Quote:
Originally Posted by Stars-Preds
As of right now I see the lines projecting like this at the beginning of the season:
Jokinen - Modano - Lehtinen
Morrow - Ribeiro - Eriksson
Lundqvist - Halpern - Barnes
Hagman - Ott - Barch/Fedoruk/Winchester/Miettinen
... this isn't a terrible lineup but several question marks. can jokinen/eriksson both produce in the top-6? who plays regularly on the fourth line? will tip be patient enough to leave any of the lines together to develop chemistry?
once we get more into the season (even though this will likely change since I'm expecting some type of trade), here's how i see the lines changing:
Lundqvist - Modano - Lehtinen
Morrow - Ribeiro - Eriksson
Hagman - Halpern - Barnes
Jokinen and two of Ott/Barch/Fedoruk/Winchester/Miettinen
... i like this lineup much more than the first one. lundqvist and morrow both give the top-6 a more physical, hard nosed approach. hagman should fit in well on the checking line with halpern/barnes. then jokinen can be used similiarly to ribeiro from last season. he can center the fourth line in 5-on-5 situations and then be used exclusively on the power play and in the shootout.
|
Your 1st set of lines looks pretty good, but your second set with Jokinen on the 4th line isn't likely. There's no way Jokinen gets relegated to the 4th line IMO. They will put Hagman, Halpern, Lundqvist, Eriksson, or Barnes on the 4th line before they put Jussi there. Army has already stated that he wants a line which creates "ill will". I am assuming thats the fourth line and Jussi would be a waste between Winchester/Fedoruk and Barch. There is no way to predict the lines accurately yet because there is about a 90% likelihood that a trade is coming to fix the currently LW-heavy and scoring touch deficient lineup.
