Quote:
Originally Posted by Harry Lime
A Bennett Janko Tkachuk line has never existed. All three of them have had a career calling card of being offensively minded without being defensive liabilities.
As it stands, Janko and Bennett are asked to play defense first, and Tkachuk is on the shutdown line. Never asked to play to their strengths, and I worry that it's hurting their development.
I would just like to see a classic Backlund led shutdown third line, and let the second line roll out with 30 shots a night, and let them be a wrecking ball.
Why not?
We may be upset at the lack of production from the bottom six, but perhaps our shutdown line shouldn't carry so much of the offense in the first place.
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What has Jankowski and Bennett done together in the last couple months that shows you they could be a wrecking ball? They're having a hard time matching up against other 3rd lines right now. I think I saw a stat that showed that the 4th line was actually outscoring them in 2018.
If Jankowski's line played well enough to deserve more minutes, then maybe they would be this team's second line and the opposition would feel the need to use their top 4 defensemen against them. But that's not happening right now, they haven't even shown the ability to dominate 3rd pairing defensemen.
Backlund's line is actually a handful right now and they're forcing the opposition's top lines to be in defensive zone more often. That's why the 2nd line is playing a lot more minutes, because they're defending well and producing at the same time.