It is very unlikely Neal ends up in the top line full time. Monahan isn't a speedy player and it's tough to have two slower players on a line. Which is why guys like Ferland, Lindholm, Hudler, etc have been successful up there and Neal hasn't.
But I do like that the coach is open to options. Most coaches plan their teams in pairs, but we have ours planned in full sets and it's led to a third line that is one of our two weak links (along with goal).
I would love to see us spread out the lines a bit. Pairs like Monahan/Gaudreau, Lindholm/Tkachuk, Backlund/Frolik would give us the foundation for three strong lines. From there it's a matter of inserting Lucic, Ryan, Dube, Mangiapane, Bennett, Czarnik, etc.
Maybe Ryan/Lucic are the fourth pair with the other four scattered across the four lines. Or maybe Lucic is better then we expect and plays top 9. Lots of options.
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