Who sits?

[chessgoon]

If you assume that our 3rd and 4th line centers are newhook and Sturm, and our 2 bottom LWs are lehkonen & complex, that leaves cogliano, helm, AK, and O'Connor for the remaining two spots. I think Cogliano's work on the PK puts him in for sure, leaving one spot for the other three. It's a tough call but A-K has played the best recently, so he'd be my pick.

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[AvsGuy]

O'Connor can sit until he recharges his Tesla engine or whatever the f*** has been wrong with him for 30+ games now

 

[GoNordiquesGo]

MacGiant!

 

[JH21]

I think the vets play.

Lehkonen and Nichushkin were great with MacKinnon.

Lehkonen- Mackinnon- Nichushkin
Landeskog- Kadri -Rantanen
Burakovsky- Newhook- Compher
Cogliano- Sturm- Helm

Out- O'Connor, Aube Kubel

Toews - Makar
Byram - Manson
Girard - EJ

Out- JJ, MacDermid

 

[dahrougem2]

Coaches trust vets. To begin the playoffs Bednar is going to likely turn to Helm/Cogliano and if they play like trash I'm sure we'll see LOC/NAK inserted but if they don't/the Avs are winning they'll stay in the lineup.

Defense is more iffy. EJ SHOULD be the guy in the lineup and playing with Byram but the coaches have shown over the course of the season that they trust JMFJ more than they trust EJ based on minutes allocation and PK role.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

I think the vets play.

Lehkonen and Nichushkin were great with MacKinnon.

Lehkonen- Mackinnon- Nichushkin
Landeskog- Kadri -Rantanen
Burakovsky- Newhook- Compher
Cogliano- Sturm- Helm

Out- O'Connor, Aube Kubel

Toews - Makar
Byram - Manson
Girard - EJ

Out- JJ, MacDermid

I think well see....

Bura/Mack/Mikko
Landy/Naz/Nuke
Lehk/JTC/Hook
Helm/Sturm/Cogs

Toews/Makar
G/Manson
Bo/EJ

For game 1, at least. Landy and Bura could be flip-flopped.

 

[Balthazar]

Sucks that we can't put Bura on JTC's line.

 

[S E P H]

NAK has been one of the best forwards for the past three weeks if you disregard the blokes with talent and I think he deserves a spot.

 

[bromando]

NAK has been one of the best forwards for the past three weeks if you disregard the blokes with talent and I think he deserves a spot.

Yeah I think he can score in the clutch too. Game is 2-4 in the third, I think a guy like NAK could spark the team when everyone else is struggling.

 

[The Kingslayer]

NAK has been one of the best forwards for the past three weeks if you disregard the blokes with talent and I think he deserves a spot.

True. His problem is he doesnt kill penalties. This is where guys like LOC, Helm and Cogliano are above him. Im actually not sure why NAK doesnt kill penalties as I seem to recall him doing it for the Flyers quite often unless im mistaking him for Cousins or Raffl.

 

[klozge]

True. His problem is he doesnt kill penalties. This is where guys like LOC, Helm and Cogliano are above him. Im actually not sure why NAK doesnt kill penalties as I seem to recall him doing it for the Flyers quite often unless im mistaking him for Cousins or Raffl.

About 2 minutes of PK time in total last year according to NHL.com.

 

[Pokecheque]

I'd be reluctant to bench Aube-Kubel. He's been really good down the stretch. But I think it'll likely be him.

I really like Cogliano, though his defensive zone play leaves more than a little to be desired. That giveaway in the Jets game is something that simply cannot happen in the postseason.

I'm glad there's at least a debate about this, it's a good problem to have.

 

[forsbergavs32]

True. His problem is he doesnt kill penalties. This is where guys like LOC, Helm and Cogliano are above him. Im actually not sure why NAK doesnt kill penalties as I seem to recall him doing it for the Flyers quite often unless im mistaking him for Cousins or Raffl.

One of Cogs or Helm would be in anyway, so they should have enough forwards for the PK. JTC, Nuke, Lehk, Helm/Cogs. But I could see the flip side where Bednar would want to have an extra forward in the lineup that can PK in case one of the 4 are in the box (although they could use Kadri or Lando in the chance that happens).

 

[The Kingslayer]

About 2 minutes of PK time in total last year according to NHL.com.

How about the years prior?

 

[sethro109]

I see Helm, LoC, Murray, MacDermid and JJ sitting.

Cogs will rotate with LoC and Helm if we loose a game. I see MacDermid only coming in if we need to send a physical message. Which I assume will happen more than once. If there's an injury I see LoC as the next man up.

I think the defense is pretty much set with EJ. I don't see any guys rotating in and out. If there's an injury, obviously JJ is the next man up. If Murray comes in, then we're probably in trouble and most likely sustained 2 injuries.

Edit: NAK was being used on the second line recently. I don't think he's coming out of the lineup anytime soon.

 

[shadow1]

I think it's going to be a rotation, and unfortunately it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. Possibly Landeskog won't even be back for Game 1.

I think it'll be Helm-Sturm-Cogliano for Game 1.

 

[Avs9296]

Helm over Cogs for me. He's scored a few nice goals at least.

Probably NAK will sit. Should be LOC tbh

 

[Cypher]

Lots of possibilities up front. I wouldn't mind seeing a "shutdown" line with Nuke and Lek together. Big line together, and frees up Kadri line to play against lesser oppponents.

Landeskog - Mack - Rantanen
Newhook - Kadri - Burakovski
Nuke - JTC - Lek
Cog - Sturn - Helm

Bench = LOC, NAK, McD

Toews - Makar
Girard - Manson
Byram - EJ

Bench = JJ, Murray

 

[Tommy Shelby]

It'll most likely be

Landy-Mack-Rants
Nuke-Kadri-Burky
Lehk-Hook-JTC
Helm-Sturm-NAK

Cogs and LOC will sit and swap with Helm/NAK respectively

 

[The Abusement Park]

I'd be reluctant to bench Aube-Kubel. He's been really good down the stretch. But I think it'll likely be him.

I really like Cogliano, though his defensive zone play leaves more than a little to be desired. That giveaway in the Jets game is something that simply cannot happen in the postseason.

I'm glad there's at least a debate about this, it's a good problem to have.

I wish NAK didn’t commit so many penalties(it’s gotten better I think?) because he’s actually got some decent skill and ability which LOC and Cogliano in particular lacks. He definitely seems like a potential key depth scorer for us if we went on a run.

 

[Pokecheque]

Why do we have two of these threads?

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Nuke - Mack - Mikko
Landy - Kadri - Burakovsky
Lehkonen - Sturm - Newhook
Helm - JTC - Cogliano



Thats what I would do today, if we get fully healthy. With LOC and NAK ready to go for injuries or if someone isn't playing well enough to stay in the lineup.

 

[Avsboy]

Nuke - Mack - Mikko
Landy - Kadri - Burakovsky
Lehkonen - Sturm - Newhook
Helm - JTC - Cogliano



Thats what I would do today, if we get fully healthy. With LOC and NAK ready to go for injuries or if someone isn't playing well enough to stay in the lineup.

SOB won't be on the 4th line

 

[JoeSakic13]

I vote this thread sits so the other one can play

 

[Pokecheque]

I wish NAK didn’t commit so many penalties(it’s gotten better I think?) because he’s actually got some decent skill and ability which LOC and Cogliano in particular lacks. He definitely seems like a potential key depth scorer for us if we went on a run.

Oh he's been WAY better in that regard as opposed to when he was in Philly. There were a few stupid offensive zone infractions early on but I honestly can't remember the last time he took a truly bad penalty.