Originally Posted by Enoch Root
The depth is fantastic, and is the strength of the team. We knew - or at least believed
- this going into the season, but the entire team started off in a funk, clouding the talent level and our ability to assess it. But now the team is playing better, more to its potential, and we can see what we have.
You (OP) talk about 16 forwards, but I don't think we should include Phillips, because he hasn't played a game and thus hasn't proven that he is an NHLer, and also, someone has to go down, and he is an obvious candidate. So let's look at the 15.
First, I would add Dube to the first list, as I think he has firmly established himself as not only an NHLer, but a top 9er. There are so many ways to line them up, but this is my way:
Gaudreau - Monahan - Backlund (Backs on RW solidifies the lines so much)
Tkachuk - Lindholm - Mangiapane (a very deep and solid top 6)
For the bottom 6, there are all kinds of possibilities, which speaks to the depth. And all 9 remaining guys can slot in. And the nice thing about depth is that you can slot guys in depending on what attributes you think you need for the next game: speed, grit, goal scoring, whatever (like the Habs under Scotty Bowman). So I think the bottom 6 should be looked at in 2 parts, the everyday guys, and the role players for the game du jour. Everyday guys:
Ryan
Bennett
Dube
Lucic
and then sprinkle in two guys from the role player bench:
Frolik
Rieder
Jankowski
Rinaldo
Czarnik
(and you can add Phillips to the list as an offensive guy you could plug in if needed)
so from that, we can create the bottom 6 in lots of ways, but we essentially have 3 more lines:
Bennett - Ryan - Dube
Lucic - Rieder - Frolik
Rinaldo - Jankowski - Czarnik
Really solid.
Personally, I would love to see:
Bennett - Dube - Lucic (this line would be fun to watch)
XXX - Ryan - Frolik (insert LW as required)
Gaudreau - Monahan - Backlund
Tkachuk - Lindholm - Mangiapane
Bennett - Dube - Lucic
Rieder - Ryan - Frolik
is a really, really solid set of lines - one offensive, 2 that are two-way, and one defensive
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