Who cares...why mess with a good thing, right now...I say trade him as soon as he is healthy.
Maybe let him in a few games see if we can increase his trade value at all. Maybe package him along with Arkhipov and a d-man for Comrie and something?
Still, Dulzhok, he will most likely be our 3rd line LW when he comes back. Erat and Hartnell have earned their spots, and do not need to be moved down. Technically, we would be icing 3 scoring lines, though.
Hartnell - Legwand - Hall
Erat - Arkhipov (demote him to the 4th line please) - Orszagh
Johansson - Johnson - Walker
Mckenzie - Murray - Tootoo/Stevenson
I think Walker and Johansson are our two most consistent offensive forwards at this point (Hartnell is making a case). They don't need to be on the third line.
I think Walker and Johansson are our two most consistent offensive forwards at this point (Hartnell is making a case). They don't need to be on the third line.
I think Harts has definitely earned his spot on the 1st line, but I think you'd have to move Hall down and let AJ jump in that spot when he returns. He has been our most productive threat when in the lineup. I'm a huge fan of Hall, but I think AJ would be more productive.
The only drawback is that I don't think Harts skates well enough to keep up with Leggy and AJ. Although they have been productive, Hall and Harts might be putting the reins on Leggy since he's much faster than the two of them. Harts-Leggy-AJ would have all the elements of a good line (banger, speedster, finisher) if together. JMO.
anyone that needs reminding of how good AJ is when he's healthy...watch a clip from that first anaheim game, and watch his goal. there's no one on the team right now with the ability to do that sort of thing. we've got a lot of muscle scorers, but AJ is probably the only finesse scorer. i don't buy the whole "injury prone" thing, either. it seems that he just has bad luck in taking REALLY bad hits(the isles game last year where he was slammed into the goal, the blake hit this year(dirty) ). if he comes back and gets injured again...then the problem takes care of itself.
my current curious idea is to call up gamache and throw him right in, let him center erat and orszagh. with erat's playmaking and orszagh's grinding, i think this kid's ability could start to shine through on this level.
my current curious idea is to call up gamache and throw him right in, let him center erat and orszagh. with erat's playmaking and orszagh's grinding, i think this kid's ability could start to shine through on this level.
I agree nomo, that might be a good idea, assuming that we wouldn't have to put Arkhipov on waivers. He has clearly disappointed so far this year, but someone would pick him up, and if we're going to lose him, I'd rather it be in a trade.
so we send fiddler down, scratch arkhip*v for a few games...and see how it goes. i mean...gamache couldn't contribute LESS. erat and orzy already carry that line on their own anyway. couldn't hurt to try
so we send fiddler down, scratch arkhip*v for a few games...and see how it goes. i mean...gamache couldn't contribute LESS. erat and orzy already carry that line on their own anyway. couldn't hurt to try
Definitely worth a try. Arky is really weak this year. Watching him makes me cringe and curious as to how good the "vowel line" could be with a good center.
I'm not sure Gamache is ready for what amounts to top line duty. The difference between Arkhi and Gamache is defense. I'm not so sure Gamache is nearly as strong as Arkhipov. If we put Gamache between Orszagh and Erat, then that will become our 3rd line and the Legwand and Johnson lines will become our top 2 in ice time. Trotz will never put Gamache out there unless he's 100% sure he's defensively capable.
...my current curious idea is to call up gamache and throw him right in, let him center erat and orszagh. with erat's playmaking and orszagh's grinding, i think this kid's ability could start to shine through on this level.
Ah, the E-G-O line...
Hopefully it plays better than it sounds...
Finally heard some news about AJ...he has started skating and could be back in 10-14 days. This to me is good to hear. When AJ comes back, I see the Preds sending Tootoo down to the Ads.
