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**William Nylander signs for 6 years, per Dreger**

Put Marleau, Kapanen, Johnsson, Hyman in a blender though and does it really matter?
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Yes. Hyman can't take, or make a pass with any sort of consistency. Marleau can't exit or enter any zone with puck control any more.

They both cause their lines to spend a lot of time chasing the puck. Kapanen is much better than either and has produced like a legitimate and very good 1st liner this season (19 points in 26 games since being moved up, and that's with damn near zero PP time)

Want to ask if Hyman-Marleau-Johnsson has a difference between the 3? Harder argument to have (Johnsson is pretty grim away from the puck right now), but Kapanen is closer to belonging in the Matthews-Nylander-Tavares-Marner group than he is in the group you put him in.
 
MindzEye said:
Yes. Hyman can't take, or make a pass with any sort of consistency. Marleau can't exit or enter any zone with puck control any more.

They both cause their lines to spend a lot of time chasing the puck. Kapanen is much better than either and has produced like a legitimate and very good 1st liner this season (19 points in 26 games since being moved up, and that's with damn near zero PP time)

Want to ask if Hyman-Marleau-Johnsson has a difference between the 3? Harder argument to have (Johnsson is pretty grim away from the puck right now), but Kapanen is closer to belonging in the Matthews-Nylander-Tavares-Marner group than he is in the group you put him in.
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i will say this - Tavares and Mitch actually do use hyman properly. Tavares and marner aren't burners, and they're good at sending Hyman with lead passes when they're in a bit of a tough spot in the neutral zone, to get them some space.

much different than when hyman was mostly in the way with matthews and Willy - who both are burners and could use a guy who can give and go with them on the rush, or at least finish in front.
 
I guess I have no preference who gets that plum spot, as long as Matthews/Nylander continue their chemistry and point pace.

If Kapanen can produce this way playing down the line-up, I don't see why you'd want to move him up, unless you needed him to spark another line.
 
zeke said:
i will say this - Tavares and Mitch actually do use hyman properly. Tavares and marner aren't burners, and they're good at sending Hyman with lead passes when they're in a bit of a tough spot in the neutral zone, to get them some space.

much different than when hyman was mostly in the way with matthews and Willy - who both are burners and could use a guy who can give and go with them on the rush, or at least finish in front.
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Yeah, I tend to agree.

Hyman hasn't stuck out like a sore thumb with Tavares & Mitchy like he did with Auston & Willy.

He seems to be a much better fit with them, and I haven't had any problem with him on that line so far this year.

Marleau definitely hasn't worked well at all with Matthews so far, though. We'll see if it's different with Willy in the mix now, but I doubt it. I still think that in the optimal lineup that includes Marleau, he'd slide down to Kadri's line, with the LW spot on Matthews' line & RW spot on Kadri's line going to Johnsson & Kapanen---however you want to place them.
 
zeke said:
i will say this - Tavares and Mitch actually do use hyman properly. Tavares and marner aren't burners, and they're good at sending Hyman with lead passes when they're in a bit of a tough spot in the neutral zone, to get them some space.

much different than when hyman was mostly in the way with matthews and Willy - who both are burners and could use a guy who can give and go with them on the rush, or at least finish in front.
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That's fair. Hyman isn't useless, he just doesn't have enough skill to help skilled players maintain offensive pressure. He is though a hard as **** working winger who can be of use doing the dirty work. He just can't be trusted to support play with the puck in any but the most rudimentary ways though.

I agree that the slower pace of that line is a lot more his speed. He was an impediment to that Matthews line and does serve something of a purpose on the Tavares-Marner line. I do suspect though that Kappy or Johnsson would bring more value to that slot than he does, but whatever.
 
BG said:
If Kapanen can produce this way playing down the line-up, I don't see why you'd want to move him up, unless you needed him to spark another line.
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Because stacking lines works. It just has a negative effect on your depth, but we have so much decent or better depth that it's not really hurt. Kapanen is just a better player than Marleau (or Hyman). I'd rather juice the shit out of the top 2 lines and make them insanely good rather than use Kappy to try to "spark" a 3rd line.

Especially when we roll into the playoffs when the top 2 lines should be playing 20-21 minutes a night or more. It just allows Babcock to play 2 wingers (Marleau and Hyman) who probably shouldn't be playing that much in any game we want to win.
 
Except that Babcock doesn't play his scoring lines 20+ minutes in the playoffs. Babcock is known to roll his lines, much like Quinn did back in the day.
 
MindzEye said:
Yes. Hyman can't take, or make a pass with any sort of consistency. Marleau can't exit or enter any zone with puck control any more.

They both cause their lines to spend a lot of time chasing the puck. Kapanen is much better than either and has produced like a legitimate and very good 1st liner this season (19 points in 26 games since being moved up, and that's with damn near zero PP time)

Want to ask if Hyman-Marleau-Johnsson has a difference between the 3? Harder argument to have (Johnsson is pretty grim away from the puck right now), but Kapanen is closer to belonging in the Matthews-Nylander-Tavares-Marner group than he is in the group you put him in.
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The arrogance of some people that the Leafs have x amount of superstar players that it doesn't matter where you put the role guys is quite distasteful. and really dumb
 
MindzEye said:
Because stacking lines works.
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The problem I see is that we don’t have an elite left winger to stack the top line. We have 2 elite Centers and 2 elite RW. I would love to get an elite LW. However I believe they will probably look at improving D rather than the forward group where we already have an embarrassment of riches.

That said, what kind of LW elite talent might be available?
 
Blueman said:
The problem I see is that we don’t have an elite left winger to stack the top line. We have 2 elite Centers and 2 elite RW. I would love to get an elite LW. However I believe they will probably look at improving D rather than the forward group where we already have an embarrassment of riches.

That said, what kind of LW elite talent might be available?
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Kasperi kapanen
 
If you are looking at the LW market you will see names like ferland, maroon and vanek. So unless Columbus decides to trade panarin mid season not a ton of upcoming UFAs.

Ferland is interesting but I would imagine Carolina would like to resign him instead of trading him.
 
I think the RH and LH really only matters for the dmen, and keeping the puck in at the point. It’s tough to do that on your wrong side and then get back onto your forehand to do something with it. There’s just so little time.

For forwards, I think it’s wherever you’re most comfortable. I shoot left but am way more comfortable playing RW.
 
LeafOfFaith said:
I think the RH and LH really only matters for the dmen, and keeping the puck in at the point. It’s tough to do that on your wrong side and then get back onto your forehand to do something with it. There’s just so little time.

For forwards, I think it’s wherever you’re most comfortable. I shoot left but am way more comfortable playing RW.
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I think you underestimate the importance of handedness for positioning on the powerplay - or even set plays on a faceoff.

I also think that it is ultimately up to the player whether they can flip wings, there's a lot more to it than whether they can take a pass and finish from either side.
 
I think it’s more an issue of comfort for the player. I’m way more comfortable rushing up the right side, taking shots from the offwing, just really everything that a righty should feel. And I’m not very comfortable at all on the left side. No idea why, it’s probably as within my control as the handedness itself.
 
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