Let's just say for the sake of discussion that we don't make any more moves up front. This is what I would like to see for the Oilers.....
Penner-O'Sullivan-Hemsky
Schremp/Nilsson-Gagner-Cogliano
Moreau-Horcoff-Pisani
Jacques-Pouliot/Brule-Stortini
Pouliot/Brule/Schremp, MacIntyre
Once again we'd start out with a hell of a young team except this time we'd come out with a more offensive style of hockey that plays to our teams strengths. I like O'Sullivan in Horcoff's spot on the top line for 2 reasons, #1 O'Sullivan is more skilled and Horc could be thrown into a shut down roll. The 2nd scoring line would still be very small however they would be a year older and perhaps a new coach squeezes more out of them than the previous one did.
The 3rd line should be considered an exceptionally strong and very expensive 3rd line, but you play your players in terms of what helps the team the most, not who gets paid the most. And lastly we have the 4th line, that seems like the most likely to remain unchanged with the exception of someone filling the void left by Kyle Brodziak's departure.
3 comments:
Bryan - has POS ever played centre before? I thought he'd always been a winger, and moving him to be a 1st line centre would surely be problematic given his unfamiliarity with the role. Haven't we seen enough trouble with playing players out of position?
I guess it's rude of me to criticise without offering an alternative. Probably too conservative for your tastes but:
Penner - Horcoff - Hemsky
POS - Gagner - Cogs
Morreau - Pouliot - Pisani
JFJ - Brule - Stortini
Jeez, that's a lineup to get overwhelmed unless the 2nd line can consistently light the lamp.
I believe he has. Not to mention he has solid defensive awareness, is a good skater, and has a good shot while also being a good playmaker. I just know that I don't want to see Cogs down the middle anymore. Not good on the draw and if we don't acquire any more top 6 help, he probably needs to be on a scoring line for us to get some offensive contribution out of our top line. I don't want to see Hemsky and Gagner on the same line because both like to hold onto the puck and make plays. We need them on separate lines to generate offense for their linemates.
Your lineup is probably what I would expect, however maybe Quinn and Renney sees something that MacT didn't in certain players and gives them different roles.
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