11 and 7: In Defence of the Concept

I myself am not a fan of the theory. Let the guys play a game or have a practice before you try to reinvent the game.
I see the thinking behind this plan, but I plainly disagree.
Yes the Leafs have a strong top 9. I would never compromise the health of that top 9 just to add another mediocre defensemen on the bench.
if the team is winning games does it really matter that the top 6 are getting less than ridiculous icetime ?
Id be a fan of the leafs getting to the playoffs healthy.

Completely disagree that Marincin is this saviour for the PK.
If we have learned anything from EDM, its that you don't sacrifice where you are strong to try to patch your weakness.

It's definitely an interesting concept the Atbetic lays out given the riches the leafs now have at C. I'd like to see them try it throughout the year. Maybe spend a couple months with 4c to see what we have in Lindholm and have an ongoing rotation/competition on the bottom pairing with Hainsey switching from LD to RD depending who slots in as his partner I.e. Oz, Carrick, Holl on the right with Lily getting a shot there too at mid season, and Borgman, Rosen, Maricin on the left. Once that gets weeded out a bit then try the 3c 7d for a run and see if it's an option. Because I think it either happens as a planned tactic or it'll occur naturally with JT, Matthews and Kadri eating up their minutes.. I don't see much value in having a 4 C who's gets five minutes or so a night.

I think another benefit of this approach would be how difficult it would be for other teams to match up against any one line. It'd be a constant blender. So long as the bench could be managed in a way that wasn't too chaotic.

... But man! Poor Josh Leivo!? Just when I thought there might be a way for him to get some ice in a role that could work, he still seems to be the odd man out. That guy just can't catch a break!

If the 7th Dman lineup was to used and keep a PK specialist, you would have thought they would have Roman Polak. The Leafs Dman might get a little more rest if Marner stays a the RHD on the PP. He was great in that spot late in the season.
Agree with you, Leafs can't overplay Hainsey and Zaitsev especially on the PK. One reason that Borgman was sent to the Marlies halfway through the sesason was to give him heavier minutes including the PK. He might be a PK pairing. Also do the RHD 25 year old Russian rookie.....Ozhignokov,,, he's certainly stout enough to be a PKer. He is NHL good though?
Victor, glad to see you back on this site.

Advantages: more ice time for the big three centers, and the bottom two forwards can shift in for whoever, whenever the coaches see someone flagging, so that ice time is given out based on who's doing well. Defensemen have fewer total minutes and an old guy like Hainsey stays a little fresher.

Disadvantages: Coaches are focusing on line rotation all year and not so much on matchups or player development. They're less effective at the important stuff, and they still get a few too many men penalties.

Tampa made this work in the playoffs a couple years ago due to who was working well and who wasn't in terms of their player personnel. They made it to the conference finals with 11 and 7, so it's a perfectly valid way to play. The much more common and traditional way to deal with this type of personnel ratio, without messing up the lineup and making it the focus of the coaching staff all year is just to dress a defender as a wing at evens, and then move them around at the start of penalty kills if necessary, so that by the time you're back at evens, they're off, and back in their normal spot on the forwards side of the bench.

Overall the theory makes sense, but watching Tavares almost every game for years he wore down at times late in the year - but that might have to do with him playing the PK after a bunch of injuries. We'll see - playing PP and 5v5 less onerous than PK. I see nYlander pushing for a bridge deal around $7.5. But the problem is (to me) is not questioning the 4C thing, it is questioning its worth in terms of cap - , $11 for 8 (Matthews) you are looking at $30 million for centers - could be brilliant, we'll see. Already, although not in Leaf press which goes between rose colored and outright anger against the team, ,even on Sirius NHL there is commentary that squeezing Nylander after rolling out the new house, the Bentley and champagne for Tavares doesn't contrast well with squeezing Nylaner. They have Nylander over a barrel, let's see if they let it get to camp.