't fix what's not broken. Tavares makes players around him better, I believe Nelson does the same. Lee should be on the first line with Tavares and Okposo.

 

[scott99]

I drool at the thought of Nelson being with Tavares, that being said, it gives the team more offensive balance having him on the 2nd line with Strome and Grabovski. That's a VERY talented 2nd line. I can imagine Nelson will get Strome going offensively (goal scoring wise). No offense to Conacher, but I hope we see Lee on that 1st line soon.