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Post by blny on Sept 20, 2015 17:36:22 GMT -5
... and it's working so far. He's been on the left side of a line completed by Galchenyuk and Semin. He and Alex have a history of some success. Alex seems to be clicking with Semin. Three big bodies. We'll see how it does in real games.
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Post by habsorbed on Sept 21, 2015 1:07:37 GMT -5
i've haven't been following this. Does this mean it's Eller on the wing and DD stays at centre?
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Post by seventeen on Sept 21, 2015 1:32:35 GMT -5
That appears to be a strong possibility if Eller works out at wing.
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Post by habsorbed on Sept 21, 2015 1:52:57 GMT -5
I'm very happy with Chuck at centre. But remain too small at centre with DD and Pleks.
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Post by blny on Sept 21, 2015 5:51:35 GMT -5
I suspect as long as the line functions, it will be together. That means that it will likely be Kassian playing with Pacioretty and Desharnais. Plekanec to get third line role.
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Post by BadCompany on Sept 21, 2015 8:04:07 GMT -5
I suspect as long as the line functions, it will be together. That means that it will likely be Kassian playing with Pacioretty and Desharnais. Plekanec to get third line role. I'd be more inclined to think it will be Desharnais' line that gets the third line designation, despite the knee jerk "but it's Therrien" reaction. But if all goes well it will be four lines of skating fury and the line numbering won't matter too much. Here is my hope anyways. Pacioretty - Plekanec - Gallagher: Pacioretty and Plekanec kill penalties together, and I would bet big money they'll be our first line out there on the 3-3. So might as well let them play the rest of the game together too. Eller - Galchenyuk - Semin: This could be fun. Or horribly not. <open spot> - Desharnais - Kassian: I figure it will be a "big-body-battle" to see who gets to play on the left wing here. DSP, DLR, and the old standby Weise will be in the mix. If we can get 10-15 goals from this 3rd line, left-wing spot, then we'll be golden. Weise - Mitchell - <loser of the above battle>: Should be a very effective fourth line.
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Post by Boston_Habs on Sept 21, 2015 8:35:16 GMT -5
I'm all for mixing things up at camp..... but please, no.
Eller has unique qualities that make him well suited to playing center. He is excellent in the defensive zone and his ability to skate and puck-handle in traffic leads to numerous transition opportunities. If nothing else, the advanced stats tell you that Eller is very good at taking defensive zone situations and turning them into offensive zone situations. The vision and finish are lacking, but putting Eller on the wing amounts to a huge waste of his considerable talents. For a guy who generally plays with scrubs and gets the toughest defensive assignments, I'm remain mystified as to why Therrien continually jerks him around.....
Especially when you consider the OBVIOUS alternative of playing DD on the wing. Desharnais has excellent vision and passing skills, but he doesn't need to be at centre to use those skills. In fact, when you look at his 200-foot game, he's probably the worst centre on the team. His defensive awareness, physicality, puck retrieval, and transition skills are all well below Eller. The only time you notice DD out there is in the offensive zone or from the red line into the zone when he makes heads up plays. DD gets plumb assignments with top players, offensive zone draws, and plenty of PP time.
Again, it's camp so you play around with lines but you also need to recognize what each player does well and put them in positions to succeed. And I would say the same thing about Galchenyuk. Does he need to be at centre? I don't care as long as he can give you 30 goals and 60-70 points.
You want guys that can drive possession and then generate chances. The best setup is to have at least one possession driver on each line. At the forward position, I would say Pacioretty and Eller are the two best possession players on the team. Galchenyuk has the skills to be up there as well. But unlike Patches, Eller needs to play his game from the middle of the ice. And we know he disappears when forced to play wing.
Ugh. I don't want to go through this again. Either DD or Galchenyuk need to play wing. Eller needs to play centre. Point finale!
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Post by BadCompany on Sept 21, 2015 8:55:33 GMT -5
I agree BH, Eller has always looked terrible on the wing.
However, apparently Therrien and Bergevin told both Eller and Galchenyuk at the end of last season that this year they would be playing wing and center respectively, and to prepare themselves accordingly. Which makes Bergevin's end-of-year press conference all that much more bizarre, but whatever. And Therrien is now on record as saying that they're going to leave Galchenyuk at center, no matter what.
So we'll see how it goes. I'm somewhat afraid that Eller and Galchenyuk will be running into each other all the time, but we'll see. If it clicks it could be a very dynamic line.
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Post by blny on Sept 21, 2015 8:59:13 GMT -5
I don't like him on the wing either. Big body, skates well, now wins face offs, etc. Keeping his game simple and playing 'north-south' works well at that position.
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Post by Polarice on Sept 21, 2015 9:14:07 GMT -5
Not a fan of him on the wing....but he did have 4 points yesterday.
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Post by HFTO on Sept 21, 2015 19:35:42 GMT -5
In the short term until DD moves along I like it ....insulates Chucky give you an option for him to take face offs if Chucky struggles and it gives us a big strong fast second line. If they can get Eller to shoot more with 2 offensive guys he could have a chance to produce some goals ..for a guy we slag for not being able to score he managed 15 with no pp time and a rotation of wingers. Could be good if they give it a chance.
HFTO
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Post by CentreHice on Sept 21, 2015 20:09:27 GMT -5
Whereas....Desharnais has played well on the wing.
I agree with the sentiment that Eller was really coming into his own as a shutdown centre....and showing confidence in the offensive side as well. He wove his way through the seams in many playoff rushes.
Oh well....we shall see....
Just win, baby!
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Post by folatre on Sept 21, 2015 21:40:41 GMT -5
As Boston says, the club depended on centreman Eller in many defensive situations and he generally proved value. In this sense, it seems counterintuitive in a system like Therrien.
But the reality is Montreal needs a great talent at centre and Galchenyuk is the only hope in the organisation. So I support the change.
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Post by seventeen on Sept 21, 2015 21:41:23 GMT -5
The one thing I don't like about having DD back at centre is his well below par defensive abilities. At least at wing, his responsibilities are less and better defined. He might still be muscled, but at least he shouldn't be out of position as often. The differences between he and Eller defensively at centre are huge. Now, I know the obvious answer to that is to keep sheltering him with lots of offensive zone starts, but that comes at a price. If he's on the 3rd line, you're giving up offensive zone time that should go to your top two lines. Overall, there are some real deficiencies to playing DD at centre. If he doesn't put up 50 points at least, while playing on the 3rd line, it doesn't make up for the defensive shortcomings (pun not intended).
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Sept 22, 2015 16:00:36 GMT -5
You tend to want your third line centre to be good in both ends, something that DD is definitely not. He has had sheltered shifts with a lot more offensive zone starts and he tends to look very lost in his own end. How does that make him the best choice for third line centre? At least on the wing (where he seems to want to shoot more...and that is good), he does not have the same defensive responsibilities.
Eller seems to have had a very good start in scrimmages on Chucky's left wing, but that is a very, very small body of work. As so many have mentioned, he has not looked that good on the wing in the past. Eller played some pretty key shifts and matchups in the playoffs, and did just fine by me. I guess the good thing for Eller is that he will get more ice time and likely see a lot more PP time.
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