Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
What do you mean never trying it? They had that line for two years. And this season is only 1/4 old.
The thinking is that they need Lindholm at centre because they don’t have one elite centre. Lindholm on the top line is like when McDavid and Draisaitl play together - you needn’t worry about scoring from any other line and it’s way easier to match against, especially when the Flames are on the road. No one is scared of Backlund’s line - they can get the odd goal but you aren’t game planning for them, especially when Backlund is going to be busy matching against Matthews. Lindholm centring a line means you can match against both Matthews and Tavares with a centre who is good at D.
I don’t argue it’s not a possible option. I argue against the “no brainer” or “irrational” descriptions because there’s a perfectly rational reason to do it.
|
I guess my problem with never trying it is the offensive numbers compared to previous years 5 on 5
2021
Gaudreau - 0.55 PPG
Monahan - 0.5 PPG
Lindholm - 0.44 PPG
Tkachuk - 0.28 PPG
Backlund - 0.35 PPG
2020
Gaudreau - 0.57 PPG
Monahan - 0.46 PPG
Lindholm - 0.55
Tkachuk - 0.61 PPG
Backlund - 0.46 PPG
2019
Gaudreau - 0.88 PPG
Monahan - 0.76
Tkachuk - 0.66
Lindholm - 0.59
Backlund - 0.56
At least last year you had two consistent 5 on 5 scoring lines and even more so the year before, this year it is just Johnny and Monahan. Much easier to defend against. If Lindholm has to be a center move him to the third line and reunite Backlund and Tkachuk.