01 Dec
Richards and Carter: Linemates?
Posted by: Eugene Markman
Mike Richards and Jeff Carter have seen some time together on the same line. I’m not sure if I like this combination, so let’s weigh the pro’s and cons:
Pro’s:
- An extra center on the ice in case on gets tossed from the face-off circle
- Two highly skilled guys that can score
- Richards has a bonafide sniper to pass to
- Other lines will face weaker defense pairs
Cons:
- Both play better as centers than wings, each needs to control the puck to be effective
- Line depth significantly weaker
- Teams with better defensive depth can potentially shut them both down at once
I guess there is a strong case for both sides, but I remain against keeping them together unless it is late in the game and a goal is needed, or on powerplays. I understand injuries are forcing Coach Stevens to get creative, but in general I’d prefer the following pairs together: Richards-Gagne, Carter-Hartnell, Giroux-Briere, with the third many on each line rotated as necessary.
Thanks for reading.
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