Personally I think Donato should in ahead of Heinen. He's been underwhelming.

Guess you missed Donato in game 2 then lol. Talk about underwhelming, he played 10 minutes and I can't recall a single shift or play he made. Heinen is fine and gives a 2-way game. I know he's not the sparkly new toy that Donato is, but you know at worst you'll get a 200ft effort and he wont hurt you in your own end. Can't say the same for Donato right now....in fact I retract my earlier statement, I remember him blowing coverage in game 2 that led to a goal against.

i actually missed Game 2 altogether haha. I will say this, even given that blown play, he's still a young guy with greater offensive potential. You have to figure Hedman/Stralman will be on the Bergeron line all night so you need to create offense from somewhere. Donato can generate lots of offense and chances. Like you said, Heinen is a 200 foot player, but he doesn't have the same offensive capability. I'm just saying it wouldn't hurt to pair Krejci and Backes with a more offensive player if they plan on keeping DeBrusk with Riley Nash on the 3rd and not move him up.

I don't think you move DeBrusk at all. He was your best player night in and night out last series. It didn't always show on the score sheet (although game 3 was the only game he was held without a point), but he was fantastic last series. Donato is going to be a very very good player with an elite shot, but is scoring really the teams issue? Boston put up 5+ goals in 3 of the 7 games and 3+ goals in 5 of the 7 games vs TOR. Now you may see Donato in this series as I think the match-up is slightly better for him, but I wouldn't inject him in just to get him in there. I did like the heavy 3rd line that Boston played with for a game last series, but that means Donato needs to be your #2RW and I think he maybe better suited to play his natural side.

If Heinen struggles again and you put him in, I think he goes #3LW and gets some defensive mind guys like Riley and Backes to play with. The problem there is you've no neutralized Donato's speed as neither Nash nor Backes can keep up with him on the rush.

Agreed on DeBrusk being the best player. They shouldn't move him. But Krejci isn't all that fast either. But I really do think they need his speed and offensive instincts in this series. 3+ goals a game should theoretically win you games, but if a team like Toronto can open the floodgates then you could only expect Tampa to do more damage. Maybe slide Heinen down the lineup into the 4th line wing spot to help the bottom line who has already played decently. There's always the possibility of sitting Rick Nash and not Heinen, but I doubt Cassidy does that. Obviously, this is a great problem for Boston to have right now. How about sliding Riley Nash down to 4th line center, Donato with DeBrusk on the 3rd line? There has to be a way to maximize the lineup even more.

The thing w/ TOR vs TBL is that TOR lives and dies by the stretch play and TBL doesn't. I don't think you see TBL give Boston the same fits that TBL did. Don't get me wrong, TBL can torch you in any given shift and they are insanely talented. I just think their style of attack is better suite for the B's defense then TOR was. If you really wanted to get Donato in the game, I'd look at maybe bumping Schaller for game (although he's a pretty big PK guy).

63-37-88
74-46-61
17-20-42
43-52-55

You could also consider bumping Acciari, dropping Backes to #4 (plays a similar game, just a better offensive player) and then you'd have 17-20-43 on the 3rd line or go 74-46-43 w/ 17-20-61 on the 3rd line. One thing that Sweeney has done that goes overlooked is add so many pieces that can move around/up and down the line-up. I mean really our depth wingers can play either side. 74, 63, 88 42 are really the only guys in the top 9 that are exclusive to one side.

Backes can be a solid center as well so even is pretty versatile. As a winger he is only on the right side. You might be able to switch 61 and 42. Rick Nash's speed is pretty underrated because he's a big body, and defensively is fairly responsible. Maybe pairing him with Donato is better than pairing him with Backes and Riley Nash. I think dropping Heinen down makes a lot of sense in this case.

He's a serviceable Center, but I think Backes is at his best on the wing. In a pinch he can play center, but your right he does have some versatility