Line Combos: when healthy

[The Zermanator]

I'd love to see what Tatar could do with some consistent top 6 time with Dats or Z. He has roughly the same PPG as Nyquist playing ~2.5 fewer minutes per game on average.

He's scoring at a 40 point pace playing ~14 mins a game. Bump that up to top 6 level minutes and he'll put up top 6 level numbers. He's already a top 6er and he keeps growing as a player. Easily the most improved Wing so far this year (Smith being a mid/distant 2nd).

 

[TatarTangle]

I've never really seen Franzen play lazy when he's at center, the same can't be said when he's on the wing. I keep him at center for that reason. His scoring may take a hit but I'd rather have Franzen involved in the play.

 

[Bench]

This is what I think also. People really try to stack the top line or two way too much with their lines usually. You need balance, and you have to look at the big picture when assembling lines.

Balance keeps the other teams scrambling with matchups. Look how effectively the Wings shut down the one line powerhouse of the Ducks last year.

 

[InjuredChoker]

Balance keeps the other teams scrambling with matchups. Look how effectively the Wings shut down the one line powerhouse of the Ducks last year.

yeah but they had boudreau as a coach.

playoff boudreau showed himself by going full choke mode.

 

[Vladdy84]

yeah but they had boudreau as a coach.

playoff boudreau showed himself by going full choke mode.

So did Babcock in the the 2nd round.

 

[InjuredChoker]

So did Babcock in the the 2nd round.

well, sort of yeah. don't know why he got away from zett vs. toews matchup in game 6.

but not as bad as hawks were supposed to win.

 

[Soft Rock Renegade]

i think our center depth allows z and pav to play together

z-pav-franzen
tatar-sheahan-nyquist
abby-helm-alfredsson

those are our best 9 forwards. i do think sheahan has passed weiss on our depth chart, though no one in the organization would ever admit it. the fourth line options are weiss, glendenning, andersson, miller, eaves, jurco. cleary and bert deserve to have lost their spots, though i could see clears sneaking in somehow. i'd prefer to make a fourth scoring line such as:

jurco-weiss-andersson

but i think babs would prefer a grinding line such as

glendenning-andersson-miller

the problem with no weiss on the fourth line is there will be pressure to replace one of our top 9 with weiss since its embarrassing to have a 5m healthy scratch. but i could see babs doing that in the playoffs or playoff-type games down the stretch. they're feeling more pressure than ever to make the playoffs which i think is what has motivated the benching of bert and eminent benching of cleary.

 

[Crymson]

So did Babcock in the the 2nd round.

Umm, no. Losing a series against the best regular season team and eventual Stanley Cup winner is not a choke. The Blackhawks won one, the Wings won three, and the Blackhawks won three. It's not rocket science.

 

[NewHopeForEveryone]

i think our center depth allows z and pav to play together

z-pav-franzen
tatar-sheahan-nyquist
abby-helm-alfredsson

those are our best 9 forwards. i do think sheahan has passed weiss on our depth chart, though no one in the organization would ever admit it. the fourth line options are weiss, glendenning, andersson, miller, eaves, jurco. cleary and bert deserve to have lost their spots, though i could see clears sneaking in somehow. i'd prefer to make a fourth scoring line such as:

jurco-weiss-andersson

you know bright future is coming, when you can drive this as 4th line

 

[silkyjohnson50]

Zetterberg-Datsyuk-Sheahan
Abdelkader-Helm-Alfredsson
Nyquist-Franzen-Tatar
Miller-Glendening/Andy-Eaves
Miller-Andersson-Jurco

This is where I stand at 5:30pm today:

- unlike the beginning of the season, we now have the depth to keep the big dogs together and give us a go to line that can single handedly win games

- Sheahan is too good to send down and with our center depth he moves to wing; where he should be exactly what Babcock always wants with Datsyuk and Zetterberg

- the 2nd and 3rd lines can be swapped; matchups and how they're playing that particular game will determine ice time

- Weiss isn't one of our top 9 forwards; so keep practicing hard because injuries are likely to occur

- I see two 4th line options, well really three options, with Miller being the only standing part as he can play on a couple different line types and is huge on the PK; with Andersson and Jurco, we potentially have a 4th line that can create some scoring chances in limited minutes; with Andersson and Eaves, we have a typical 4th line that will eat up PK time and hopefully not get scored on; with Glendening and Eaves we hopefully have the same thing with the pest attribute involved

 

[BSHH]

For quite some time, no line with Zetterberg and Datsyuk combined has been better that two lines centered by either one of them. And since none of the younger center players has been disappointing at all, Weiss better use the Olympic break to adjust to playing on the wing:

Nyquist - Zetterberg - Franzen: This has been Detroit's best line all season.
Weiss - Datsyuk - Alfredsson: Each player should thrive of the other two linemates' playmaking abilities
Tatar - Helm/Sheahan - Jurco: Albeit Sheahan's phenomenal stint, Helm seems to be the better player to me.
Miller - Sheahan/Helm - Abdelkader: This would be a very good 4th line.

Gruß,
BSHH

 

[NyquistIsMyGod*]

To be honest, I like the idea of Jurco going down and finishing off the AHL season as the man again. He's been good, but a lot of nights he's still around 10 minutes. With players returning, he's expendible. It may be better for his development as well. Completely fine with him returning to the AHL.

 

[Boomhower]

Andersson is a complete and utter plug. Sheahan has shown more is 9 NHL games than Andersson has his entire hockey playing career... NHL or otherwise. Andersson has no place on this roster or any other NHL roster for that matter.

Realistically Weiss and Cleary(Despite Eaves being far more useful then Cleary). are going to have a place in the lineup..

Samuelsson will inevitably disappear IF everyone is healthy at once. Bertuzzi will be kept around, but hopefully used sparingly.

Not 'My' line combos, but my ideal realistic lineup.

Franzen - Zetterberg - Nyquist
Weiss - Datsyuk - Alfredsson
Tatar - Sheahan - Miller
Abdelkader - Helm - Cleary/Eaves


Bertuzzi

 

[TKB]

So did Babcock in the the 2nd round.

I know you are saying this in the context BB and the Ducks, but it is still a bit of a stretch.

On the one hand Babcock never really made a counter after Q swapped Bickell and Saad as well as putting Keith and Seabrook back together.

On the other hand even without such a counter they were 20 minutes and a 2 goal lead at home away from the win. I wouldn't put that 3rd period in game 6 on Babcock anymore than I would the players.

Not to mention they essentially played Game 7 without Flip.

 

[Bench]

Coaching aside, I still think the point stands that if you're a 1 line team a defensive oriented system can shut you down. Getzlaf-Perry-Ryan was a line of tremendous talent that didn't factor much at all over a 7 game series.

I love the idea of Datsyuk and Zetterberg together, but only if the 2nd line center is holding their weight. We were all hopeful that would be Weiss, but if Helm or Sheahan can carry the torch, that would be fantastic, because Datsyuk and Zetterberg together is going to draw all the attention from top defensive units.

 

[Frk It]

If Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco got bumped up to the 2nd line what does everyone think would happen?

Or Tatar-Sheahan-Nyquist?

 

[Bench]

If Tatar-Sheahan-Jurco got bumped up to the 2nd line what does everyone think would happen?

Or Tatar-Sheahan-Nyquist?

That line would have some growing pains against better competition from strong teams, but the Wings haven't had a reliable 2nd line for months, so I doubt even a worst case scenario yields much difference in production.

 

[Frk It]

That line would have some growing pains against better competition from strong teams, but the Wings haven't had a reliable 2nd line for months, so I doubt even a worst case scenario yields much difference in production.

If Nyquist is on line 1 with Z, and Tatar is on line 3 with Helm/Sheahan, then that leaves us with Alfredsson+Datsyuk+????

I don't really like any of the options for that 3rd guy. Abby's not good enough. Bert is shot. Weiss seems like a decent fit on paper, but he's been brutal this year. Jurco has the skill and size, but he's a work in progress still.

 

[LeighDx59]

Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m)
Daniel Alfredsson ($3.500m) / Stephen Weiss ($4.900m) / Gustav Nyquist ($0.950m)
Tomas Tatar ($0.630m) / Darren Helm ($2.125m) / Johan Franzen ($3.955m)
Justin Abdelkader ($1.800m) / Riley Sheahan ($0.785m) / Patrick Eaves ($1.200m)
Drew Miller ($1.350m) / Luke Glendening ($0.575m)

DEFENSEMEN
Niklas Kronwall ($4.750m) / Jonathan Ericsson ($3.250m)
Kyle Quincey ($3.775m) / Danny DeKeyser ($0.925m)
Brendan Smith ($1.263m) / Mike Weaver ($1.100m)
Brian Lashoff ($0.725m)

GOALTENDERS
Jimmy Howard ($5.292m)
Jonas Gustavsson ($1.500m)
BUYOUTS
Carlo Colaiacovo ($0.000m)
BURIED
Mikael Samuelsson ($2.900m)
Jordin Tootoo ($0.975m)

CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $1,236,833

Alot of different scenerio's with this one, and to be cap compliant I traded Kindl for Weaver and traded Dan Cleary Its what I would like to see. Give us three scoring lines and an energy line. Even if this doesn't happen, Sheahan should be up over Andersson and its not even close. I'd even rather have Emmerton that Andersson, we need speed.

 

[RedWingzz]

14 40 93
90 13 11
21 43 08
20 15 18
71 44

55 52
02 65
27 23/04

35
50

sent to GR: 26 41
waived to GR: 37 25 17

wouldn't be surprised to see 41 stay up and 15 be sent down because Babcock loves 41, but then again he loves 15 too, and 15 has shown more than enough to deserve to stay. However, 41 fills the role as 4th line center better than 15, so because of that I could see 41 up and 15 down.

I would much rather waive 44 than 17, but I really don't see that happening.

 

[Zetterberg4Captain]

nyquist/zetts/franzen
weiss/datsyuk/abby
tatar/sheahan/alffie
miller/helm/glendening

the first line was great and will be given chance again

no chance weiss isnt given every opportunity and abby is the "jam" on that line

alffie gets less mins on line three to stay healthy hopefully

glendening is a bab favourite and is a great fourth liner

eaves waived
emmerton waived
cleary waived
andersson demoted
jurco demoted
bert to ltir

 

[Crymson]

Henrik Zetterberg ($6.083m) / Pavel Datsyuk ($6.700m) / Todd Bertuzzi ($2.075m)

Why in the name of all that's holy would you want Todd Bertuzzi on the team at all, let alone on the top line?

 

[Boomhower]

eaves waived
emmerton waived
cleary waived
andersson demoted
jurco demoted
bert to ltir

Technically he would be waived too.
I'm fine/on board with that too... just pointing it out.

 

[LeighDx59]

Why in the name of all that's holy would you want Todd Bertuzzi on the team at all, let alone on the top line?

Unless we can find takers for Bertuzzi were not moving him, might as well put him in the only place he is good at. Worst case scenerio he is a healthy scratch and you put Glendening in the lineup.

 

[Crymson]

Technically he would be waived too.
I'm fine/on board with that too... just pointing it out.

He would indeed need to be waived. I'm not fine with that. Andersson has performed exceedingly well on the PK and excels as a defensive center.

Unless we can find takers for Bertuzzi were not moving him, might as well put him in the only place he is good at. Worst case scenerio he is a healthy scratch and you put Glendening in the lineup.

He'll undoubtedly be a healthy scratch, and he's certainly demonstrated this season that he can't perform even on the top line. Generally speaking, he's almost as ineffective as Cleary.