[Monahammer]

Originally Posted by Harry Lime

The only problem that I ever had with Backlund, if you can call it a problem, is that whatever line he is on is inevitably going to be the 'shutdown' line. You can have Tkachuk and Gaudreau as his wingers, and he will still be centring the shutdown line.

As Textcritic has pointed out before, Backlund has above average production for a second line centre. The issue is, while watching the games, is that Tkachuk is still a full level above Backlund in terms of offensive ability. It's not the fault of Backlund that Tkachuk is being stunted on that line, because whatever line Backlund is on is going to be the shutdown line.

This is why I support a move of Backlund to the third line. There would not be a better third line centre in the league, and the second line can fully utilize one of it's biggest assets, that they just paid 7M for.

As for Bennett, his role is to cause chaos and take the other team defensive setup and throw it out the window. He does this very well. It's not his job to score 40 goals, it's his job to make sure that his linemate scores 40 goals.

My vote for second line :

Tkachuk - Monahan/Lindholm - Bennett

Kirk out.

Been asking for Tkachuk-Lindholm-Bennett since the beginning of last year.

Make it so!