It's time to switch things up a bit IMO. We need the 1st line to be more consistent, and while I love Ferland, he is proving that he is not consistent enough to be on that line, combine that with the fact that Monahan is inconsistent, and our top line becomes a black hole at times. We don't have enough scoring depth for our top line to not be scoring consistently.
I also think that we need more jam from our 4th line, they don't need to be scoring, but they do need to be tough to play against.
I would try this:
Gaudreau ~ Monahan ~ Tkachuk
Bennett ~ Backlund ~ Frolik
Mangiapane ~ Jankowski ~ Hathaway|Brouwer
Ferland ~ Lazar ~ Brouwer|Hathaway
Mangiapane and Janko already have some chemistry, and Hathaway or Brouwer can be swapped between 3rd and 4th line depending on what is working.
The idea of Ferland ~ Lazar ~ Hathaway as our 4th line has nice sound to it, and could be a really tough line for other teams to play against. Shoot Stajan into the moon (Sorry Staj, but it's time).
I don't really look at it as demoting Ferland, but more of a way to find a balanced line up. We all know how much our coach loves to play the 4th line, so why not have a 4th line that can be good in that role.
And FFS just put Dougie on the top PP unit. Arguably our best offensive Dman, and a right handed shot...seems like such a no brainer.
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