Quote:
Originally Posted by Monahammer
IMO we have 8 3rd line forwards and Kadri playing in the top 9. So they're all top 9 forwards, but few are really good enough to match up well against opponent's top lines.
Maybe Coleman is a top 6 forward too, but ideally he's a super high end 3rd liner.
Edit: I did forget Sharangovich, who I think is a great 2nd line forward. So, 7 third liners, Kadri, and Sharangovich.
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I think you're being a bit too harsh on what it means to be a top 6 / second line forward, I think we have more than 2 of those guys for sure.
There are technically 192 top 6 forwards in the NHL, which means you only have to put up 35 points to be in the top 192 of NHL forwards.
Kadri, Huberdeau, Backlund, Coleman, Kuzmenko, Sharangovich, and Zary (if you pro-rate) all technically meet that criteria for last season, and Mantha too actually.
In terms of what players on this roster fit and slotting I think in a perfect world it would be:
Bonafide 1st Line: Huberdeau (based on history, not his time as a Flame)
Ideally 2nd Line; Borderline 1st Line: Kadri, Sharangovich, Kuzmenko
Ideally 3rd Line, Borderline 2nd Line: Backlund, Coleman, Mantha
4th Liners: Rooney, Duehr, Lomberg
????: Coronato, Zary, Pospisil, Pelletier
Even just looking at 5v5 points over the past 2 seasons and their NHL rank:
Kadri: 80 (t-35)
Kuzmenko: 76 (t-48)
Coleman: 70 (t-77)
Huberdeau: 63 (T-105)
Backlund: 63 (T-105)
Mantha: 57 (T-137)
Sharangovich: 54 (T-149)
Technically all 7 of those forwards fit into the production threshold of "top 6 forward" over each of the last two seasons. The forward group lacks first line, elite talent, but it actually has a lot of middle 6 / second line depth.