Quote:
Originally Posted by Hockey_Ninja
This thread proves how we got spoiled with that top line last year
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I think this fan base in general underplayed/underappreciated how much this team would miss the top line. I know for myself, I sang their praises all season long last year because they were a special line, maybe the best line I’ve ever personally seen.
Last year, I thought Gaudreau and Tkachuk made life real easy for Lindholm allowing him to play to more to his strengths like getting in on the forecheck, working the boards, cycling and getting open in the slot whereas now, he’s expected to play more like a conventional #1 center which I’m not sure suits Lindholm’s game. That was a big concern that I had going into the season because of how different Huberdeau is from Gaudreau and Tkachuk.
With this current roster, I think it almost makes more sense for Lindholm to convert to wing on the top line or center a more checking focused line down the lineup. That’s where Lindholm can excel because he’s at his best when he can check for his chances and get dirty in the corners.
That’s not really Huberdeau or Toffoli’s strengths though and that’s part of the reason why the top line doesn’t work in my opinion. Neither of them are great puck retrievers, they don’t check well, the entire line itself doesn’t generate enough speed in transition to dump the puck in effectively. Their rush chances have been few and far between. Honestly, the line just doesn’t work; they’ve been getting fed a lot of offensive zone starts, yet they’re not producing, they don’t look dangerous and they’re definitely the weakest link out of the 4 lines right now.