Should Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole line be broken up for scoring depth?
 

Given the discussion recently, I think it's a pretty relevant question


Considering the lack of offensive depth in the top 6, should the Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole line be split up to spread out the offense so that the team is not once again a one-line team?

I want them to but I understand keeping them together to start the season. I'm skeptical they can replicate last years production anyway, but even if they can, if we can't get anything going from other lines, the coach needs to be brave enough to split them up.

The way pundits talked about them being untouchable made you think they were each putting up 100 points.

60 something points a piece isn't good enough if the rest of your team is used defensively. There was many reasons we sucked last year but offense was still a major issue, because the only other source of decent production besides that line was Plekanec.

Only if we can't find a productive second line combo. The only reason it should be broken up is to increase secondary scoring and we don't know if we'll have that yet.

Eller could break out offensively. Galchenyuk could make the team and be productive right away. Gionta&Plekanec might have a dynamite season together ect. Bourque might pull his head out of his backyard. We don't know yet.

not yet, we have not even played a game this year... for all we know this line starts to light it up becoming a dominate line in the nhl

I would add a third option.

I know MT will be starting them together. I'm open to seeing how that affects the other lines and their match ups. I'm not against the line-up itself, more that it may hurt the entire team going forward.

So in essence, my choice would be to see if the same problems as last year present themselves, then yes, I'd totally be open to breaking it up if necessary.

what if no one else but that line is scoring?

I would like to see Eller play with Cole, I think he could learn a lot. He has all the tools to be a powerforward and his game is already headed in that direction.

We're back to discussing hockey?

To be honest I don't really know how the rest of the team will look like but I like the 2.5 Men line and they can honestly match up against anybody and still find a way to score. Keep 'em together.

They remind me of Higgins-Koivu-Ryder and Kostitsyn-Plekanec-Kovalev.

You should now see why lines fail: injuries and slumps inevitably happen.

are we winning? then, ya, I would leave it. if we're losing, then, ya, I would change it. Man I should totally be an nhl coach. took the wrong career choice :sarcasm:

I mean if Randy Cunneyworth can do it...:sarcasm:

I just don't want to see the same fustrating crap as last year where, the team is constantly losing, there is no secondary scoring, no powerplay scoring and the coach does nothing to fix it and continues to switch the whole team around except one line as though somehow the team will start magically winning.

Don't, find a solution non involving dismantling one of the best first lines last year.

The habs didn't do much to address their issues for a top 6 winger, but they will have gionta back in the lineup, so hopefully that opens some more options.

I think cole, pacioretty, and desharnais compliment each other perfectly, so ideally, you would like the 2nd liners to step up their production. I dont think the 2.5 men would be nearly as effective broken up as they are together.

The real wildcard in all of this is Rene Bourque. If he's motivated, he has the ability to be a pretty good compliment on the 2nd line, in which case, the 2.5 men don't have to be concerned with being broken up. Of course, this is all assuming that the 2.5 men will be just as effective as last season, which is a very debatable topic in itself.

A top 5 draft pick is always good ! Seriously, this year is the perfect year to finish last especially since the habs are not a stanley cup contender team.

That's not what this thread is about.

Get Andrei Kostitsyn back.

No reason not to start them together to begin the eventual season.

Splitting them could be a possiblity at some point.

can you add a third and more reasonable option: only if the rest of the team struggles to score and win games.

if they make goals and the team wins, why break them up? if they make goals but the team still doesn't win, what are you gonna lose if you split them up?

this dichotomous **** is doing my head in...

nono, we have too much depth at the moment

*looks at username*

HGNNNNnnnn.....

See, that's the thing, for something that was so simple, we didn't see any effort whatsoever for the coach to break it up last year, not even on the crappy PP.

Nonsense, that's what every thread should be about.

<3 the avatar

So you slip them and then, you have no lines scoring... what have you accomplished? Better have one line with chemistry than none.

People seem to forget that with Gionta back, Plekanec's line will look different than what we've see at the end of last year. It would have been nice to find a rugged top 6 left winger to play with them, but Bourque deserves to get the same opportunity everyone was willing to give Kostitsyn.

My two cents.

The flip side of Pacioretty-Desharnais-Cole is that we ended up with White-Plekanec-Staubitz as the second line.