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Highlander said:Just thinking if we don't sign Tavares and any other free agent signing I would love to see Nylander move to Centre (where I believe he wants to play) and have Johnsson and Kapi on his wings. That is a line I would like to see. both Johnsson and Kapi especially are good defensively as well.
Significantly Insignificant said:Highlander said:Just thinking if we don't sign Tavares and any other free agent signing I would love to see Nylander move to Centre (where I believe he wants to play) and have Johnsson and Kapi on his wings. That is a line I would like to see. both Johnsson and Kapi especially are good defensively as well.
Who do you play with Matthews? Moving Nylander off his wing leaves a pretty big hole. I don't like the idea of 82 games with Brown and Hyman there. I would love if it was Marner, but I think they like the idea of him with Kadri.
Coco-puffs said:Significantly Insignificant said:Highlander said:Just thinking if we don't sign Tavares and any other free agent signing I would love to see Nylander move to Centre (where I believe he wants to play) and have Johnsson and Kapi on his wings. That is a line I would like to see. both Johnsson and Kapi especially are good defensively as well.
Who do you play with Matthews? Moving Nylander off his wing leaves a pretty big hole. I don't like the idea of 82 games with Brown and Hyman there. I would love if it was Marner, but I think they like the idea of him with Kadri.
If they want to stick with the Marner-Kadri duo:
Johnsson - Matthews - Kapanen
Marleau - Kadri - Marner
Hyman - Nylander - Brown (which was a fantastic line in the AHL a couple of years ago)
princedpw said:I think Kappy will work well with matthews. He?ll help carry the puck up and dish it off.
CarltonTheBear said:Matthews has to play with either Nylander or Marner. No exceptions. I like guys like Kapanen and Johnsson as much as the next person but I watched Sundin play most of his career with middle-wingers and I don't want to watch Matthews do the same.
CarltonTheBear said:Assuming we add nobody and Babcock is forced to use Nylander at centre:
Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Marleau-Kadri-Kapanen
Johnsson-Nylander-Brown
guy-guy-guy
Significantly Insignificant said:See at that point do you maybe go with Nylander as your number two and flip him with Kadri? I still think that third line scores at a lower rate than the JVR-Bozak-Brown trio. It could be offset a little if Matthews and Marner have breakout years and establish themselves in the upper echelon of the league.
CarltonTheBear said:Significantly Insignificant said:See at that point do you maybe go with Nylander as your number two and flip him with Kadri? I still think that third line scores at a lower rate than the JVR-Bozak-Brown trio. It could be offset a little if Matthews and Marner have breakout years and establish themselves in the upper echelon of the league.
Well 2C vs. 3C really wouldn't be all that different, it's just that Kadri would be getting the tougher match-ups. You could swap Brown and Kapanen if you wanted.
CarltonTheBear said:Assuming we add nobody and Babcock is forced to use Nylander at centre:
Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Marleau-Kadri-Kapanen
Johnsson-Nylander-Brown
guy-guy-guy
Nik the Trik said:I do think though that this discussion nicely underscores the fact that if the Leafs let JVR walk and effectively replace him with nobody it's going to be pretty hard for this team to be as balanced as they were last year.
Coco-puffs said:Nik the Trik said:I do think though that this discussion nicely underscores the fact that if the Leafs let JVR walk and effectively replace him with nobody it's going to be pretty hard for this team to be as balanced as they were last year.
I agree. Bozak scored 43 pts last season. JvR had 54. From what I've seen of Johnsson, I feel he could comfortably be a 40+ pt guy, replacing all of Bozak's scoring. Kapanen, on the other hand, is probably a 30-35 pt guy in a Top 9 role.... so 20-25 points is quite a drop from one of your Top 9 forward spots.
Andy said:Coco-puffs said:Nik the Trik said:I do think though that this discussion nicely underscores the fact that if the Leafs let JVR walk and effectively replace him with nobody it's going to be pretty hard for this team to be as balanced as they were last year.
I agree. Bozak scored 43 pts last season. JvR had 54. From what I've seen of Johnsson, I feel he could comfortably be a 40+ pt guy, replacing all of Bozak's scoring. Kapanen, on the other hand, is probably a 30-35 pt guy in a Top 9 role.... so 20-25 points is quite a drop from one of your Top 9 forward spots.
I don't know, personally I think that replacing Bozak with a capable 3rd line center will make a world of difference. A lot of those point totals came either from PP time or at the expense of playing any type of remotely decent defense.
Subbing in some young, defensively-sound players with plenty of speed and offensive potential to that line won't hurt them at all, imo. I actually think it will make them more balanced, particularly if Babcock starts giving the stars more ice and PP time.