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Post by Lee Denault on Sept 8, 2008 21:28:48 GMT -5
Let's see your line-ups for this upcoming season. Obviously lineups change like the wind. But what do you think Ron should do, and why?
Here's mine.
Kulemin - Antropov - Tlusty
With Kulemin's determination along the boards, Antropov's vision, and Tlusty's ability to put the puck in the net, I can see this being a very interesting line.
Blake - Grabovski - Hagman
This should be a very good counter-attack line. As Blake and Hagman play defense well, this will lead to a speedy transition.
Steen - Stajan - Ponikarovski
Has the potential to be a nice shutdown/energy line. All can play defense nicely.
Mayers - Moore - Bell
You could add the likes of Williams and Deveraux into this mix, but this line can bring a physical grinding game. As a fourth line, I don't think they are a liability.
Kaberle - Kubina
Stralman - Colaiacovo
Van Ryn - Finger
Frogren
Obviously there is a trade coming, because we did not encourage Frogren to buy out his contract, so we could put him in the AHL.
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Post by Lee Denault on Sept 8, 2008 22:50:40 GMT -5
In all seriousness, look at the defense, someone has to be moved.
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Post by Alex Tran on Sept 9, 2008 22:10:15 GMT -5
White for a 3rd or 4th round pick would be just fine.
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Post by CarltonTheBear on Sept 9, 2008 22:38:32 GMT -5
Blake -Antropov -Steen
I'd say these are probably the three players on the team with the most developed skills so far. Antropov can play down low and in around the net to get the puck out to Blake who is mostly a speedy perimeter sniper (who hopefully doesn't take stupid shots as much this year.) Steen is more of a more well rounded player to complete the line.
Hagman-Grabovski-Kulemin
Grabovski looks to be like he can be a solid playmaker, Hagman can bury the puck and Kulemin we haven't seen much of but he's a talent winger who will take the body.
Tlusty-Stajan-Ponikarovsky
A solid 3rd line.
Bell-Moore -Mayers
Pretty much as good a 4th line as they come. You can sub in any of Devereaux, Williams, Earl, John Mitchell, Hollweg, Boyce or Newbury.
Kubina -Kaberle Finger -Colaiacovo Frogren-Stralman
Van Ryn | White | Kronwall
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Post by Alex Tran on Sept 9, 2008 22:40:52 GMT -5
Don't know if I like Tlusty only getting 3rd line minutes.
And it's really a shame if Devereaux can't get into the lineup after the solid play he's given us these last 2 years.
Some of these guys need to be shipped out! There's just too many!
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Post by jmac96 on Sept 10, 2008 0:21:04 GMT -5
Yah for sure somethings got to give numbers wise. I want something to happen but with what we have i dont see there being a deal that Ill be overly happy with. Too bad Kubina wasn't traded when we had the chance...
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Post by jmac96 on Sept 10, 2008 0:46:57 GMT -5
IMO Tlusty is gonna be a very good player in the future and I dont see why some leaf fans have written him off already, I also think Van Ryn will surprise, but I wanna see Frogren playing with Stralman. So this leaves Colo the odd man out when expecting Kaberle, Kubina, Finger to be there, which sucks cause as we all know when Colo is healthy and at his best he is at times the Leafs best D-man. Guess we'll have an interesting competition in training camp, at least we dont have the Woz making this team out of the gate like last year.
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Post by Lee Denault on Sept 10, 2008 0:58:45 GMT -5
I just don't see white making the team this year....or Carlo
but not seeing Carlo there frustrates the hell out of me, this guy is amazing.(as we all know)
White is most likely going to be traded.
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Post by canucksnaphook on Sept 11, 2008 13:08:37 GMT -5
No mentions of Hollweg !! Come on 4th Liner for sure. We have wayyy too many bodies and need to make some minor deals to clear out some locker spaces.
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Post by dirtroad on Sept 11, 2008 13:55:11 GMT -5
Blake -Antropov -SteenI'd say these are probably the three players on the team with the most developed skills so far. Antropov can play down low and in around the net to get the puck out to Blake who is mostly a speedy perimeter sniper (who hopefully doesn't take stupid shots as much this year.) Steen is more of a more well rounded player to complete the line. Hagman-Grabovski-KuleminGrabovski looks to be like he can be a solid playmaker, Hagman can bury the puck and Kulemin we haven't seen much of but he's a talent winger who will take the body. Tlusty-Stajan-PonikarovskyA solid 3rd line. Bell-Moore -MayersPretty much as good a 4th line as they come. You can sub in any of Devereaux, Williams, Earl, John Mitchell, Hollweg, Boyce or Newbury. Kubina -Kaberle Finger -Van Ryn Frogren-Stralman Colaiacovo | Frogren | White | Kronwall Wow... someone with some reasonable lines! Great Job. These are lines i would expect at the start of the season. I don't think Tlusty should be given top 6 to start. Make him earn it. Especially after his poor performance in the AHL playoffs last season. I could also see Bell moving up the ranks as the season progresses. Cola will definitely get top 4 minutes. Isn't this is first time coming into the season 100% healthy?
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Post by sixtyone on Sept 11, 2008 15:18:31 GMT -5
poni-steen-antro blake-stajan/garbo-kulemin/tlusty hagman-stajan/garbo-kulemin/tlusty bell-moore-mayers
the rason why i have stajan/garbo flipping between 2 and 3 is that stajan and blake played very well last year near the end of the season and i'm not sold on garbo yet (i've barely seen him play)...
same goes for tlusty and kulemin... while i have high hopes of kulemin, it might take him a bit of time to adjust... yes he played against men in the super league but that was in russia... the nhl is the best league in the world with the best players... and bigger players... tlusty has some of that experience already however he is younger so we'll see...
as for the D... right now, this seems to work in my head
kabby-kubina finger-carlo/stralman van ryn-carlo/stralman
frogen could very well be in that mix but he is also new to the nhl... i could see him logging minutes with stralman as they have played before and played well...
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Post by Lee Denault on Sept 11, 2008 15:31:34 GMT -5
poni-steen-antro blake-stajan/garbo-kulemin/tlusty hagman-stajan/garbo-kulemin/tlusty bell-moore-mayers the rason why i have stajan/garbo flipping between 2 and 3 is that stajan and blake played very well last year near the end of the season and i'm not sold on garbo yet (i've barely seen him play)... same goes for tlusty and kulemin... while i have high hopes of kulemin, it might take him a bit of time to adjust... yes he played against men in the super league but that was in russia... the nhl is the best league in the world with the best players... and bigger players... tlusty has some of that experience already however he is younger so we'll see... as for the D... right now, this seems to work in my head kabby-kubina finger-carlo/stralman van ryn-carlo/stralman frogen could very well be in that mix but he is also new to the nhl... i could see him logging minutes with stralman as they have played before and played well... I'm not sure if I like the idea of Kulemin or Tlusty playing third line minutes. In a rebuild give the young guys some top 6 experience
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Post by Alex Tran on Sept 12, 2008 18:04:42 GMT -5
From his interview on the FAN, Ron Wilson stated that Antropov will be used as a winger and Steen will be used as a centre.
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Post by unholygoalie on Sept 12, 2008 18:16:08 GMT -5
STARTING LINE-UP
#41 - Nikolai Kulemin / #80 - Nik Antropov / #23 - Alexei Ponikarovsky #14 - Matthew Stajan / #10 - Alexander Steen / #11 - Jiri Tlusty #16 - Niklas Hagman / #84 Mikhail Grabovski / #55 - Jason Blake #28 - Mark Bell / #19 - Dominic Moore / #21 - Jamal Mayers
#12 - Robbie Earl / #22 - Boyd Devereaux / #18 - Jeremy Williams / #44 - Ryan Hollweg
Due to the Leafs not having a true 1st line, I think it would be best if the Leafs had a 1st line that played considerably less than the average 1st line thus allowing the 2nd and 3rd lines to operate as two separate 2nd lines. Also, it would allow for the 4th line to act as an energy / shutdown unit. The ice time would be the following.
1st line – 18 minutes average 2nd line – 15 minutes average 3rd line – 15 minutes average 4th line – 12 minutes average
#15 - Tomas Kaberle / #77 - Pavel Kubina - 22 minutes #24 - Jonas Frogren / #36 - Anton Strålman - 20 minutes #8 - Carlo Colaiacovo / #4 - Jeff Finger - 18 minutes
#7 - Ian White / #26 - Mike Van Ryn / #44 - Staffan Kronwall / #2 - Luke Schenn (for 15 games, IF he's good enough)
#35 - Vesa Toskala - 55-60 starts #31- Curtis Joseph - 15-20 starts #1 - Justin Pogge - AT LEAST 3 starts, up to 5 starts.
Bold means alternate captain. Bold and underline means captain, if we go with one at all.
POWERPLAY #1
Nikolai Kulemin / Nik Antropov / Alexander Steen
Tomas Kaberle / Pavel Kubina
POWERPLAY #2
Jiri Tlusty / Matt Stajan / Jason Blake
Anton Strålman / Carlo Colaiacovo
PENALTY KILL #1
Matt Stajan / Alexander Steen
Carlo Colaiacovo / Pavel Kubina
PENALTY KILL #2
Jamal Mayers / Niklas Hagman
Tomas Kaberle / Jeff Finger
PENALTY KILL #3
Nik Antropov / Nikolai Kulemin
Jonas Frogren / Anton Strålman
PENALTY KILL #4
Mark Bell / Alexei Ponikarovsky
Carlo Colaiacovo / Pavel Kubina
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Post by Chance on Sept 13, 2008 1:13:20 GMT -5
Forwards
Jiri Tlusty | Alexander Steen | Nik Antropov Jason Blake | Matt Stajan | Mark Bell/Alexi Ponikarovsky Nik Kulemin | Mik Grabovski | Nik Hagman Boyd Deveraux | Jamal Mayers | Mark Bell/Alexi Poni/Moore/Hollweg
Defense
Tomas Kaberle | Pavel Kubina Anton Stralman | Jonas Frogren Carlo Colaiacovo | Jeff Finger
Special Teams
Power Play #1 Bell | Steen | Antropov Kaberle | Kubina
Power Play # 2 Kulemin/Blake | Grabovski | Poni Stralman | Colaiacovo
Penalty Kill # 1 Mayers | Hagman Kubina | Frogren
Penatly Kill # 2 Stajan | Steen/Kulemin Finger | Colaiacovo
Analysis The first line I feel has to have Steen and Antropov on it to continue their development. When Sundin was out last season for that span of time Steen really stepped up his game and excelled as a center. The same can be said about Antropov when he played center during the season but I feel he could put up more points on the wing then say Steen could if he was shifted. Tlusty I think is a legitimate top six forward who just needs some more time and could really excel with some talented players to play with. I will admit though he gives me an uneasy fit on the top line.
The second line is completed by Stajan at center with Blake and either Poni or Bell on his wings. I really thought Jason and Matt had some real chemistry together during the last half of the season and could only grow off that now. Though I know Poni is very consistent in his twenty goal campaigns I kind of want to see him out of town...I'd prefer having a draft pick in my back pocket then him which might be dumb to say. Aside from this helping the youth movement I also think Mark Bell will have a great year this year but only if he's playing in the top six spots. I think having him grind would be a waste of his offensive talent.
Come on. The "Nik Mik Nik" line. You like it admit it. I've heard reports that all three have started skating together on a mock line before pre-season and that they look good out there. The Nik's are great two-way players, Hagman leading the Stars last season in short handed goals as well as popping in quite a few too. Kulemin I think will be huge. I could totally just be dazzled by the hype and eat my words, but I really believe he'll be my favourite leaf this season. I hope at least. Big hits, soft hands and some quick speed. I like it.
The last line is the most debatable and changeable I feel. Considered a shut down line that can also pitch in a few most of the guys I just like there hustle. Moore and Deveraux; I simply just love their energy and commitment. I didn't see Dommy Moore play before he was on the Leafs but I really feel that he stepped up his game huge when he became a hometown boy. All spots on the fourth line are upon to change. I want to see Jamal Mayers and Hollweg out there nights keeping everyone honest and bringing some grit back to our team. Seriously past two seasons did we have anyone with heart out there? Sure Tucker showed flashes but I mean, two years ago the boys stood stunned when Jannsen took out Kaberle. Last year, Matt Stajan was so fed up he dropped the gloves one game and he knew he was just asking for a beat down. I hope to see players out there who really care about each other as a team, and show that camaraderie every game.
Closing Thoughts[/u] Someone on the Buzz boards I hate to not give full credit too but proposed that every month a minors player be called up to play with the big club and I'd love to see that happen but have shifts not on the grinding line. Let them play with Steen and Antropov or on the second or third.
I feel bad for Van Ryn and White but I'd hope their days are numbered here in the Blue and White. I really feel we could get a decent pick for white if shopped right. He's not afraid to play physical though he lacks size and I feel has under rated offensive abilities. Van Ryn I'd actually consider keeping but just don't see a spot for him in the line up. Perhaps, and I never want to say it in fear, but if one or our more snake bit defenders has an injury he can step up while they recover... but I'd much rather that never happen again.
Sorry this is so long and thanks if you bothered reading all or most of it. I'm very open to a critique or analysis. Thanks again
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