Random thought. Kap with Hartzy and Foligno. Zucc with Ek/Rask and Fiala. Get Greener on the line with Sturm and Duhaime.

Discuss.

Calgary wont retain but he can be had for relatively cheap

Greenway was fine last night, but overall this season he has been a disappointment. I also haven't been super impressed with Fiala overall this season which is frustrating because he is so exciting when he's playing well. I do think we still need an upgrade at center even though I like Ek, Hartman, Sturm, and Gaudreau. Not sure if Strome is the right guy, but he would be an upgrade offensively.

Fiala is getting snake bit, I think the real problem is assuming Freddy is a solution for the Fiala line in any way. Give Fiala Zucc to work with, and even Rask. As much as we make fun of him, Fiala and Kap produce with Rask in the line.

I actually think Rask is a decent player. He has very good offensive instincts, he can make plays, and he can score. If he was an average skater I think he'd be a 50-60 point player next to Kaprizov or Fiala and that's sort of what intrigues me about Strome because Strome is basically a souped-up Rask. I agree though, I like Gaudreau for what he is but Fiala is not going to thrive offensively with Gaudreau as his center

One thing I’ve noticed with the Kap-Ek-Zucc (or Fiala last night), is that Kap is almost always the first man in on the forecheck. Which doesn’t seem to be working. He ends up losing a lot of battles against a top pair D and their C, and then ends up being behind the play on the backcheck. I’d rather see him as the 2nd or even 3rd man in the O Zone, and then more involved with the neutral zone transitions. Long winded way of saying, it could work. Moose and Hartman would do the initial forecheck, Kap would get puck as 2nd man and from there he can make plays. Hartman is a good trigger man. He can shoot and doesn’t overpass, so i like him there. Moose we’d need to see, but in theory, it has some merit.

That’s my initial gut take.

What I’ve liked about Fiala is that the effort seems to be there. He’s trying a bit too much, but he does seem engaged and bought into whats being asked of him. I think he’ll start putting em away, if he gets some stability on his line.

I agree with your thoughts on Strome. I don’t have any illusions that he’s gonna come in and light it up, but he does have some raw offensive skill and i think he’d be pretty fired up and motivated with the opportunities here. Given all of that, I think it could be a good fit.

Strome is definitely a .6ppg player as a 2C with the right wingers. As a 3C with less minutes and less talent on the wings, he might not hit quite those numbers. He needs a shooter on one of the wings as Strome is a very very good passer and also very good in front of the net with great hands, but both those things require a good shooter which is why he worked so well with Cat on his wing.

One thing to be aware of is that Strome is a terrible skater. I think he has similar instincts to Rask but has the ability to finish the pass or shot at a higher rate. Rask has better defensive instincts tho. I’d trade them one for one, I just don’t know if I’m willing to part with real assets for him.

Yeah I think the natural spot would be to put him with Fiala, who is definitely a shooter. He’d probably slot in as a 3C, but that’s just a depth chart formality. He’d get plenty of minutes. We run our lines pretty much right on through, and whoever plays center with Fiala, will get a lot of ice time.

CGY says yes with no retention.