Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
Except there is no example of a successful team where the shutdown centre is buried on the third line. That's why having Barkov was so important to being able to use Bennett on the second line. It was a perfect spot for him.
I do think Bennett has gotten better defensively which helps a lot too. His forecheck is way less headstrong.
|
I literally gave the example in my post. The Pens.
I can't think of a single example of a Cup-winning team with a Backlund-qualty shutdown guy as a top-six center.
Oilers had 99/11 as their top Cs. McTavish was their shutdown guy. We had Nieuwy and Killer as our top two with Otto as our shutdown. Islanders had Brent Sutter as their shut down on the third line.
Those aren't the only examples, just ones that immediately come to mind.
McTavish, Otto, Sutter, Staal, etc. All Cup-winning 3rd line shutdown Cs on teams with two scoring lines above them. That's the category that Backlund should have been in. He's the Otto behind Neiuwendyk and Gilmour -- the Staal behind Crosby and Malkin -- not the Forsberg behind Sakic or Fedorov behind Yzerman.