Quote:
Originally Posted by HighLifeMan
Well again - the blatantly obvious solution would be to move Ruzicka into the top nine, and Lucic out of it. A large increase in production and positive play from that 2nd line would far outweigh the small hit (if any) the 4th line would take during it's limited minutes.
Dramatically overplaying one player, all while underutilizing another for the simple sake of rolling four lines is nothing short of counter-productive, isn't it?
I don't think I am alone in that line of thinking.
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I think that's the long term plan for sure.
My gut is that's why they are moving Huberdeau to the right side often.
But part of this is developing Adam Ruzicka too ... a kid known to be massively disinterested and inconsistent from before he was drafted.
He disappeared.
He was demoted.
Second time this season.
Sutter has a plan on how long this punishment can last, and in the meantime he's finding Lucic does less damage to the top nine than other options like Lewis or Ritchie.
You don't have to agree with it ... many don't. But the team is playing well and there is clearly method to the madness and not just some dummy opting for self inflicted wounds.
Here are the charts updated. The current lines are the last two data points (31-35 and 36-40)
Chances against ... down
Chances for ... up
xGF% way up
