First line: Kaprizov is such a good puck mover, pairing him with Boldy seems to be a deadly pairing with the fact that Boldy seems to want to shoot the puck more in pre-season and is damn good at shooting it. With Steel most likely being one of the best face-off centers on the team who also has an element of skill that has been untapped at the NHL, this line could provide it with one proven superstar on his left and superstar potential on the right.
Second Line: Rossi and Zuccarello have shown in the pre-season that they are elite puck movers, and Beckman will shoot anything that shows up on his stick, and do it quickly - this line somewhat worries me in the defensive zone, however I see the offensive upside outweighing that.
Third Line: One of if not the best shut-down lines in the NHL, why change anything.
Fourth Line: With Gaudreau and Hartman both coming off career years offensively, I think this line allows them to roll 4 really easily and take some of the scoring pressure off the top 2, putting Jost on this line versus Dewar or Duhaime adds a more skilled player to play with 2 stout defensive players who have shown offensive upside. Adds another shut down line with some grit that can score.
First Pair: They were phenomenal together last year, I understand why they are considering splitting them up, however, I would only do that against very high flying teams such as EDM, TOR and COL, as these are teams that are going to try and win games by scoring 8 goals and letting in 4.
2nd Pair: Dumba is who he is, it is time to see what Addison can do, Brodin has been covering for him for 4 years, it is time for change, and Addison offers an element of offense that Dumba has not added since he tore his pec.
Third Pair: With Dumba still here, he has to slate into the lineup somewhere, I also prefer Merrill versus Goligoski, Goli seemed to lose a step or 2 as the season went along last year, so if he were to not have to play a full 82 or even 75, I think that would be ideal for when we do have to plug him in when Dumba inevitably gets injured for more than a week.
There is a lot to like about the Wild line up - most of all the flexibility and balance it really has.
I don't necessarily agree with your constructive here, but if anything, you highlight the possibilities of mixing and matching the forward core all season.
For me, they still lack a top 6 forward if they are really going to make a serious push (the cap space is there) but as it sits, hard to think this isn't a playoff team.
The depth and balance of the forward core is too good to argue they miss..... of course the injury bug aside.
Everyone on the 4th line is a better player than Beckman is right now. And it's not really close.
I don't understand our fanbases obsession with Beckman - he's a solid prospect who has some potential, but he's absolutely not a top 6 player right now.
Everyone on the 4th line is a better player than Beckman is right now. And it's not really close.
I don't understand our fanbases obsession with Beckman - he's a solid prospect who has some potential, but he's absolutely not a top 6 player right now.
I don't disagree with you, but nobody would put pucks on the net at the clip that beckman would, I would just like to see how that line would play out, not saying that he is even a top 14 forward in the organization, just that the way he plays the game could turn into a surprising 30 goal scorer with those 2.
I don't disagree with you, but nobody would put pucks on the net at the clip that beckman would, I would just like to see how that line would play out, not saying that he is even a top 14 forward in the organization, just that the way he plays the game could turn into a surprising 30 goal scorer with those 2.
I'd rather them take the actual 30-goal scorer in Hartman and throw him with those 2 vs. Beckman.
Beckman doesn't play a complete enough game - right now, he's a pretty one dimensional north-south high volume shooter. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but let's see him get more than 11 goals in an AHL season before we throw him into a boom/bust spot with 2 other greenhorns.
I'd rather them take the actual 30-goal scorer in Hartman and throw him with those 2 vs. Beckman.
Beckman doesn't play a complete enough game - right now, he's a pretty one dimensional north-south high volume shooter. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but let's see him get more than 11 goals in an AHL season before we throw him into a boom/bust spot with 2 other greenhorns.
Yeah - I don't think his 5.4% shooting percentage is necessarily going to continue, but I agree, let him get his feet wet in Iowa and see if he can get 10-12% down there and then bring him up where it would presumably drop, but at volume, it works.
Yeah - I don't think his 5.4% shooting percentage is necessarily going to continue, but I agree, let him get his feet wet in Iowa and see if he can get 10-12% down there and then bring him up where it would presumably drop, but at volume, it works.
Agreed, I do think his Shooting% will boost a bit, but that's also part of the issue right - shooting just to shoot, especially from low danger areas, doesn't prove to be all that effective. Part of Army's message to him going into the offseason was to think about being a more intentional and purposeful shooter.
Which I think he can dial in pretty quickly in Iowa. Give him 25-30 games right off the hop in Iowa, rack up 10-12 goals, then start giving him games as injuries arise with the big club.
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