How Would You Do It?
By Paul Pickett
With the free agent pick-ups, trades and signings over the past couple weeks, I’ve been trying to figure out what I would do with the talent the Flyers have now. Where should Giroux go? Who would I have center the third line? Who will be the elusive seventh defenseman?
The goaltending tandem is rather easy, of course:
Starter: Ray Emery
Back-up: Brian Boucher
Third: Johan Backlund
This works out unless Emery turns out to be a bust after spending last season in the KHL. I’m sure Emery will be just fine though. Boucher is quality all day. Backlund has impressed me more than Teslak and Duchesne so he’s my pick for third in case of injury.
Here’s where things may get a little hairy.
1st Line:
Left Wing – Simon Gagne
Center – Mike Richards – That Guy
Right Wing – Claude Giroux
The first thing I hear when I mention putting Giroux on the first line is, “But, he played so good with Briere last season. Why would you split them up?” I would split them up for one simple reason. Briere is a good player, but Richards can help Giroux take his game to the next level. With Gagne, Richards and Giroux together, one or more of these things will happen:
- Giroux will have a 50 assist season
- Richards will have a 50 goal season
- Gagne will have a 100 point season
Not only is Giroux a scorer, he’s a great set-up guy. This line could combine for almost 300 points.
On to the…
2nd Line:
Left Wing – Scott Hartnell
Center – Jeff Carter
Right Wing – Ian Laperierre – That Guy
Before I catch grief for putting Laperierre on the 2nd line, listen to my reasoning behind doing so. Every line needs to have “that guy” on it. “That guy” is the one who will get in the face of an opposing player when you catch them screwing up by going after one of your stars. Don’t tell me Scott Hartnell is “that guy” after his antics last season. After trading Lupul and his scoring away, Hartnell can’t afford to take those bad penalties anymore. He needs to be a scorer now and a little less tough. It’s Richards on the 1st line and that’s why Laperierre is a good fit here. He’ll cover Carter and Hartnell and do what he has to do. Also, him being on this line will help his stats. He may not score many more goals than his average, but he’ll double his average assists.
Can you see this one coming?
3rd Line:
Left Wing – Aaron Asham – That Guy
Center – Daniel Briere
Right Wing – Andreas Nodl
It’s time for Nodl to take the next step. Lining him up with a proven scorer, like Briere, and opposite someone with a howitzer, like Asham, things will start happening for him. Asham’s another one who I think his time has come. Bogging him down with 4th line minutes is just killing his potential. I know this is coming at least once, “Briere makes too much to be a 3rd line center.” No, he really doesn’t. This line could take almost as many minutes (around 10:8 1st to 2nd ratio) as the first line. This is what is called, “scoring depth.” Your 1st and 2nd lines don’t have to carry as many minutes as they have in the past and it allows Nodl and Asham to shine. Besides, if Carter hadn’t put up 46 goals and Richards didn’t go over 80 points last season, he wouldn’t be on the 3rd line. Briere will be just fine there.
4th Line:
Left Wing – Riley Cote – That Guy
Center – Zac Rinaldo – That Guy
Right Wing – Daniel Carcillo – That Guy
The fourth line, your stereotypical “checking line.” That’s exactly what this one is. I don’t really need to go too in depth with this line.
What has been giving me the most trouble is the defensive pairings. I know these won’t be too popular and no, I’m not writing this for shock value. I’m also not going to list them as 1st, 2nd and 3rd pairings because this is another situation I think you could run these pairs for even minutes so you pair them against lines as you see fit.
Pairing:
Kimmo Timonen
Ryan Parent
Parent is emerging as a good/very good defenseman. Pairing him with Timonen will help fine tune him.
Pairing:
Braydon Coburn
Matt Carle
Coburn with Carle will bring balance because of how good Coburn has shown us he is. Carle is still young and even though Coburn doesn’t have the “veteran” tag yet, Carle could learn a lot from him.
This is the one that’s given me so much trouble, especially because of recent rumors…
Pairing:
Chris Pronger
Randy Jones
*ducks flying debris*
Since Jones is the proverbial weakest link of the defensive squad, who better to pair him with than Pronger? Who would be able to clean up his messes and show him the way to do things than Pronger? I’m not trying to say that Pronger can fix all of our problems, but if anyone can help Jones, it’s him.
7th Defenseman:
Ole-Kristian Tollefsen
Yeah, I know. I was very happy that he was signed and me putting him here instead of on a pairing would make it seem like that other blog was a bunch of bull. But, if we’re stuck with Jones for the season, having him work with Pronger can only improve his value so that other teams won’t be so scared by his contract either by the deadline or to trade for his rights before the free agent signings start next year.
My other defenseman scenario (without Jones) would go this way:
1st: Timonen – Coburn
2nd: Pronger – Parent
3rd: Carle – Tollefsen
7th D-man: Syvret
So there you have it Flyers fans. That’s what I would do if I was the one doing it.
How would you do it?