Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Brew
Ferland is a decent complementary player on the first line and he looked good alot last year. Problem is when Gaudreau and Monahan don't score, the Flames don't win. Now I don't believe Gaudreau or Moanahan are any more inconsistent than other top players, but ideally the 3rd player on that line is a consistent performer who could get that line going even when the top guys aren't scoring. Unfortunately some nights Ferland is totally invisible.
Bennett could be that guy but right now he seems more dependent on others to produce, vs. being the catalyst on a line. His play fluctuates wildly based on his confidence level.
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I don't think adding a player to the top line necessarily helps scoring when Gaudreau and Monahan are cold. I think adding more scoring consistency down the lineup is a better choice. The Flames made the POs with room to spare when Backlund and Frolik (with Tkachuk) scored consistently. Last year they didn't, and neither did the third line.
There are two ways to approach it - add a top line guy and hope that moving Ferland to the third line or otherwise mixing the other lines improves scoring, or add a better scoring guy directly to one of the other lines. IMO the latter might be better because I don't think adding Ferland to the third line helps them as much as it hurts Ferland. If you put Ferland with Backlund and throw Tkachuk onto Jankowski/Bennett it might work, but again you are risking some Tkachuk production if it doesn't.