Quote:
Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts
I think with the Huberdeau line Lindholm needs to take reigns and carry the puck through the middle of the ice and dish off and both him and Mangiapane need to take straight line routes right down the middle and Huberdeau will get them the puck in prime scoring areas.
I think the fall into the bad habits a bit from last year of going to the boards to try and cycle it around.
Chucky and the Backlund are good along the boards, Huberdeau isn't they need to find the open ice down the middle.
|
Lindholm isn't the best entry guy. His bread and butter is getting to the soft spots of the ice and remaining open.
Huberdeau needs someone who is also capable of bringing the puck up the ice because as is teams swarm Huberdeau in the neutral zone and effectively take away a lot of his options. If we had another winger who was very efficient at entering the zone it would take a significant amount of pressure off Huberdeau.
In my opinion Mangiapane isn't exactly that player and is better suited for when the puck is forced into the zone. Maybe Ruzicka would work?
This isn't a simple fix but the problem is that our exit and entry game is very predictable for the first line as Huberdeau is so far above both Mangapiane and Lindholm in terms of capability to.effectively enter the zone. Top line needs more options.