For me, it makes sense to break up that line - at least on a trial period.
When Frolik was signed, Treliving's big selling point was that Frolik was a 'line fixer'. Frolik had a bit of a history in his career as being moved to a line that was struggling, and that line would find its' groove again.
We have seen Backlund making careers out of who he plays with - name a player he has played with for some time, and you will see 'career year' out of that player.
Tkachuk's advanced stat numbers contribute to his line, not detract. That's amazing given his age and the responsibility of that line. I would not expect him to drop off like Bouma did.
You wreck one of the NHL's better shut-down/depth scoring lines, but hopefully solidify your entire top 9 doing so. I agree that it is definitely worth a try.
FWIW, I really do like the Gaudreau/Bennett pairing. My lines would look a bit like this:
Gaudreau - Bennett - Frolik
Tkachuk - Monahan - Versteeg
Ferland - Backlund - Chiasson
I also think that a Tkachuk - Monahan pairing would probably force Monahan to incorporate a bit more snarl into his game. That's probably a good thing (and I say this with the opinion that Monahan is a very good and very underappreciated player).
Another good time to try it would be against Vancouver on Saturday. Vancouver was probably one of the 'easier' games for the Flames this year, though the added pressure of a HNIC telecast might alter that.
I am starting to think that Tkachuk is a 'line fixer' and a 'line driver' all by himself too. I actually wish Ferland played a bit more like Tkachuk is. The only guy I don't want to see Tkachuk playing with is Gaudreau (someone would have to play the off-wing anyways). He brings guys into the game emotionally. If there is one other guy on the Flames that seems to do this lately, it is Gaudreau (for better or worse) when he gets the brunt of the oppositions physicality and distracting tactics.
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