Quote:
Originally Posted by TheScorpion
I think ideally you should be able to have a fourth line that you give 10-12 minutes a night. And it should be able to actually outscore the other team.
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If those guys could outscore the other team, they wouldn't be on the fourth line. A more realistic hope is that they will play an even game against other teams' fourth lines, but sometimes they will be out on the ice against opponents who outclass them.
At bottom, the fourth line exists for bench management. Their principal job is to take enough minutes so the top nine forwards don't have to play more than they can consistently handle. How many minutes that is depends on the system the team plays and the tempo at which they play it.
Darryl Sutter's system is very demanding physically, which is why he was so vocal about the team's poor fitness level back in 2021. Given the choice between having his top forwards conserve their energy so they can play 22 minutes, or go balls to the wall for 18 minutes, he will always choose the latter. But those minutes have to be played by someone.
Incidentally, I'm not defending Rooney here at all. Now that Ruzicka has earned a regular spot, Rooney is definitely the 13th forward, and if the team was healthy, the number of minutes he'd play would be zero. The best I can say is that I understand why Treliving signed him when he did. Kadri wasn't even in the conversation yet, there was no telling if Monahan could play, and the team just needed bodies who could play centre. But I think Treliving hoped Rooney would work out better than he has so far. Instead, he's shaping up to be this year's Pitlick.