Quote:
Originally Posted by Flash Walken
tkachuk lindholm mangiapane/bennett is a bad first line though.
you're not going to be any better if you have a 12 minute per night guy playing 20 minutes. It just doesn't work that way.
It's hard enough to do that on line 2 at 17 minutes a night.
|
Those guys are just the best option we have for that spot right now with the way the roster is constructed.
I think Mangiapane would be fine in that role short term. He's 7th on the team in ice time this year as is, and if you drop Backlund to 3rd line C then he's the one that moves into that top 6 IMO.
Mangiapane works hard, has some skill, is good at carrying the puck through the netural zone, and plays strong positionally in the defensive zone.
I think Tkachuk and him have actually worked well together in setting up Backlund for a lot of chances. Backlund just can't finish this year, Lindholm might be perfect in that spot.
Tkachuk is first on the team with 1.52 primary points (goals + 1st assists) per 60 minutes at 5v5 this year, Mangiapane is second at 1.50.
He also leads the team in High Danger chances per 60 when he's on the ice this year. He's potentially a play driver, and he has a very similar development curve to Brendan Gallagher, time to see if he can take the next step.