TrevorA
Joined: Jan. 2021
Posts: 3,790
Likes: 975
I get your frustration, but this is just way too extreme and unrealistic
Flames have been playing decent, including Markstrom, they just need to keep stringing good periods together and tweaking the lineup till it works.
I’d like to see a few Wranglers get called up and run different lines. There’s no way Lucic should be on the 2nd line. Ritchie is far more deserving but I’d really like to see Matthew Phillips on a line with Huberdeau and either Kadri or Backlund
Once Stone returns, I’d like to see Pelletier come up as well, since he’s our Best Playmaker in the AHL, doesn’t take many Penalties and is Good Defensively, but Phillips first, since he’s the Better Finisher and a Decent Playmaker himself
We’re having trouble opening up space and getting high danger opportunities. Stone’s Blast from the point is very effective at creating scoring opportunities and I’d like to see if Phillips adds more Speed & Skill for Huberdeau to set up. That said, Ritchie’s Speed, Passing and Offensive Awareness has been surprisingly good this season. He knows to go to the net, so might be able to net some of Huberdeau’s passes as well. Ritchie would obviously be better than Phillips at separating the opponents from the puck, getting the puck out of the corners or behind the net and actually getting in front of the net to create a good screen, but Phillips has a substantially Better Skill Set and would be more of an Asset on the Power Play