Which Forwards Have Become 1st Liners, which lost it?

[Mulletman]

Laine has proved that he's a 1st line high quality winger instead of high end goal-scoring 2nd line winger

Tell that to Paul Maurice who's moved him to the 2nd line again. In the past 8 games Laine has not played 20 minutes or more a single time, despite having 29 games this season with at least 20 minutes of ice time. His icetime is being cut again while the Jets are fighting for a playoff spot. It's pretty clear at this point that Laine needs to get out of Winnipeg if he wants to save his career...

 

[mja]

JTR probably referred to Konecny as a 3rd liner years ago.

More like September.

 

[ccman68]

More like September.

Before this year Konecny was pretty mediocre so that seems about right

 

[jetsforever]

For the reverse, does aging out of it count?

 

[Confucius]

Technically, 0ne of Draisaitl or McDavid is no longer a 1st liner.

Technically, Tavares is a second liner.

 

[Merrrlin]

Is it safe to say that Phil Kessel is no longer a 1st line player? 36pts in 68gp. His worst gpg in over 10 years.

 

[cg98]

Travis Konecny became a 1st liner for the Flyers.

 

[Chayos]

RNH from second line center to first line winger.

 

[CapSpace]

Gretzky of empty nets

This award belongs to Max Pacioretty when he was in Montreal.

 

[RSPens]

This thread definitely needs more Bryan Rust...but I guess people only consider him a second liner. However, if Geno/Rust went cold, I'd love to see the new Rust playing beside Sid.

 

[P10p]

Fiala went from a top-9 forward on the Wild to being the best winger we've had since Gaborik.

 

[Dynamite Time]

There’s this guy Denis Gurianov who leads his team in goals but can’t even get top-6 mins.

edit : he’s not but should be top line mins.

 

[LeafGrief]

Zach Hyman took his game to another level this year. We weren't kidding for years when we moaned about how bad his hands were and how he never finished on his chances. This year he's completely turned around and is burying everything and is massively confident with the puck. He used to just swat at pucks in corners, but now he'll win battles, gather the puck, and search the ice for a pass. He doesn't have great hands or vision, but his incredible work ethic combined with some confidence and a scoring touch has made him an incredibly effective player. 21g, 37p in 48 games this year and he's earned them all.


4 of his 21g are empty netters, and he has 2 EN assists as well. Getting rid of the empty netters would have him on pace for 29g this year. With them he's on pace for 36! (He missed 19gp at the start of the season)

 

[AdamParrot]

Before this year Konecny was pretty mediocre so that seems about right

No.

Not like TK is having some "enormous" 5v5 uptick that is unsustainable either:

16-17 (age 19): 0.42 G/60, 1.55 P/60
17-18 (age 20): 1.22 G/60, 2.26 P/60
18-19 (age 21): 1.00 G/60, 2.11 P/60
19-20 (age 22): 1.31 G/60, 2.41 P/60

He has been scoring at 1st line level at 5v5 (and close to elite in terms of pure goalscoring) since 2017-18.

Over ~1.9 P/60 is generally ~1st line level.


Since the start of 2017-18 TK is:

10th in NHL in 5v5 G/60 (1.16)
30th in NHL in 5v5 P/60 (2.25)

All that has happened is he is getting more ice time, getting PP1 time... and is getting even stronger and reading game better.

He is 1st liner three seasons already.

 

[BonMorrison]

For the second question, take your pick out of any of the Predators big forwards. Forsberg, Duchene, Arvidsson, and Johansen have all basically become second liners this year after showing flashes at various points that they could be first liners.

 

[ccman68]

No.
He is 1st liner three seasons already.

There is this thing called defense

 

[BonMorrison]

Zibanejad if that counts. He had a big season last year but doing it two years in a row I feel like firmly establishes himself as top line 1C.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

@JoeThorntonsRooster Konecny is a 3rd liner.

I mean, I said before this season started that both of his coaches had previously used him as a 2nd/3rd line tweener, and that he had posted such terrible underlying metrics that there was really no argument that he was a 1st liner at that point.

This season, he’s playing closer to 1st line minutes, and more importantly he’s doing quite well on both sides of the puck.

I don’t really have an issue with somebody calling him a 1st liner at this point - he’s actually a good example for this thread.

 

[AdamParrot]

There is this thing called defense

So then Draisaitl isn't 1st liner too?

 

[Kamiccolo]

Hall?

On a 62 point pace in Arizona over 82 games.

Was on a similar pace in NJ.

Combining both he is pacing for 65 points.

Last year he had injury trouble and was out most of the year so hard to say how that would have gone. Year before was his Hart year. But I would argue that he has regressed back to his career average in NJ and Edmonton this year where most of the time he was a 40-60 point winger.

He only had two standout years. His Hart year and 80 points in 73 in Edmonton one year. I'd argue he is a 2nd line winger.

 

[newsportsfan123]

If you include D, Jake Gardiner comes to mind off the hop. He was argued a lot to be a top pairing D leading up to free agency... Nope

He plays on Carolina.. he’s 1st pair imo on some other teams, he’s actually decent two-way. he’s not placed in a good role w/ carolina

 

[Strangle]

Gretzky of empty nets

Does he score more empty nets than Ovechkin?

 

[doomscroll]

Alex Burrows was a career third liner at best. Then he became a first liner with the Sedins. But maybe he owes all of his success to them. Who knows.

This season? What about Strome on the Rangers?

I’m not sure anyone on the Rangers board sees Strome as a 1st-liner, he’s pretty well-insulated by Panarin/Zibanejad.

 

[The Wizard of Oz]

Larkin has regressed but first line center was always a little on the hopeful end. Doesn’t help that Mantha was hurt all year and he has no help from his D.

 

[tmurfin]

Hall?

On a 62 point pace in Arizona over 82 games.

Was on a similar pace in NJ.

Combining both he is pacing for 65 points.

Last year he had injury trouble and was out most of the year so hard to say how that would have gone. Year before was his Hart year. But I would argue that he has regressed back to his career average in NJ and Edmonton this year where most of the time he was a 40-60 point winger.

He only had two standout years. His Hart year and 80 points in 73 in Edmonton one year. I'd argue he is a 2nd line winger.

Na, 65 pts from the second line would be awesome. But even in a high scoring year like last season, 65 points was in around the top 60 mark. Not elite, but first line winger numbers for sure.