Soderberg at Right Wing Spooner At Center??

[rainone99]

I really like Lucic and Soderberg playing together. Giving them another big body on that line will be hard for other teams to contain. I don't think Eriksson is the answer on the Krejci line. I think this team looks much better with the following line-up...any thoughts???

Lucic Krejci Soderberg
Marchand Bergeron Smith
Kelly Spooner Eriksson
Paille Campbell Fraser/Caron/

Click to read more...

 

[Nose Face Killah]

Söderberg has said he has trouble playing right wing because of his eye, so it seems unlikely.

 

[GordonHowe]

I don't see it either, no pun. Soderberg's game blossomed when he was moved to his natural center position, and I'm almost positive that the Bruins want to keep him there on that third line. Spooner either fits as a fourth line C, or he will be traded. From what I gather, neither knowledgeable folks like DocShole or the B's brass themselves believe Spooner can be converted to wing.

My guess is that they try him as 4 C in camp & see how it works. With their stated desire for greater skill & speed on that line, it's entirely possible that's how it shakes out. Gregory Campbell can move to the wing; Dan P. may move up to the third line, and Chris Kelly can play wing, too.

That's the fun thing about camp this year. Yes, more uncertainty and questions, but also a team with a solid core that's *moving forward* by incorporating youth, energy, and skill.

Interesting times!

 

[Bruinswillwin77]

What if they left Paille on the fourth line had they decided to play Spooner at C? With his speed complementating Spooner's.

 

[Beesfan]

What if they left Paille on the fourth line had they decided to play Spooner at C? With his speed complementating Spooner's.

I think Paille and Spooner is a really nice combo, even if paired with a goon that is a line that could give team fits with the a lot of speed, some skill and some physicality.

 

[Beesfan]

Eventually, I see Soderberg as our "4th line" center, where he plays with two other big physical guys. Something like: Camara - Soderberg - Ferlin. He'd still play 16-18 min/night, ideally, so he really wouldn't be a 4 line player in the traditional sense. Since Bergeron's line is the shut down line, the "3rd line" could implement our young skill players for supplementary scoring. Something like: Paille - Spooner - Pasternak.

Anyway, to answer the question, Soderberg is either a center or left wing. Ideally a center, but definitely not a right wing.

 

[BigGoalBrad]

Spooner got a chance to center Soderberg and sucked.

Awful idea. Soderberg would refuse to resign with us too.

 

[GordonHowe]

Spooner got a chance to center Soderberg and sucked.

Awful idea. Soderberg would refuse to resign with us too.

Yes. That's not going to happen, imo. Neither is Soderberg C on 4th line.

 

[trudatman*]

we're playing a one-eyed center up along the boards that are tighter together than the boards he played between in his development? is it still August? where's the "Tuukka as enforcer" thread?

 

[remer]

Lucic Krejci ? ( Trade)
Marchand Bergeron Smith
Leino Soderberg Eriksson
Koko Spooner Fraser

Kelly, Paille and Campbell, Caron- all gone

 

[talkinaway]

Soda is a center. Period. Which is unfortunate - we have SO many centers, and so few right wings. I get it - it's tempting to try and push a center to right wing in our situation. When you have a hammer and need a nail, everything in the room starts to look like a nail. But of all the centers that could be moved from there natural position, not Soderberg. He plays like Carl. And Carl plays at center.

As for Tuukka as enforcer, he did play that role in Providence:



Just thinking out loud here, but how does Campbell look at wing? Paille-(Spooner/Campbell) on the nouveau merlot line? I don't think Spooner does so well on wing, but if Campbell could move to wing and babysit that position, then Spooner or another up and comer (Koko?) could take their natural position.

With that merlot line and a Lucic/Krejci/Eriksson and Marchand/Bergeron/Smith, we could have Soda with Kelly and another young'un?

 

[unifiedtheory]

Yeti is playing the middle, I don't know why it's a debate anymore. Dude was, at times, a dominant player in the middle. When he's on the wing he's just another guy. He's wasted out there.

 

[Ratty]

Soderberg at Centre. Spooner at Centre. Move somebody else. Must be lots of interest in this competition as we now have two threads on it.

 

[Lobster57]

I'm fairly convinced Soderberg is better suited to center, the way his play kicked into a higher gear after he was moved to the middle was obvious. That said i would completely support giving him a look on the wing again, because maybe the NA game "clicked" for him around the same time he was moved. maybe his improved play correlated to moving to center but wasn't caused by it. And having the big fella on the wing helps solve some problems, especially if Spooner or Koko look ready

 

[trudatman*]

Campbell is a borderline pro on this team. he looked rejuvenated on the left wing recently. he's an easy candidate for the left and I think Paille is fine on the right. assuming Campbell isn't traded, they could aim for a third line of Paille/Soderberg/Eriksson that would destroy most teams' lower lines and even match up quite well against elite lines. then Campbell and Kelly can trade off as centers and left wingers as the situation and trends dictate. does that mean a kid (or if history leads, an exhausted project/leadership veteran) ends up on the first line? fine by me. let Krejci earn than team-best contract getting one of the very young guys up to speed in a crash course. it can ruin an occasional rookie to do the trial-by-fire thing, but this team has youth to spare and wing-waiters abound.

MAR/BER/SMI
LUC/KRE/PAS(FLO, SPO, FRA, GRI)
PAI/SOD/ERI
KEL/CAMP/KRU (CAMA, CUN, LIN, ROB, FER, who)
CHA/HAM
SEI/BOY
MIL/MCQ
RAS(SVE)

that would still need some cap magic, but if the team harkens back to the days of a scrubby "fighting" line grinding out rare minutes and giving up a few points to better prepared and more cohesive bottom forward lines, the other three will more than make up for it. so much possibility. camp should be a blast. he's hoping it's the free-for-all it could be and that the best/hottest players make the early roster and it all sorts itself out gracefully.

 

[Jean_Jacket41]

Söderberg has said he has trouble playing right wing because of his eye, so it seems unlikely.

And for the team, it's much better having him center the 3rd line and dominate other teams bottom pairings.

 

[s3antana5757]

I think this is a very poor idea as most have stated. Loui is going to be fine on the Krejci line, and if he isn't, he's going to have an extended tryout until the deadline. I still think the excess defense man is where we make a move from. McQuiad and/or Bart along with some other value can bring a solid 3rd line winger back. Moving Soderberg only creates more problems and takes a huge strength away from this team.

I don't like Kelly as a 3rd line winger, but he does some nice things(checking, PK etc.) I think Florek is likely the 4th line RW or one of the vet options. 3rd line RW is the only question mark in my mind at this point. It's an important one though.

 

[Jean_Jacket41]

Soderberg at Centre. Spooner at Centre. Move somebody else. Must be lots of interest in this competition as we now have two threads on it.

What I like the most about what I red from Julien/Chiarelli is the option to move Campbell on the wing to make a spot for Spooner. A Paille-Spooner-Campbell line would be perfect. And he could also help on the PP and in the shoutout.

I'll be very surprised if Spooner ain't playing in game 1. It's either that or he's traded.

 

[talkinaway]

What I like the most about what I red from Julien/Chiarelli is the option to move Campbell on the wing to make a spot for Spooner. A Paille-Spooner-Campbell line would be perfect. And he could also help on the PP and in the shoutout.

I'll be very surprised if Spooner ain't playing in game 1. It's either that or he's traded.

Yeah, as I was writing this thread, I literally googled "Greg Campbell wing", and saw a few articles that I remembered reading from this summer that mentioned that Campbell was ready and willing to move to the wing. Good for him - I hope that transition works, because I think that's going to have to happen at some point.

I don't remember Campbell playing wing this season, but I could be completely blacking something out. I do very vivdly remember the huge leap that Soderberg had when he moved from left wing to center. It was like he got some life infused into him. Paradoxically, center is a better place for him. I get why at first glance (pun intended), you're going to want someone with functionally no left eye to be on the left wing. Yet somehow, he's fixed any sort of peripheral vision issue he has.

Which makes me worry a little about Loui moving up to the 1A, 1B, first-in-name-only, second-when-they-show-it-on-NESN, Krejci, whatever-you-wanna-call-it line. I'm not saying there's necessarily a Swedish connection going on there...although from what I've read, I think having Loui around and having a few more years under his belt is definitely helping Carl adjust to the US. But when you've got a 5 eyed line, you're going to have to yell at each other on the ice. Kelly and Loui clearly work well with Carl - hopefully anyone who comes in Loui's place will learn how to communicate with him. It must require more communication than normal.

 

[Sea Bass Neely]

Yeah Carl has said it himself, more than once iirc, that he prefers playing center... and he played C in Sweden (mostly anyhow). And we have every reason to believe him based on his stellar play at his natural position. Yes he would have gotten better anyway, but IMO when you consider just how instantaneous the effect on his game was it could not have just been that. The relative impact was visible practically overnight. Once he got settled into his role as 3rd line C he wasn't very far from averaging a PPG all the way to season's end.

If Yeti were going to play any wing, it would HAVE to be left wing because of his bad left eye (as mentioned throughout the thread). But he's already proven that would be asset mismanagement.

 

[JOKER 192]

Considering everything I read in this tread here's what I got,

Lucic/Krecji/Erikkson
Marchand/Bergy/Smith
Gagne-Kelly-Lieno/Soda/Pastarnak-Caron-Koko
Paille/Spooner/Caron-Soupy-Fraser-Koko

I know many here will disagree but I think Erikkson deserves a chance to prove himself on the 1ST line . Loui has to sink or swim, I'll give him a Mulligan for last year but this year we need results.

The second line needs no tweeking, it seemed to work last year.

On the 3rd line, Soda earned his Center spot, he needs to stay there,the question is who plays the wings? On the left wing,Gagne is my first choice if he has any game left,then Kelly , he didnt look bad there with Soda last year.Lieno, I just don't know what to think.
On the right wing ,I'm really hoping Pasty is the real deal,if not my next choice is Caron,maybe the 3rd line is where he belongs, That would be a hand full of a 3rd line to deal with.If that doesn't work out, lets give Koko a shot on the wing.

To me it's Paille and Spooner set in stone on the 4th line, with Koko waiting in the wing for the Center Position. Any one of Caron,Soupy,Fraser or Koko would complement this line.

Caron might find his niche here, with easier opposition and speed at both LW and Center it just may be what the doctor ordered.

Soupy woud bring the experience the others just dont have.

With the speed of Paille and Spooner it may give Fraser the time he needs to excel.

Koko could make this 4th line overwhelming by adding to the speed.



.

 

[ODAAT]

I really like Lucic and Soderberg playing together. Giving them another big body on that line will be hard for other teams to contain. I don't think Eriksson is the answer on the Krejci line. I think this team looks much better with the following line-up...any thoughts???

Lucic Krejci Soderberg
Marchand Bergeron Smith
Kelly Spooner Eriksson
Paille Campbell Fraser/Caron/

Soderberg never played better than after he was shifted to the middle, no way Spoons pushes him out of there and before I`m ready to declare LE as not being the "answer" on the Krejci line, I`d like to see him play there for more than a game or two

 

[Taz#24]

All great speculation...

And I would add, we need a RWer who shoots right. Hopefully something gets done to make that happen. David JONES would be a nice fit on the KRECJI line IMHO. Calgary has a ton of cap space. PC should try and package BARTKOWSKI, KELLY, with SAVARD's cap hit in exchange for JONES and MCGRATTAN. We create about 2million in space and PC will not have to wait for the season to start in order to place SAVARD on LTIR and sign SMITH and KRUG.

LUCIC-KREJCI-JONES
MARCHAND-BERGERON-ERIKSSON
PAILLE-SODERBERG-SMITH
CARON or Rookie-CAMPBELL-Rookie spot(FRASER, FLOREK, SPOONER, KNIGHT, KHOCHLACHEV, LINBLAD, FERLIN), GAGNE and/or LEINO are wild cards.
MCGRATTAN

CHARA-BOYCHUK
SEIDENBERG-HAMILTON
KRUG-MCQUAID
MILLER

RASK
SVEDBERG

 

[ODAAT]

Campbell is a borderline pro on this team. he looked rejuvenated on the left wing recently. he's an easy candidate for the left and I think Paille is fine on the right. assuming Campbell isn't traded, they could aim for a third line of Paille/Soderberg/Eriksson that would destroy most teams' lower lines and even match up quite well against elite lines. then Campbell and Kelly can trade off as centers and left wingers as the situation and trends dictate. does that mean a kid (or if history leads, an exhausted project/leadership veteran) ends up on the first line? fine by me. let Krejci earn than team-best contract getting one of the very young guys up to speed in a crash course. it can ruin an occasional rookie to do the trial-by-fire thing, but this team has youth to spare and wing-waiters abound.

MAR/BER/SMI
LUC/KRE/PAS(FLO, SPO, FRA, GRI)
PAI/SOD/ERI
KEL/CAMP/KRU (CAMA, CUN, LIN, ROB, FER, who)
CHA/HAM
SEI/BOY
MIL/MCQ
RAS(SVE)

that would still need some cap magic, but if the team harkens back to the days of a scrubby "fighting" line grinding out rare minutes and giving up a few points to better prepared and more cohesive bottom forward lines, the other three will more than make up for it. so much possibility. camp should be a blast. he's hoping it's the free-for-all it could be and that the best/hottest players make the early roster and it all sorts itself out gracefully.

Borderline pro on this team?? I think he had an inconsistent year last year but coming off a summer in which he couldn`t begin his normal off season training routine, coupled with Thorty in decline and Paille missing some time with concussions, it`s pretty easy to see why we didn`t see the same Soupy in years gone by

There are players out there who can do what Soupy does I am sure, but he`s still a great fit with this team, knows his role, does it well. I could care less if it`s Kelly or Soupy playing the wing if Kelly is still a Bruin before opening day (which none of us can say with conviction)

 

[Fire Sweeney]

And I would add, we need a RWer who shoots right. Hopefully something gets done to make that happen. David JONES would be a nice fit on the KRECJI line IMHO. Calgary has a ton of cap space. PC should try and package BARTKOWSKI, KELLY, with SAVARD's cap hit in exchange for JONES and MCGRATTAN. We create about 2million in space and PC will not have to wait for the season to start in order to place SAVARD on LTIR and sign SMITH and KRUG.

LUCIC-KREJCI-JONES
MARCHAND-BERGERON-ERIKSSON
PAILLE-SODERBERG-SMITH
CARON or Rookie-CAMPBELL-Rookie spot(FRASER, FLOREK, SPOONER, KNIGHT, KHOCHLACHEV, LINBLAD, FERLIN)
MCGRATTAN

CHARA-BOYCHUK
SEIDENBERG-HAMILTON
KRUG-MCQUAID
MILLER

RASK
SVEDBERG

Jones scored 9 goals last year, 3 the year before. Not the guy you want on your 1st line