Offseason Goal: Reinvent the Fourth Line

[Phil]

Goal: Reinvent the fourth line with "muscle and grit,"

Offseason targets: Derek Grant and Kyle Clifford

 

Grant: Key penalty-killer. Projectable size/frame for bottom-six/fourth-line role. Plays both center and RW. Great face-off numbers. Solid defensively. Missing teeth. Looks like a hockey player.

 

 

Clifford: Reknowned team guy/dressing room leader. Solid "protector" for young players/rookies. Great shutdown numbers. Also missing teeth. Looks psychotic.

 

 

Projected 2020 fourth line: Kyle Clifford - Derek Grant / Justin Richards

 

I don't give a shit what you do with Lemieux, Howden, and Gauthier. One of them can play 13F. The other two can fuck off.

 

This kind of fourth-line would not only have a key [shutdown] role but would add the "muscle and grit" in one fell swoop.

[Keirik]

Brian Boyle at 1m

[Sod16]

We have all of the elite players that we need now. The difficult task is filling out the roster with good foot soldiers, the kind we see playing for Columbus and Carolina. That's going to be tough, because of our cap issues. It isn't going to get easy maintaining a good stable of foot soldiers as our young studs come off entry level contracts and require large pay. Waiver wire trash and $800K UFAs are not going to do it. We are going to need soldiers like B. Boyle, Hags and Klein, who made the 2014 team good and the loss of whom contributed to our decline. It would certainly be nice if a couple of guys developed at Hartford fit this bill, but Gettinger, Fogarty, Nieves, Letierri et al. aren't it, and I don't see anyone in the pipeline who is. We need $3m guys like Fast, not $800K guys, and I don't know if we will ever be able to do that within the cap. Can we sneak a DNA sample from Esa Tikanen from a discarded cup at McDonalds and clone him? The ultimate foot soldier one step behind the stars.

[Phil]

We have all of the elite players that we need now. The difficult task is filling out the roster with good foot soldiers, the kind we see playing for Columbus and Carolina. That's going to be tough, because of our cap issues. It isn't going to get easy maintaining a good stable of foot soldiers as our young studs come off entry level contracts and require large pay. Waiver wire trash and $800K UFAs are not going to do it. We are going to need soldiers like B. Boyle, Hags and Klein, who made the 2014 team good and the loss of whom contributed to our decline. It would certainly be nice if a couple of guys developed at Hartford fit this bill, but Gettinger, Fogarty, Nieves, Letierri et al. aren't it, and I don't see anyone in the pipeline who is. We need $3m guys like Fast, not $800K guys, and I don't know if we will ever be able to do that within the cap. Can we sneak a DNA sample from Esa Tikanen from a discarded cup at McDonalds and clone him? The ultimate foot soldier one step behind the stars.

 

Justin Richards could be one of these. So could Patrick Khodorenko.

[Mistercosmic]

I loved our 4th line back then with Moore, Boyle, Dorsett/Carcillo. Wish they could rebuild something similiar.

 

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[Drew a Penalty]

I'm in complete agreement here. Both would be welcome additions to the bottom six. I don't see Howden and Lemieux having much impact. These are guys who are proven and can wear teams down. Throw in someone like Richards who was a very good defensive C in the NCAA and suddenly you have a much better bottom six.

[Phil]

I'm in complete agreement here. Both would be welcome additions to the bottom six. I don't see Howden and Lemieux having much impact. These are guys who are proven and can wear teams down. Throw in someone like Richards who was a very good defensive C in the NCAA and suddenly you have a much better bottom six.

 

Bottom-three*

 

We still have to worry about the third line, but depending on how the roster is constructed, it's entirely possible to try and re-create something similar to the Miller-Hayes-Grabner third-line from years past that was able to feast on matchups.

[Mistercosmic]

But is it realistic to assume that Howden is out of the lineup next season? Coach seems to recognize something special in him, for whatever reasons. Plus I wouldn't give up on Gauthier too soon.

 

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[Drew a Penalty]

But is it realistic to assume that Howden is out of the lineup next season? Coach seems to recognize something special in him, for whatever reasons. Plus I wouldn't give up on Gauthier too soon.

 

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We certainly haven't seen the last of Howden unfortunately. JD cited him as one of the players he thought benefited from the qualifying round. I'd prefer it benefit him somewhere else, but we're seemingly stuck with Howden for a little longer.

 

 

Link:

[Mistercosmic]

They don't see reality in that case, but just what they want to see, so that the McDonagh/Miller-Trade doesn't appear as terrible as it actually was.

 

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[Phil]

But is it realistic to assume that Howden is out of the lineup next season? Coach seems to recognize something special in him, for whatever reasons. Plus I wouldn't give up on Gauthier too soon.

 

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Probably not, but he doesn't fit any mold, is the problem. He's a plug of a player with no real discernible skillset to allow him to carve out an identity in the league. What does he do well, exactly, other than skate? I get the sample size is still small on his career, but it's still so hard to even project the type of player he might be because he's such a jack of all trades, master of none.

 

I'd still have interest in Clifford and Grant here, though. Worst case, it boxes out someone like Richards, but you can probably still carve out a meaningful role for the line if it's Clifford-Howden-Grant.

[Gravesy]

I think Howden could possibly be a decent bottom sixer, but he needs to go to Hartford and work on his game ffs.

Lemieux is “busy” and a bit entertaining, and that fools a lot of people into thinking he’s effective. There is very little data available to suggest that he is, apart from a reasonable penalty differential.

Gauthier I kind of like because of the size and speed, but he isn’t much of a hockey player as of now.

 

In sum, agree with Phil. Build an actual NHL calibre 4th line. It isn’t a garbage dump or a vehicle to provide kids ice time they shouldn’t have.

[Mistercosmic]

To be clear: I personally don't want Howden in the lineup. But I fear he'll be on the ice quite often again next season.

 

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[Phil]

I think Howden could possibly be a decent bottom sixer, but he needs to go to Hartford and work on his game ffs.

Lemieux is “busy” and a bit entertaining, and that fools a lot of people into thinking he’s effective. There is very little data available to suggest that he is, apart from a reasonable penalty differential.

Gauthier I kind of like because of the size and speed, but he isn’t much of a hockey player as of now.

 

In sum, agree with Phil. Build an actual NHL calibre 4th line. It isn’t a garbage dump or a vehicle to provide kids ice time they shouldn’t have.

 

Right. Gauthier can be a 13F for the time being and fill in as needed, but like Howden, is still so raw it's hard to define who he is or might be.

 

Lemieux is trash. He's shittier Ryan Hollweg.

[Sharpshooter]

Right. Gauthier can be a 13F for the time being and fill in as needed, but like Howden, is still so raw it's hard to define who he is or might be.

 

Lemieux is trash. He's shittier Ryan Hollweg.

 

Wow. That's pretty shitty. lol

[CaptainMorganBarron]

upgrade over McKegg

[Keirik]

[CaptainMorganBarron]

Right. Gauthier can be a 13F for the time being and fill in as needed, but like Howden, is still so raw it's hard to define who he is or might be.

 

Lemieux is trash. He's shittier Ryan Hollweg.

 

 

Hollweg hit like a truck and danced like a maniac:

[CaptainMorganBarron]

 

WHY?

[Keirik]

Because he will cost 1m, 4th line role, is good for about 20 points yearly, can pk, face off, and usually is a decent trade at the deadline if they are out of it.

[ThirtyONE]

You'd have to think Fast, DiGuisseppi, and McKegg are all gone.

 

Replacing them is Lafrenier and hopefully Kravstov. So by this logic the team will actually be YOUNGER if these are the only changes they make.

 

A 4th line that can actually kill penalties and throw their weight around would go a long way toward success. Kreider and Lemieux are basically the only "heavy" players on offense which is not a recipe for success (see Toronto).

 

I like the guys Phil mentioned. I also like Boyle back at 4C if that's an option. Guys need to be signed for these specific roles, not AHL/NHL go-betweens like McKegg.

[Phil]

Hollweg hit like a truck and danced like a maniac:

 

And was a trash hockey player. Just like Lemieux.

[Phil]

You'd have to think Fast, DiGuisseppi, and McKegg are all gone.

 

Replacing them is Lafrenier and hopefully Kravstov. So by this logic the team will actually be YOUNGER if these are the only changes they make.

 

A 4th line that can actually kill penalties and throw their weight around would go a long way toward success. Kreider and Lemieux are basically the only "heavy" players on offense which is not a recipe for success (see Toronto).

 

I like the guys Phil mentioned. I also like Boyle back at 4C if that's an option. Guys need to be signed for these specific roles, not AHL/NHL go-betweens like McKegg.

 

See Toronto and New York.

 

Can Boyle still play? I know they had an interest in him last year, but he ultimately went to Florida.

[CaptainMorganBarron]

Because he will cost 1m, 4th line role, is good for about 20 points yearly, can pk, face off, and usually is a decent trade at the deadline if they are out of it.

 

he will be 36 when the season starts. Can he still skate?

[ThirtyONE]

See Toronto and New York.

 

Can Boyle still play? I know they had an interest in him last year, but he ultimately went to Florida.

 

Right. Toronto is the example of what happens when you let that issue go unsolved for years. 0 playoff round victories in 15 years. Skill is great. You need it without a doubt. But it's clear they also need some grit.