Joined: Mar. 2017
Posts: 24,034
Likes: 7,745
I think Tippett needs to stick with pairings a little longer. He's too quick to shuffle and that's when the trouble starts. These guys need a little time to get used to each other and develop chemistry. It's just one stat, but here's a look at the 5v5 xGF% of the 5 most common partnerships:
Nurse-Bear: 62.19 (115:04)
Jones-Larsson: 51.71 (50:13)
Koekkoek-Barrie: 51.55 (37:24)
Koekkoek-Larsson: 37.88 (40.22)
Russell-Barrie: 37.82 (69:22)
Notice anything wrong with this picture? The worst pairing has the 2nd most TOI. Now, I'm not going to hang my hat on xGF% entirely, but from that aspect it looks like there are three pairings here that work.
Its time to give Evan Bouchard a look, too.