Ultimately the way that I see it we need upgrades on: Gagner, Whitney, Potter, Petrell, and Smyth.
Why? I feel he's a perfect, above-average 4th liner.
Smyth IMO was signed for one year too many and he is so slow at this point that I cringe at the thought of seeing how slow he'll be next season.
Agreed. But he does bring a unique skill-set on the PP that some teams are craving right now. DRW would take him in a second. They'd put him on their 4th line at ES and give him heavy PP minutes, with secondary PK minutes (if that).
We need to cut ties with Whitney as soon as possible, the good thing is that as it stands he's our #5 defenseman now so it's much easier to replace the current version of Whitney than when he was at his best.
I still say give him 4-5 games before passing judgement. He hasn't been at game speed for months now. People are saying he's made progress, let's give it time before evaluating. He could be the biggest mistake we ever made if we move him too early.
Gagner looked a bit stronger physically by my eye last night but maybe a tad slower as well. I'm still not convinced that he's the guy to center this teams 2nd line when we start to make some real noise in the playoffs, maybe he proves me wrong because management can't get an upgrade anytime soon or he finally breaks out?
Completely agree. Ideally we would get a physical big-bodied two-way 2C to perfectly complete our top-6 - but those aren't exactly growing on trees. Maybe a better option would be to pickup a 2-way winger (mold of Eriksson/Hossa - would require blockbuster trade = dealing one of the big-4 F's) that can help anchor that 2nd line irregardless of Gagner and Yakupov/Hemsky's defensive woes and physical weakness.
Potter is self explanatory, IMO he isn't enough of a specialist to warrant a spot in the top 6. Fistric would probably be a good replacement.
Agreed. It's time to give Fistric a shot - especially against the physical Sharks. They dominate us along the boards.
Our top 4 on D looks solid, Petry and Smid look to be a tough to play against pairing that can also get the puck up ice. Both are very good skaters which always helps when you match up against the leagues best.
Agreed. They played a near-flawless game last night, and weren't having any of the Sedins, who are a top-5 offensive line in the league. Petry especially was looking Suter-like to me. Unbelievable skating, poke-checking, body-checking, shot-blocking, and decision-making. Only miscue was on a fluke breakaway for Weise. He honestly looked like a #1 defenseman to me vs Vancouver. Let's hope he keeps it up
Nick and Justin Schultz bring solid defensive positioning and stick work which is also very effective. Justin adds elite offensive ability from the blueline as well which was something that we've lacked for a long, long time.
They looked solid against Vancouver, but I still notice that they can be bodied by bigger lines, and that J.Schultz is sometimes getting lost in the D-zone. Hopefully N.Schultz can help compensate with some solid positioning and teach him how to do it right.
Hall-RNH-Eberle are coming into their own, Hall's speed and tenacity bring one dimension to the line, RNH's vision and defensive stick work brings another and Eberle's elite hands yet another.
Agreed. Each player has a role to play on that line. My only worry is how easy it is for other teams to play the body and nearly completely neutralize them. We need size in our top-6, and it may end up coming at the expense of 1-2 of our big-4 forwards. I think it could make odes of a difference to our style, swagger, and effectiveness at ES with our top6.
Yakupov can play either side and when he gets a feel for the NHL game should be an impact player. Hemsky as always brings skill to his line, if he is fine with a secondary role and he can stay healthy he will be a much needed secondary scoring option.
This line is still coming together, but even if clicking on all cylinders they are a mess in the defensive zone and back-check. Need a stronger defensive presence.
Hartikainen will be Smyth's heir apparent, bigger and stronger than Smyth ever was and faster than Smyth as well, even if Harski never develops the hands around the net that Smyth does his screening ability and strength down low will be a great asset to the team. Horcoff or a player like him will be fine in a 3rd line center capacity, a little better speed and faceoff ability would be nice actually.
Third line was solid, but I see a problem developing here. None of these 3 are great skaters or effective back-checkers. Hartikainen does Smyth's job in the offensive zone better than he does, but he isn't the PK presence that Smyth is. I think MPS might deserve a shot there. It could give them a boost offensively (speed, zone entry) and make them look even better at their shutdown role.
A motivated Ben Eager is a very valuable player, very few big men can skate like Eager can and he shows a legitimate mean streak out there with some "crazy" mixed in which can be an asset. Belanger brings a PK element and is a faceoff specialist who can also get under the opponents skin a bit.
Agreed. This line played their role to a tee. Only issue is how poor their transition and zone entry is. I guess you can't expect more than dump-and-chase for a 4th line. But they're a great mix of quick skaters and gritty physicality.
Dubnyk's worth as a #1 goalie is TBD, but IMO he hasn't been given enough time to show if he is capable or incapable of filling that role.
He looked solid yesterday. Did everything we needed for us to win. It's wait-and-see with him, but I have a building confidence in him.
Essentially, here's what we need to have fixed:
1) Strength in our top-6 for when the going gets tough (guys that aren't necessarily physical like Hartnell, but can withstand physicality, in the mould of Eriksson/Hossa/)
2) A defensive presence on line 2 (the answer here would ideally address Problem #1 as well).
3) A better 2C to complement RNH (Gagner would be a great 2C when your 1C is someone like Getzlaf/Thornton, but with RNH we need a guy like ROR in the mix)
4) A speed presence for the sake of back-checking on line 3 (I'd try MPS here until Jones comes back, but even Jones is iffy at back-checking).
5) A better-performing bottom pairing. Whitney/Potter looks solid on paper, but they laid a brick for us in that lack game. Hopefully they improve (+/- Fistric), or we're once again going to be in the market for a depth defenseman.
If we fix 2-3 of those, we are in the mix for playoffs. If we fix all 5 - then we are making
serious noise - and to me that means contending.
