Line Combos: The Line Blender Edition, Pt. 1 (Gm.1-10)

[NickH8]

If Mantha continues to play like he has the first five games you have to take him off the first line. I’m not sure if it is just an effort issue or he is still trying to figure out his game, but something needs to change. Sometimes Mantha goes hard on the forecheck and gets the cycle going, but it’s just not consistent. The other times he goes for a skate and try’s to find the honey hole. If Mantha wants to go soft spot hunting then he needs to shoot a whole lot more. Disappointing start.

Speaking of disappointing how about Frans Nielsen. He is extremely frustrating and it’s not even all his fault. Has the role and paycheck of a 2C when it is clear those days are well behind him. If Blashill stood by his ice time meritocracy then Nielsen and Ehn should switch spots.

I think he needs to be sat to send a message. It's as if that needs to happen to him every year to get him to produce.

 

[Mjtm77]

With DDK out (hand injury..to see specialist per Freep, timeline unknown), they should roll w/7 Dmen to take the TOI pressure off.

Cholo likely for Monday, Daley not on MTL trip...

Kronner played ~25 min. in Boston...

Cholo-Hronek
Kronner-Jensen
Sulak-Saarijarvi

either: Hicketts/Wikowski

Abby, AA or Vanek can sit a game to send a message.

I just talked to Kronner outside the Ritz here in MTL and he said Cholo is playing 100%

 

[ShanahanMan]

Watching Mantha is like watching a guy with absolutely no heart playing for the team he's with. I'm getting major Evander Kane vibes from his WPG days. I just don't think he likes playing for the Wings. At this point, I wouldn't mind trading him near the deadline while he still has value.

 

[NickH8]

I just talked to Kronner outside the Ritz here in MTL and he said Cholo is playing 100%

We've got the best insiders, don't we folks?

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

We've got the best insiders, don't we folks?

I’m having a blast tonight bud!

 

[Hinterland]

With DDK out (hand injury..to see specialist per Freep, timeline unknown), they should roll w/7 Dmen to take the TOI pressure off.

Cholo likely for Monday, Daley not on MTL trip...

Kronner played ~25 min. in Boston...

Cholo-Hronek
Kronner-Jensen
Sulak-Saarijarvi

either: Hicketts/Wikowski

Abby, AA or Vanek can sit a game to send a message.

With 3 Defenders banged up, playing 7D probably not a bad idea. They won't consider a call up though. GR already paper thin with several guys sidelined. Not gonna happen.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

vs. TB & FLA:

Start Bernier

7D/11F

load up top 2F lines:

AA-Larkin-Mantha
Bert-Nielsen-Nyquist
Abby-Helm-LGD...shutdown line
Ehn & Vanek

or sit Vanek/Abby/AA/Mantha, for Frk...Nielsen is needed at C, otherwise he'd be on that list.

 

[ThankGord]

Mantha - Larkin - Nyquist
Bert - Glendening - AA
Abby - Nielsen - Helm (lmao)
Vanek - Ehn - Frk (...I guess)

Glendening is one of the few players out there making an effort and Bert wins battles and has the vision to hook AA up with scoring chances.

Yikes

 

[turkleton85]

vs. TB & FLA:

Start Bernier

7D/11F

load up top 2F lines:

AA-Larkin-Mantha
Bert-Nielsen-Nyquist
Abby-Helm-LGD...shutdown line
Ehn & Vanek

or sit Vanek/Abby/AA/Mantha, for Frk...Nielsen is needed at C, otherwise he'd be on that list.

i like the idea. allows to rotate ehn or vanek in depending on how the game goes.

 

[SirKillalot]

Conditions:
Justin Abdelkader is not a top six forward
Darren Helm is not a top six forward
Andreas Athanasiou is not a top six forward

Now for goodness sake, put players in an environment where they can succeed. The biggest issue I see is...is it even possible to have Rasmussen and Mantha on the same line? But at the very least have them on lines with some speed and skill. Stop with the spread out "skill" to make the team terrible. Why on earth should Rasmussen line up together with Glendening...makes no sense whatsoever.

To be honest I feel Nielsen is a worse version of Filppula in his prime here. A good 2nd center/A great 3rd center. But not really find where to have him.

Vanek - Larkin - Mantha (Rasmussen could be on the wing and Bertuzzi down on 2nd line)
Nielsen - Rasmussen - Nyquist (Nielsen could center if Rasmussen is wing, or heck maybe even Frk should complete this line instead of Nyquist. Put Nyquist on first and Vanek down on 3rd)
Bertuzzi - Athanasiou - Abdelkader
Ehn - Glendening - Helm
Frk

Alternatively:

Rasmussen - Larkin - Mantha
Vanek - Nielsen - Nyquist
Bertuzzi - Athanasiou - Helm
Ehn - Glendening - Abdelkader
Frk

Now Frk should also get more playing time so roll the lines.

Or...

Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha
Vanek - Rasmussen - Nyquist
Athanasiou - Nielsen - Frk
Ehn - Glendening - Helm
Abdelkader

Cholowski - Hronek
Hicketts - Sulak
Daley - DeKeyser
Kronwall
Jensen
Ericsson
Green with Cholowski when injury free and Hronek with Hicketts.

There is nothing to lose by playing the kids. Let them learn. Try find pairings that connect with each other and provide offense.

 

[NickH8]

I thought up these lines while bored at class, my idea was to isolate the worst players with two guys who have been doing well. First two lines are offensive focussed and bottom two lines are going to be focussed on a hard forecheck.

Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha - By far the best line, Bert and Larkin have been working hard and creating offense, Mantha is struggling but he should start scoring soon.
Athanasiou - Nielsen - Nyquist - Nielsen is the guy who has been struggling, Nyquist and AA have been creating some offense. I think Nielsen will do better with some guys who can finish as he's supposed to be a playmaker, he's on a short leash though. Ehn and Glendening could slot in here and do as well as Nielsen has been doing recently .
Helm - Glendening - Vanek - Helm and Glendening have been forechecking well, doing the standard bottom six things. Not looking for a ton from this line offensively. Vanek is on a short leash as Abdelkader's style would fit better on this line (but I don't have him in the lineup as of now).
Rasmussen - Ehn - Frk - A young, exciting forechecking line. Going to make a lot of mistakes but will have some flashed. Frk and Ehn are the two who have been doing well and Rasmussen is still warming up to the NHL. I've been really impressed with Ehn which is why I trust him to center this line.
Abdelkader and Witkowski in the press box.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Conditions:
Justin Abdelkader is not a top six forward
Darren Helm is not a top six forward
Andreas Athanasiou is not a top six forward

Now for goodness sake, put players in an environment where they can succeed.
...

Vanek - Larkin - Mantha (Rasmussen could be on the wing and Bertuzzi down on 2nd line)
Nielsen - Rasmussen - Nyquist (Nielsen could center if Rasmussen is wing, or heck maybe even Frk should complete this line instead of Nyquist. Put Nyquist on first and Vanek down on 3rd)
Bertuzzi - Athanasiou - Abdelkader
Ehn - Glendening - Helm
Frk

Alternatively:

Rasmussen - Larkin - Mantha
Vanek - Nielsen - Nyquist
Bertuzzi - Athanasiou - Helm
Ehn - Glendening - Abdelkader
Frk

Now Frk should also get more playing time so roll the lines.

Or...

Bertuzzi - Larkin - Mantha
Vanek - Rasmussen - Nyquist
Athanasiou - Nielsen - Frk
Ehn - Glendening - Helm
Abdelkader

Cholowski - Hronek
Hicketts - Sulak
Daley - DeKeyser
Kronwall
Jensen
Ericsson
Green with Cholowski when injury free and Hronek with Hicketts.

There is nothing to lose by playing the kids. Let them learn. Try find pairings that connect with each other and provide offense.

F lines 2 & 3 get eaten alive, especially in the D zone. Rasmussen is probably a 4th line winger as of today, still learning to adjust & understandably so.

Nielsen covering for AA & slowish Frk, neither of which are top 6, especially defensively.

Also DDK & Daley would be top pairing, not 3rd pair....besides DDK is still out w/injury (again).

Hronek w/Hicketts, another Dzone fail. Hicketts is GR bound probably (hopefully), as he has shown the least. Cholo-Green & DDK-Hronek would be a decent top 4 for now + Sulak & Daley...Big E & Kronner rotate in.

Agree that Abby/Helm/AA are not top 6 F's...although Helm had 30+pts @ 5-on-5 last season, that's better than a lot of good Top 6 NHL players.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

I thought up these lines while bored at class, my idea was to isolate the worst players with two guys who have been doing well. First two lines are offensive focussed and bottom two lines are going to be focussed on a hard forecheck.

Rasmussen - Ehn - Frk - A young, exciting forechecking line. Going to make a lot of mistakes but will have some flashed. Frk and Ehn are the two who have been doing well and Rasmussen is still warming up to the NHL. I've been really impressed with Ehn which is why I trust him to center this line.
Abdelkader and Witkowski in the press box.

That line will get eaten alive in the Dzone....compounded when Hicketts+Sulak? are out there with them. That'd be 4 rookies + Frk, who has 71 games experience.

 

[NickH8]

That line will get eaten alive in the Dzone.

Which lines won't? I think this line has potential to be exciting and hard to play against. At least try it for a game. You can swap Helm for Ehn or something if it doesn't work out.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

Which lines won't? I think this line has potential to be exciting and hard to play against. At least try it for a game. You can swap Helm for Ehn or something if it doesn't work out.

Rasmussen - Ehn - Frk.

 

[NickH8]

Rasmussen - Ehn - Frk.

You mean to type something else there?

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

You mean to type something else there?

No, I replied to your question..."What Lines?" I thought it was obvious in my initial post, as they are bolded & the only line listed...Not sure what you're looking at. Peace.

 

[Filppula]

I’m sorry but Nielson is the most redundant player on this team. He is literally invisible in the offensive end, and whenever you do notice him it’s because he turns it over or he fumbles the puck. If he has to play play him 4C; I’d honestly rather Glendening/Helm/Abdelkader centre lines before him. Ehn is the one who deserves a promotion for his quietly excellent play.

 

[NickH8]

No, I replied to your question..."What Lines?" I thought it was obvious in my initial post, as they are bolded & the only line listed...Not sure what you're looking at. Peace.

Misunderstanding, my bad.
My point is you could add 90% of the lines we've run this season to the list

 

[lhsgolf19]

The Blender is out lol... Blashill has no clue what to do

 

[NickH8]

The Blender is out lol... Blashill has no clue what to do

Very interesting. Look like Ehn's going to get a significant shot at a bigger role.

 

[datsyukfan]

The Blender is out lol... Blashill has no clue what to do

Just send Rass back to juniors if your gonna play him there. I also don’t get why Blash went away from helm- AA- Vanek line when they killed it in the pre-season. I know it was pre-season but still they were putting up 2-3-4 goals a game then nah working to good let’s stop. Please fire this coach immediately

 

[datsyukfan]

#RedWings Cholowski appeared to hurt his leg in practice. He was limping around for a bit, talked to a trainer but is staying on the ice for now.

Are you kidding me? Literally the only reason I watch

 

[RedWingzz]

Haha..Mantha will definitely break out of his slump with Ehn and Vanek...

 

[RedWingzz]

Just send Rass back to juniors if your gonna play him there. I also don’t get why Blash went away from helm- AA- Vanek line when they killed it in the pre-season. I know it was pre-season but still they were putting up 2-3-4 goals a game then nah working to good let’s stop. Please fire this coach immediately

Ras needs to go back to junior immediately. There is no use in having him in this losing environment.