Quote:
Originally Posted by Nelson
I wasn't sure where to put this, but Todd Cordell's most recent article on where to play Neal when he returns is interesting. These are his suggested lines (Hathaway coming out):
Gaudreau - Monahan - Lindholm
Tkachuk - Backlund - Frolik
Bennett - Jankowski - Czarnik
Mangiapane - Ryan - Neal
Basically, he says that
-you shouldn't change the first two lines, which are playing well;
-you shouldn't substitute Czarnik for Neal because Bennett - Jankowski - Czarnik has much better underlying numbers than Bennett - Jankowski - Neal; and
-that leaves you with the 4th line, the weakest of which is Hathaway.
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As silly as it seems to put Neal on the 4th line, it would be a good place to introduce him back into the lineup after injury, especially with two guys with decent wheels.
Also as an aside: I imagine Monahan would be taking many more ‘maintenance days’ if he was truly injured, like what was suspected last week.