Quote:
Originally Posted by GioforPM
You can't just trade players to make a bare minimum lineup. You need options, even if some of those options start the year on the farm. No player on this team is untouchable except for maybe Wolf. But no player can be gifted a spot just because they are two years younger either.
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We're not talking about gifting spots. How many times do you see injuries and the player that get the call is a player that fills the role of the player that got hurt.
Lomberg or Kirkland get hurt...Hunt gets the call
Kadri or Huberdeau gets hurt...Honzek or Stromgren gets the call
You need quality 4th liners, but they also need to play their role. Lomberg plays hard, is a leader, hits and if he gets benched for the 3rd in a close game...he comes out hard again the next night. Young players who have potential just don't excel in this role.
Pospisil and Klapka can move up and down, but at some point, they need more ice to succeed. We have 11 top 9 forwards with a couple more knocking on the door
We have plenty of 4th line options like Lomberg, Morton, Ciona, Kirkland, Kerins (maybe top 9 potential but looking like a 4th liner at best). For a short stint, you could give some top 9 guys a spot in a pinch too.
It's really best to keep the 2 roles seperate when planning the team.