The S-T-L line

[Celtic Note]

Backes' biggest years production wise have been in the middle. He didn't really break out until he moved to center.

In all fairness I think the opposite side of the coin also rings true. He has put up the most points at a time in his development where he saw more minutes and at an age where career highs are typical.

Also, we haven't seen Backes at wing for any stretch of time that would give us a good read on what he brings there as opposed to center. We know what he brings at center, so we can always have him revert back to that position and be confident in what he brings.

We have a lot of depth and should certainly be a playoff team this year, so now is the time to experiment with what we have. That should give us an honest assessment of what our team can and should look like during the playoffs before the trade deadline.

Now our team may look better with Backes at center. It could be the depth that we need to beat top heavy teams.

We could also find that more success will come from a more top heavy orientation for our own lineup. Or, we find out that our winger depth isn't deep enough to role with a three line, spread out offense. We might be wasting the talents of one of our centers because they are not with good enough wingers.

I would have never considered Backes to the wing as a potential positive, but Jori has brings such a strong defensive game that it seems much more of possibility. Plus, Stastny is an excellent defender and him teamed with Schwartz and Backes would be a phenomenal shutdown line that could also score at an upper tier second line or better pace. Then you have the Lethera line that could also bring that scoring level or better and contribute plus level defense. When you think about it that way, the loss of Backes' defensive talents at center don't seem to be such the perceived negative.

The left over top nine forwards would include Oshie, Berglund, Linstrom and Jaskin. We know Oshie and Berglund have some chemistry and both provide very strong defense. Berglund's improved skating and fitness make me more comfortable at center.
Then there us moving Oshie to the third line. To me that move could be very fruitful. Oshie has some slick stick work but it seems relatively unproductive against top pairing defenses. Just imagine what he could do against lower level defensemen. Then pair those two with any one of Linstrom or Jaskin and I believe you will have a very productive two-way third line.

Last thought: what happens if we loose a major RW during playoff time? Wouldn't it be helpful to know if we could just slide Backes to wing and still role out a productive lineup?

 

[Vladys Gumption]

I'm ok with moving Backes to the wing for short periods now to see how it goes. I just think long term he needs to be in the middle. We could move him over in a pinch though.