Game 3 lineup changes and reasoning

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Created by: dons_weeney

Team: 2023-24 Boston Bruins

Initial Creation Date: Apr. 23, 2024

Published: Apr. 23, 2024

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

Bruins lack of talent is glaring after game 2. That was with Marner not producing and Nylander out... B's are in for a tough series if they want to win. Here are some changes I'd make to the lineup:

1: Heinen does not work on 1LW. He was a PTO singing, cool story for the regular season, but he's a bottom 6 guy. This won't work in the playoffs. The Frederic/Geekie/Lauko line is struggling to produce (obviously) so it's a low risk move to put Frederic on 1LW. Worth a shot, low risk moderate reward.

2: Ullmark was great, so the rotation is on!

3: Peeke is out for the series in my mind. You don't just get hit in the hand and not come back, that has to be a broken finger or broken hand. Luckily Wotherspoon has played decent, so he seems like the obvious replacement for the series/playoffs. If Peeke is back sooner, cool, but not getting my hopes up on that...

4: Fourth line also not gonna produce much, so Boqvist might be able to elevate his skill with Heinen and Geekie. That's a capable third line. Not great, but capable for sure. Lauko isn't a top 9 forward, so I do think taking him off that line helps offensively. He and Beecher can make up for Maroons lack of speed as well.

5: Grzelcyk and Shattenkirk have short leashes imo, so if they lose game 3 or one of them plays poorly, Lohrei is in for game 4. His offensive production is better than those two, even if defense is roughly equal. No brainer for me in this situation, but I'd be fairly patient with this since I do think Griz/Shat have slightly higher ceilings defensively. 3 games is a good enough sample size for me.

6: Stick to the basics! Toronto will win 10/10 times if it comes down to a skill focused game. Keep it simple, get to inside ice, and actually challenge Samsonov. Relying on Ullmark/Swayman to bail you out in high danger scoring chances isn't sustainable. Toronto WILL generate more, it's ok to accept that, but don't let it get out of hand like game 2.

Buyouts

Mike Reilly: $333,334

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$83,500,000	$84,883,334	$4,500,000	$0	-$1,383,334

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Frederic, Trent $2,300,000$2,300,000 LW, RW UFA - 2	Zacha, Pavel $4,750,000$4,750,000 C, LW M-NTC UFA - 4	Pastrnak, David $11,250,000$11,250,000 RW NMC UFA - 8
Marchand, Brad $6,125,000$6,125,000 LW M-NTC UFA - 2	Coyle, Charlie $5,250,000$5,250,000 C, RW M-NTC, NMC UFA - 3	DeBrusk, Jake $4,000,000$4,000,000 RW, LW UFA - 1
Heinen, Danton $775,000$775,000 LW, RW UFA - 1	Boqvist, Jesper $775,000$775,000 C, LW RFA - 1	Geekie, Morgan $2,000,000$2,000,000 C, RW RFA - 2
Maroon, Patrick $800,000$800,000 LW, RW M-NTC UFA - 1	Beecher, John $925,000$925,000 C RFA - 2	Lauko, Jakub $787,500$787,500 LW, RW RFA - 2

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Grzelcyk, Matt $3,687,500$3,687,500 LD UFA - 1	McAvoy, Charlie $9,500,000$9,500,000 RD UFA - 7	Swayman, Jeremy $3,475,000$3,475,000 G RFA - 1
Lindholm, Hampus $6,500,000$6,500,000 LD NTC, NMC UFA - 7	Carlo, Brandon $4,100,000$4,100,000 RD M-NTC UFA - 4	Ullmark, Linus $5,000,000$5,000,000 G M-NTC UFA - 2
Wotherspoon, Parker $775,000$775,000 LD UFA - 1	Shattenkirk, Kevin $1,050,000$1,050,000 RD UFA - 1	Bussi, Brandon $775,000$775,000 G RFA - 1

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Lohrei, Mason $925,000$925,000 LD RFA - 2	Brazeau, Justin $775,000$775,000 RW UFA - 2	Poitras, Matthew $870,000$870,000 ($80,000$80K) C RFA - 3
van Riemsdyk, James $1,000,000$1,000,000 LW, RW UFA - 1	Peeke, Andrew $2,750,000$2,750,000 RD UFA - 3	Forbort, Derek $3,000,000$3,000,000 LD M-NTC UFA - 1
		Lucic, Milan $1,000,000$1,000,000 ($500,000$500K) LW, RW NMC UFA - 1

Apr. 23 at 9:41 a.m.

Bcarlo25

Joined: May 2018

Posts: 21,231

Likes: 7,011

this is a ridiculous over reaction. calm down pal. the leafs needed an allyoop goal, a whacky bounce off a stantion, and a quasi soft PP to score last night. The bruins were certainly outplayed, but there is no reason to make a change with the possible exception of Wotherspoon for Grzelcyk.

Apr. 23 at 9:47 a.m.

dons_weeney

Thread Starter

Best armchair GM yet

Joined: Jun. 2023

Posts: 592

Likes: 139

Quoting: Bcarlo25

These are very minor changes, and not changing anything that was working anyways, I wouldn't even take out Griz yet lol

Apr. 23 at 9:56 a.m.

DeclanLovesHockey

Joined: Nov. 2023

Posts: 85

Likes: 32

This series is making me realize there's a huge difference between guys who are skilled and guys who are game-breakers. On paper, Leafs should be way more skilled, and yet both teams have the same amount of game-breakers:

TOR: Matthews, Nylander, Reilly, Tavares*
BOS: Pastrnak, Marchand, McAvoy, Ullmark/Swayman* (can only play 1 at a time)

With that in mind, I really don't think you guys need to change much. To me, the game did NOT feel as one-sided as people are making it seem to be.

Apr. 23 at 9:57 a.m.

bhavikp27

Joined: Jun. 2016

Posts: 12,583

Likes: 5,455

Too many changes and three new lines. Heinen isn't a top6 F, but Frederic is? Especially when he hasn't played with 18-88? There was a time to try Lohrei on the 3rd pair, they didn't and he can't play in the top4 either.

Apr. 23 at 10:06 a.m.

dons_weeney

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Joined: Jun. 2023

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Quoting: DeclanLovesHockey

Yeah, fair point. The game was lopsided as far as high danger chances go for sure. Ullmark bailed them out of what could've easily been a 6-2 game. Toronto led in scoring chances 27-12. Possession didn't seem too lopsided but quality chances definitely were, leafs team defense was excellent

Apr. 23 at 10:10 a.m.

dons_weeney

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Joined: Jun. 2023

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Quoting: bhavikp27

Low risk changes imo since the "core" of each line stays intact. Yeah Lohrei not playing down the stretch isn't good for his chances, but every time he's been called up he played well and adjusted well. Still holding off on him for a little, but I'd be ok with him going in if their offense/transition struggles

Apr. 23 at 4:59 p.m.

Bcarlo25

Joined: May 2018

Posts: 21,231

Likes: 7,011

Quoting: dons_weeney

These are very minor changes, and not changing anything that was working anyways, I wouldn't even take out Griz yet lol

you broke up the top line....that's major. that line has worked very very very well. it's an awful concept that i guarantee you montgomery hasn't even considered....because it's just short sighted, and unbelievably reactionary. and what's worse it's a reaction to something that just wasn't a thing.

Apr. 23 at 5:09 p.m.

dons_weeney

Thread Starter

Best armchair GM yet

Joined: Jun. 2023

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Quoting: Bcarlo25

True, good points. I just see it as low enough of a risk, Heinen isn't the guy driving play anyways.

Apr. 23 at 5:34 p.m.

Bcarlo25

Joined: May 2018

Posts: 21,231

Likes: 7,011

Quoting: dons_weeney

True, good points. I just see it as low enough of a risk, Heinen isn't the guy driving play anyways.

he's been an absolute perfect fit on that line. if there is a line that isn't to be messed with, it's that one. just a ridiculous concept to break them up.

dons_weeney liked this.

Apr. 24 at 6:39 p.m.

#10

dons_weeney

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Best armchair GM yet

Joined: Jun. 2023

Posts: 592

Likes: 139

Quoting: Bcarlo25

Man if you thought this was an overreaction you must not like the actual game 3 lineup

Crazy changeup, but we shall see. I'm all for trying it, can't keep getting blown out in scoring chances. But I wouldn't hesitate to go back to the basics if it's not working.

Mon. at 1:11 p.m.

#11

Bcarlo25

Joined: May 2018

Posts: 21,231

Likes: 7,011

Quoting: dons_weeney

Man if you thought this was an overreaction you must not like the actual game 3 lineup

Crazy changeup, but we shall see. I'm all for trying it, can't keep getting blown out in scoring chances. But I wouldn't hesitate to go back to the basics if it's not working.

what i really liked seeing was heinen being deployed in as many situations as possible, and having a dominant shift saving a goal in his own end, and then winning the puck battle to create the game winning opportunity. what a stud.

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