What to do with so many Cs, so few Ws?

[DeluxeMoustache]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

lol, yeah, that's definitely what comes to mind when I ponder the Flames....the embarrassment of riches they have at center ice.

Don't we all wish that were true.

Well, nobody is saying they have Crosby, Malkin, Bergeron and Krejci

But the GM has accumulated a lot of guys who are perfectly capable of being slotted as 2-3 line Cs

Monahan, Lindholm and Backlund are all good minimum 2C. Ryan is a good 3C
Bennett and Dube both were drafted as C

And there are definitely not 6 equivalent wingers

The point is more about the trade offs associated with having so many Cs relative to Ws and what the optimal mix of 12 is

[GioforPM]

I just guessing but I would imagine a lot of teams look like this on paper - drafting a lot of Cs who end up playing wing.

Look at Columbus - almost all their forwards have C as one of their listings.

[CSharp]

Having Center depth is a blessing, but not having any depth with right shot right wingers/center is an issue for the Flames since the late 90's. Only 3 guys with right hand shot on 4 lines is outrageous! At one point the Flames had one right shot D-man until they signed Hamonic.

During the mid to late 80's, the Flames either had a balance of left and right hand shots but they had great depths of right wingers, centers, and d-men.

[Manhattanboy]

So few W's as in wins....

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by Murph

Why can’t we just put Bennett with 13 and 23,...?

Seriously? Because we have another open thread just for that...

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by Manhattanboy

So few W's as in wins....

LOL, when I first saw the title, I thought it meant "so many Chiefs, so few Wins"

[Murph]

Originally Posted by New Era

Because Bennett drags down every line he plays on. You don't saddle your two best offensive players with a guy who can't/won't pass the puck and has the defensive awareness of potato. Bennett is a poor fit with Monahan and Gaudreau. That line would be hemmed in their own zone all night and consistently be a minus proposition.

Because Leivo and Simon are better options...

Originally Posted by Classic_Sniper

Bennett has played his faire share of time with Monahan and Gaudreau over the years and it just simply hasn’t worked. Their styles clash for whatever reason. That line sort of reminds me of James Neal with 13 and 23, just looks very blah.

It all comes down to Sam Bennett and the way he NEEDS to play. Less Kingston, more grit. The best he’s ever looked was with Lucic and Dube. Why can’t recreate that magic with an even better duo in Backlund and Mangiapane?

Simply untrue. Since 2015-16 Bennett has spent just over 3% of his time on the ice with Gaudreau and Monahan. Hardly his fair share.

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

From post 1

I’ll shut up now, but I don’t know how you have this conversation without it being considered as an option.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Murph

Because Leivo and Simon are better options...



Simply untrue. Since 2015-16 Bennett has spent just over 3% of his time on the ice with Gaudreau and Monahan. Hardly his fair share.



I’ll shut up now, but I don’t know how you have this conversation without it being considered as an option.

A. You can't can't total time - the question is more has he done so in a season, or over a few games? Now, he hasn't done so on the Monahan line - the most is 7.6% in a season. But, in 2018-19 he spent a quarter of the season with Backlund and Tkachuk. And he spent 20% with Neal and Jankowski. And he managed only 2 more points with Backlund and Tkachuk than with Neal and Jankowski.

B. What's "fair"? Monahan really has only ever had 3 RWs with any kind of consistency - Hudler, Ferland and Lindholm. No one else has spent any more time than Bennett.

[Classic_Sniper]

Originally Posted by Murph

Simply untrue. Since 2015-16 Bennett has spent just over 3% of his time on the ice with Gaudreau and Monahan. Hardly his fair share.

If Sam Bennett has played 370 games in the NHL at 14+ minutes on average, then just over 3% is roughly 160 minutes. That’s what, 160 shifts then to evaluate what Bennett is with Monahan and Gaudreau is? That’s more than James Neal got before he was booted out of town. He’s had his fair shot and has never looked impressive with them.

Their styles simply clash. The best I’ve ever seen Sam Bennett play was one month in the fall of 17-18 and last August. His linemates? Jankowski and Jagr & Lucic and Dube. Sometimes it’s not who you play with but who you gel with that matters.

Case in point: Elias Lindholm. His chemistry from day one with those guys was unquestionable. He won that spot from James Neal fair and square.

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Murph

Why can’t we just put Bennett with 13 and 23, and let Mangiapane and Dube split time with Tkachuk and Lindholm and call it a day?

Bennett can't make or take a pass

[DeluxeMoustache]

There is a Sam Bennett thread. Please keep that nonsense over there.

If you don’t want to talk about the mix of 12 you would like to see, or Cs Tre should offer and Ws he would target, it’d be nice if you could take it elsewhere

Just asking for that courtesy

Rather see the thread die a natural death than catch the bitching about Bennett virus

I guess some people just can’t control themselves

[DeluxeMoustache]

I love Ward’s answer to this.

We won’t just roll 4 lines ...

Every winger plays with every Center