Quote:
Originally Posted by Badgers Nose
Having a skilled 4th means you would roll lines. Rolling four lines would mean players on the 4th line would get more than 6 min. That’s kind of the point.
You play cave men 6 min because of what they are.
But a skilled youthful 4th line, as has been tried all over the NHL the last ten years, plays more and spreads the load better.
Playing middle six players, like what we have in abundance, a bit less makes them better.
In Calgary’s case where you have one 2nd line and three 3rd lines, it makes sense to even minutes out and play the hot hand. More shifts to lines that are productive.
Having a face smashing 4th line like we do right now, means you can’t really do that without face planting and getting scored on when Lombo and his mates are out there. That a luxury and a weakness we can’t afford right now.
Not sure if I am making my point clearly. Rhettro’s been saying the same thing on Barn Burner.
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Which is a fine philosophical point on roster construction, but it doesn't mean one way is right or wrong.
Huberdeau, Kadri, and Frost are a 2nd line in your mind. So, that line should be getting more minutes than the rest.
Backlund, Coleman, and Honzek have been good. That is a third line in your eyes. So, they should get less than the Kadri line but probably more than the other two lines.
There is this team's third line of players that they are trying to get going.
Then there is the fourth line.
I'm just not convinced that putting a bunch of kids on the fourth line and rolling it within similar minutes to the team's third line or Backlund's line is going to improve things.
Again, it's a roster construction philosophy but with all due respect to Rhett on Barn Burner this does not seem like such an obvious error that it is being made out to be.
