McGrattan, Bollig, and Raymond are not going anywhere, at least not this year (or the trade deadline at the earliest). Gaudreau and Jooris have earned their NHL jobs, easily. Granlund is right there too, but we already have too many LWers and he's not strong enough on face-offs to be a center in the NHL yet. Jooris has shown to be a capable bottom 6 center and RWer, a position of greater organizational need at the moment. No chance he's sent anywhere.
Gaudreau-Backlund-Hudler: Backlund is defensively responsible, is good at battling in corners, on the cycle and forecheck, and has decent enough hands to finish opportunities that Gaudreau and Hudler create. It's a great match, but it could just as easily be Monahan on that line if not for having two relatively inexperienced players on the same line.
Glencross-Monahan-Jones: They've been such an excellent physical line that handles the tough defensive assignments, it's hard to imagine breaking them up. That being said, Backlund could easily fit on this line and Monahan could easily fit just as well with Gaudreau and Hudler. It will come down to chemistry when everyone is healthy.
Colborne-Jooris-Byron: Colborne is still finding his "A" game, but he's got great size, protects the puck well, and has great vision. Jooris is quite strong defensively, decent at face-offs for a rookie, and has great energy and good enough hands when offensive chances come up. Byron has struggled lately, but he's still a good energy winger who actually is quite physical, and previous to this year did a good job of creating and burying chances.
Bollig-Stajan-Bouma: They've been a good unit of late, both defensively and offensively. Stajan and Jooris can be interchangeable, as they both play a similar game. Bollig has been pretty effective of late, but if his play falls off he can sit and Byron can take his spot while Raymond slides into the 3rd line. Bouma is the perfect 4th line winger and an extremely important penalty killer, so you always make room for him in the lineup.
All of this is likely moot anyway since it will be at least a week or two before Backlund is back in game shape, and there's always a possibility of another forward going down with injury.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ResAlien
If we can't fall in love with replaceable bottom 6 players then the terrorists have won.
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