Darryl Sutter needs to deploy better lines - STAT

[Major Major]

This segment of games reminds me very strongly of the first 30 games he had with the team in 2021.

[JohnnyB]

People are rushing to blame Sutter when the guy who is signed long-term at 10.5, a sum many people considered too much for Johnny or Tkachuk, just hasn't shown up as a leading impact player. That's a much bigger worry. The two stars we saw go out the door are each leading their respective teams in points, one with double Huberdeau's points and the other with triple Huberdeau's points, and each is signed for less money.

The chemistry of the team seems off this year, but the problem as I see it is more that Huberdeau hasn't shown up as much of an impact player and the coach is shuffling everything around because the guy who is supposed to be his star performer isn't performing.

[GranteedEV]

There is definitely something frustrating about the organization collectively shooting itself in the foot.

Lucic/Roonie/Lewis being on the roster at all

Markstrom being overplayed (this was true last aeason as well BTW) when his so-called backup is just as capable.

Hanifin and Andersson being treated as top pairing defensemen while our actual top pairing defenseman Weegar gets scraps. In fact those two should be split up, they have not been very good.

Huberdeau not being played with Kadri and a speedy winger like Dube.

Mangiapane not being played with Backlund and Coleman, when that was an elite line just a year ago.

Phillips, Zary, Wolf, Pellettier, Poirier, Ruzicka being sent a message that there is no meritocracy, just seniority

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

There is definitely something frustrating about the organization collectively shooting itself in the foot.

Lucic/Roonie/Lewis being on the roster at all

Markstrom being overplayed (this was true last aeason as well BTW) when his so-called backup is just as capable.

Hanifin and Andersson being treated as top pairing defensemen while our actual top pairing defenseman Weegar gets scraps. In fact those two should be split up, they have not been very good.

Huberdeau not being played with Kadri and a speedy winger like Dube.

Mangiapane not being played with Backlund and Coleman, when that was an elite line just a year ago.

Phillips, Zary, Wolf, Pellettier, Poirier, Ruzicka being sent a message that there is no meritocracy, just seniority

ding ding ding

too much skill deadweight . Markstrom not rested nearly enough after the lessons of last season . elite left winger not being tried with the one center that consistently carries the puck into the zone . no meritocracy within the organization

[Paulie Walnuts]

Some of the blame has to go to Brad for allowing Sutter to get his way and get his boys on the team.

Wanting Rooney and not playing him is bizarre, wanting him in the first place was bizarre.

You give Darryl pluggers and he will play them and treat them like they are the stars and glue to the team.

He also rides his goalie way too much. For a guy who loves analytics he fails to implement them with his goalies by overplaying them.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

at least at this rate when he breaks markstrom we can enjoy vladar as the starter down the stretch

how do you not learn from last year . especially when marky is so leaky in 3/4 of his starts

bad goalie still gets the lions share . bad 4th liners get top 6 time

young player that sparked the top line gets buried after losing 1 battle

makes you want to kick things

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Ferarri

I have become more inclined to think that this team just isn’t very good. And to be honest that is expected given the two that left. People who are calling for a coaching change don’t realize that results would be the same if not worse. Does a Geoff Ward or Gulutzan really sound like a better option at this point? Sutter just won the Jack Adams and has two Stanley cups. He knows what he’s doing. There just isn’t enough elite talent to push us forward.

The team roster may not be that strong, but Sutter is sabotaging the production of the offense by not having the appropriate players play together, and using the 4th line players waaaaay too much. Lucic should not be on the power play.

The best players should be playing with the best players. At least give the top line a chance to be a game in, game out threat. And if Mangiapane can get his head out of his ass, you might have two scoring lines. The other two lines focus on checking and not giving up goals.

With the franchise for the first time in pretty much forever, they have centre depth. They can work with that, just gotta utilize the lineup properly.

[Flames_Gimp]

we a great year and last season and all of a sudden it's Sutters fault?

Given the shakeup i wouldn't be surprised if they missed the playoffs this season, you don't just bounce back instantly from losing 2 100 point, heart of the team players.

We are in a playoff spot last week of november and I am thinking it could be a lot worse. I'm in the play through it let Sutter do his thing camp

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

looch and lewis should use their savvy veteran leadership by refusing the extra shifts handed to them when down by a goal

they know better than any one (except Sutter ) that they probably won't help the team draw even

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

we a great year and last season and all of a sudden it's Sutters fault?

I'm not calling for Sutter's head but let's call a spade a spade - here were issues last year too, masked by our top line.

- Jankrok playing centre when Ruzicka had been showing well in the 3C role and what we needed from Jankrok was a 4RW to take the Ritchie types out of the lineup. Ruzicka and Toffoli had immediate chemistry so Ruzicka got scratched the rest of the season after the trade while Toffoli had chemistry with no one else

- Kylington being underutilized relative to Hanifin in particular regardless of either's actual performance. His icetime was disapointing considering his impact.

- Not linematching with the Oilers or adjusting icetime when a guy like Hanifin was crapping the bed.

- Over-30 Markstrom starting over 60 regular season games even though Vladar was showing strongly in nearly every start against some pretty good teams. What exactly did this accomplish going into the postseason?

[Paulie Walnuts]

The rolling of 4 lines like everything is fine is probably the most maddening of Sutters transgressions.

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

The rolling of 4 lines like everything is fine is probably the most maddening of Sutters transgressions.

rolling of 4 lines only works if you have 4 lines that can do damage . or 3 that can and 1 that can provide zone time and energy to help the next line out

Flames have had 1 dangerous line in the last 5 games and 0 in the last two contests

very clear sign that you need to stack your producers and limit the ice time of those that are struggling or don't provide finish

even the Oilers get this , despite having 3-4 players to work with

they don't waste their time on plugs if they go down by a goal or two . we laugh but at least they understand well enough that their depth is poor and that isn't the time to roll 4 lines if they want a shot

[Goriders]

How do you make better lines with this collection of stone hands.

I think we’re far enough in that trades are probably more what you should be looking at. Or bringing up farm kids.

[GranteedEV]

Last Year:



This year:

[bigrangy]

Ruzicka-Lindholm-Toffoli
Huberdeau-Kadri-Phillips
Mangiapane-Backlund-Coleman
Pelletier/Ritchie-Lewis-Dube

17 minutes a night for the top three lines, swap Dubé up as necessary. Don’t blame Phillips when Huberdeau continues to be the worst expensive forward in the league.

Get the slugs out of the lineup and play to score some goals. Even if this is a 3-2 league this team isn’t getting anywhere close to 3 goals right now.

[BlindMilwaukee]

If you refer to them as farm kids maybe Sutter will give it a shot.

[Yikes]

Originally Posted by Flames_Gimp

we a great year and last season and all of a sudden it's Sutters fault?

Given the shakeup i wouldn't be surprised if they missed the playoffs this season, you don't just bounce back instantly from losing 2 100 point, heart of the team players.

We are in a playoff spot last week of november and I am thinking it could be a lot worse. I'm in the play through it let Sutter do his thing camp

My opinion...Sutter rode a hot first line, 2 - 100 point plus producers and a hot goalie to the Coach of the Year. Winning the Dallas series was the Flames Stanley Cup last season.

[delayedreflex]

I'm curious, has anyone from the media asked Sutter what he thought was wrong with the lines from the beginning of the year, and what Sutter's answer was? It's not clear to me why Sutter has stuck with the current lineup instead of going back to the old ones. I know the first line wasn't doing amazingly, but it felt like a lot of that had to do with Lindholm being in a bit of a funk, and he's been playing better as of late.

Maybe now that Ruzicka is in the doghouse, that gives Sutter the excuse to put Huberdeau back on the first line - but we'll see if he actually does that. Huberdeau might still not be all that used to playing with right-handed shots - but I'm sure he'd get there if given the time. Weird that Sutter seems to have all sorts of patience with Markstrom, but not so much with Huberdeau.

[topfiverecords]

I’m not sure the line combinations really matter when most players individually aren’t performing. Mix underperforming players with different other underperforming players and just get the same result.

[Goriders]

It’s time to find one or two new players and launch the most glaring underperformers into the sun