I think we need to balance the lineup more to have even the slightest chance of winning, but I don’t know that demoting Dach is the solution.

Dach should be with Kane, let Strome play on the 3rd line.

Right now Dach looks better than Strome offensively and he can potentially keep getting better throughout the playoffs. Take some offensive pressure off Strome and let him play against other teams 3rd lines and it might open up some scoring opportunities for him too.

Agree with both and Kampf is a defensive juggernaut on the 4th line. I like Sikura or Hagel as well, and should be put in for Nylander if he doesn't show up again.

They should be in for Caggulia. We need a balanced lineup against vegas and already have a 4th line that works. We don’t need Strome between two totally unproductive 4th line grinders. If the 4th line gets decimated again we should make some changes there.

Strome? Never mentioned him.

Maybe Sikura or Hagel in for Caggs, I can see that.

I mean, if you take out Nylander and replace him with say Sikura or Hagel you have a totally unproductive line of

Sikura/Hagel-Strome-Caggulia

Well neither Nylander or Caggs was all that productive. That said, Caggs plays much better defense then Nylander and Strome is not really a defensive player, so if you go with Sikura who's not defensive either then he'd replace Nylander. Not sure on Hagel but you need someone to play defense on that 3rd line.

Strome’ s only goal came off a turnover by Mike Smith from a puck that got in deep from Nylander. This goal was extremely flukey and totally Smiths fault. This was in the first period of game 1, So i think it can be confidently said that all three players were equally unproductive.

Looking at the advanced stats from the EDM series it was clearly evident that Nylander was the best player on that line, with both positive Corsi and Fenwick, Dylan Strome was about even in both stats, and Caggulia was the worst player on that line, and to be honest a anchor all things considered.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/n/nylanal01-advanced.html

https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/c/caggidr01-advanced.html

https://www.hockey-reference.com/players/s/stromdy01-advanced.html

Also take note to the Offensive Zone start to Defensive zone start numbers. Very interesting.


Anyways, please go back to your “NyLAnDEr iS DUmB” argument thats become my highlight of our conversations lately.

Calm down. You do realize you don't evaluate players mainly on advanced stats right? If you can't see that Nylander has huge gaps in how he plays throughout a game then no offense but you're blind. He will look good for 1 period or maybe 1/2 a game and then completely disappear being out of position constantly and often watching others battle for the puck.

I'm not going to defend Strome's play in the last series by any means, but Nylander, Sikura, Hagel and Caggs don't play center so Strome is the 3C.

You do realize that he is only doing his job watching his teammates battle for the puck right? It’s not like whenever he jumps on the ice he is abandoning JC’s system, that is his place on the ice.

Also, if you want to evaluate players on the eye test, that’s fine with me too. Caggulia and Strome have looked far worse than Nylander at all points on the ice. Nylander is getting his chances, but the pucks haven’t gone in for him or his teammates.

If you want to convince me that taking him out of the lineup Is the right choice then you are going to have to do better than the lame “eye test” conjecture you have presented so far.

We all watched the same games, and Nylander has been harmless, other than game 2, which was terrible for all of the hawks players, he hasn’t given a reason why “Stupid Sikura” should be put in.

The kid may be an analytical darling, but he couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with a cannon, let alone be a better offensive presence than Nylander.

(BTW I don’t really mind Sikura, and think he would be way better than Caggulia on the third line)

Strome way better positions himself then Nylander and is miles more intelligent of a plyer. If you can't see Nylander being out of position often I don't know what to tell you. Sikura IS FAR FROM STUPID, he's a highly intelligent player but doesn't have the skills of Nylander. Nylander is not a smart player and you can see that by his positioning. It's not just board battles and it's being a jump behind everytime he doesn't have the puck...it's like he takes a half second to think about what to do before he does it.

See my latest AGM on what I think about the players we are discussing.

I havent seen Hagel play, so I dont exactly know what he brings. I really want Sikura to find success but I dont know if right now is the appropriate time to give him a look. He has speed and skill but we dont need every line to score.. in a perfect world that would be nice but having a 3rd and 4th line that can compete and not be stuck in our own end should be enough to give us a chance.


I havent noticed a lot of people talking about how effective the D was at getting pucks on net last series, that is one thing I will be watching tonight.