Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
I think this is solely based on Neal having one bad year and Lucic having had two.
On the eye test, though I'd never have admitted it last year, Lucic looked to be more engaged. I think he is actually faster than Neal. And a few of Neal's points were pretty lucky (off his butt). I didn't watch Lucic enough to say the same.
Here's something else to give optimism. Lucic played just under 20% with Kassian and Brodziak. Yet he scored just one point of his 20 with them. In particular he only had the one point with Brodziak centring him. He had better success with RNH (naturally). Any one of Backlund, Ryan, Bennett or Jankowski is better than Brodziak.
In other words, Lucic on a third line with better linemates might be way more productive. All of Backlund, Jankowski and Ryan play games much more similar to RNH than Brodziak.
Treliving is pretty good at identifying trade targets that are "about to pop". Lindholm, Hanifin, even Hamilton when he got him. I also think he tends to identify players that aren't fitting in with the team - Hamilton, Sven, etc.
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I agree with you here. While Lucic only has Lucic to blame for not producing up the lineup, he has some excuses for his production down the lineup. Here, with the soft comp our 4th and 3rd lines often get, and the quality of Bennett, Mangiapane, and Ryan at the very least (and to a lesser extent Czarnik, Dube, and Jankowski) he will be more setup to succeed as a bottom sixer.
In particular I'd like to see Peters test out a Lucic-Bennett-Czarnik line. Size, speed, and balance all represented in different areas IMO.
I also think a Lucic-Ryan-Mangiapane line could replicate the success of our 4th line in the second half of last year. I was never really sold on Hathaway being a driver on that line... he's a better skater than Lucic but overall i feel we upgraded the skill here.