[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Is Dube a Point or Cirelli though?

No one is pretending he's a Point, but maybe he is a Cirelli. You don't know what you have in him.

I think the Flames need centers too, but they need the right centers.

You mean, like, centers who thrive carrying the puck through the middle of the ice with their acceleration?

So does it make sense to lets say drop Dube down the depth chart to center the 4th line or does it make sense to play him in in the 2nd or 3rd line wing position?

Neither makes sense. Play him as your (sheltered) 2C with decent wingers and see how he does. He can't be much worse than what Monahan showed this year.

The main point I'm making with Mangiapane is that he has built up equity.

And the main point I'm making is that Mangiapane's skillset allowed him to build up equity at the position he is already comfortable playing. Dube's skillset is not identical to Mangiapane's skillset, so you are comparing apples and oranges. Even a guy like Matthew Barzal would look awful playing LW on a checking line. When someone is miscast, you can't just stubbornly challenge them to rise to the occasion as of effort and execution will magically develop.

You have to put players in a position to succeed.

Dube on the otherhand is being benched and scratched by Sutter and isn't an everyday NHLer yet. In his words, "lots of growing up to do." So, trying him at an important position like center, not sure Dube is ready for that kind of duty yet.

Or maybe, just maybe, Dube's perceived lack of growing up has to do with the fact that he's (yet another) square peg in a round hole. I know that center is in many ways a more difficult position than wing, but some guys are just better-suited to center because of their skillsets.

I'm not excusing Dube's mediocre play last year, but if he's not comfortable on the wing (his off-wing at that) it's going to continue to fail.