I still think Kadri should be moved to the RW, like Matthew Tkachuk was, so imagine switching Coleman & Kadri and having either Coleman or Dube Center the 3rd line:

Pelletier/Ruzicka-Dube-Coleman

Pelletier-Dube-Mangiapane or Huberdeau-Backlund-Mangiapane would be very interesting to see some day too

The lines won't be changing because we won even though they should. I still think Huberdeau should be playing with Lindholm. Toffoli doesn't need Lindholm to succeed so I think he should play with Kadri

As usual you're right Dairy, yet I still like to recommend my own lines to create discussion.

I have to believe most of us are disgruntled that Lucic & Ritchie are in over Pelletier & Duehr, no?

Honestly, I think Sutter is doing it on purpose to send everyone, including the Players, Management and Fans a message

I don't like Huberdeau with Lindy personally, I feel he fits better with Backlund or give Dube a try centering Huby, but Toffoli & Lindholm have been our best forwards, so hard to justify separating or taking them off the Top Line unless they move Kadri there:

Ruzicka/Pelletier-Lindholm-Kadri
Huberdeau-Backlund-Coleman/Toffoli
Mangiapane-Dube-Toffoli/Coleman
Pelletier/Ruzicka-Lewis-Duehr/Ritchie

You could easily switch Huberdeau & Mangiapane in the above line combos to reunite the Mang-Backs-Coleman line whenever we need to switch/shake things up mid-game if we're lacking energy or scoring this way too. Simple changes for less confusion and issues during the game as a result

Pelletier-Lindholm-Kadri is as close to Gaudreau-Lindholm-Tkachuk as we can get imo and
Huberdeau-Backlund/Dube-Mangiapane/Toffoli is as close to Huberdeau-Bennett-Duclair/Reinhart as we can get also

We've barely seen Huberdeau with Lindy because they refuse to separate Lindy and Toffoli. Huberdeau and Lindy do mesh very well with eachother IMO. For example, in that Arizona game right at the end of regulation, that pass Huberdeau made to Lindholm for a high danger scoring chance was beautiful. it reminded me of the passes Gaudreau and Lindholm would make with eachother.

Meanwhile Toffoli is just kind of doing his own thing and I really don't think it's "chemistry" with Lindholm that is leading him to scoring. I think he could be almost equally as effective with Kadri and Dube as linemates.

Also we've seen how good Backlund/Coleman/Mangiapane are together. It's still statistically one of the GF and xGF lines in the league. The lines I would want to see tonight are
Huberdeau - Lindholm - Pelletier
Dube - Kadri - Toffoli
Mangiapane - Backlund - Coleman
Ruzicka - Lewis - Duehr

But we both know Lucic will be in there.

Just having Markstrom allowing two goals a game, the Flames will be OK with any line combinations. I watched that game.....Flames played with passion and purpose.

Oh wow. Lucic is actually scratched tonight.
Flames Lines Tonight

Wow, Halleluja!

I'm fine with these lines, but DAL has some Big Boys, so I wonder if Gilbert would have been better than Stecher. I know you find Stecher to be the Better Defender

Ruzicka gets some Veterans to shelter him, which is good, but do you think he's an NHL Centre!? I wonder how he'd do at RW personally:

Dube-Kadri-Ruzicka
Ritchie-Lewis-Duehr

Didn't Stecher literally fight in the last game. And against a guy much bigger than him too, and he held his ground. I'm not worried. What's important is keeping the puck out of our net, not laying more body checks.

I think Ruzicka is a center in the long run. For a "rookie" he's pretty decent at faceoffs already and I think he will probably be a >50% on average in a year or 2. Plus he's a big framed guy with good speed

I like all your suggestions and I wish that we could’ve seen more combos just to see what we got. For me like you guys Hubie with Lindy has to be your top duo cuz like it or not they kind of need to figure out how to play together for at least the next 6 years, lol.
Huberdeau - Lindholm - Dube (I think he can play on his off wing, and Huberdeau like playing with a left hand shot on the RW)
Ruzie - Kadri - Toffee (I want Rosie to take more draws, and he has good hockey iq, did pretty well playing with Lindy and Toff when Huberdeau was out at the beginning of the year)
Mang - Backs - Coleman (because you have too)
Pelts - Lewis - Duehr (Pelletier has been great this year, but protect him a little more, and I believe he played with Duehr in the wranglers so should have some chemistry from that).
Defense is pretty much locked down for me. Alternating Gilbert and Stecher depending on the team, is good roster management.

To answer your questions, Yes and Yes, but Gilbert's Hits, Physicality and Fighting bring more Energy & Excitement imo and aside from that, he's only -2 in 18 Games vs. 7 Games for Stecher AND he's shown he will Shoot and can jump up in the Offensive Zone to Screen, so he's more Dangerous Offensively. This said, Stecher is definitely more experienced a True RD and steps up when it matters, look at his Playoff and International Play. The Biggest Reason I was recommending Gilbert over Stecher was to replace the Size & Grit lost by sitting Lucic & Ritchie

I really hope Ruzicka sees and knows he can become much more effective as Power Forward in the NHL by gaining more Power & Strength and not being afraid to Battle. His style is still a bit too European for my liking where they look to use the stick to steal the puck instead of pushing guys off the puck and using the body to protect it. His Offensive Instincts and Skills are good though and yes, he isn't terrible on the Faceoff Dot, I think just prefer Dube at Centre because he's just as good at Faceoffs but more importantly far More Experienced & Aware and simply Better Defensively. Otherwise, we need a Better, More Physical 4C next Season, like Noel Acciari or Patrick Brown or somebody like that who will win >50% of Faceoffs and will wear down the opponents

Well if we really wanted to load up and make a "Star" line, I think it should be:

Huberdeau-Lindholm-Kadri
(Dube/Ruzicka/Pelletier)-(Coronato/Backlund)-Mangiapane/Toffoli
(Ruzicka/Pelletier/Dube)-(Backlund/Coronato)-Coleman
Pelletier-(Acciari/J.Carter/???)-Duehr
xLewis-(???/Zary/Ritchie/AJ Greer/Rooney)

Weegar-Andersson
(Hanifin/Kylington)-(Tanev/Shattenkirk/???)
Zadorov-(???/Schenn/Stone/Holl/Gudas/Stecher)
x-Gilbert/Stone

I added some potential Free Agent options, which would make Kylington or Hanifin, Toffoli or Mangiapane and possibly Tanev expendable

All of Mang, Toffoli, Dube, Coleman and Ruzicka can play both LW OR RW no problem. The only guy we haven't seen move sides is Pelletier and Huberdeau prefers the LW

Lewis has been good, but given his age and lack of play making ability, I think it's time he becomes a 13th/14th Forward or shares time with Duehr at 4RW

I can't stress enough that if we want a Matthew Tkachuk replacement = Someone with a Good Shot, who will Battle in the Corners, Get Under the Skin of the Opponent, Draw Penalties, Deflect Shots and Piss off the Goalie, that's Kadri. Kadri is a tough Centre to play with and is a - minus player at Centre, so I recommend he be moved off of Centre to play the RW. Maybe Kadri & Coronato will gel & create chemistry though and they can share Faceoff Duties, not that Kadri is amazing at Faceoffs

We don't have a SuperStar (although Huberdeau could still surprise us), but we have a lot of really good players, so the line possibilities are endless. It's not good to make changes too regularly, but we need to change things up till we find that dominant fit and the only one this season that has been a go too has been the Mang-Backs-Coleman line, but they've died off as of late, hence the recent changes

And if Huby & Lindy simply don't gel, make it this instead:

Huberdeau-Backlund-Kadri
Dube-Lindholm-Mangiapane
Pelletier/Ruzicka-Coronato-Coleman
Ruzicka/Pelletier-???/Zary-Duehr

Similar to Ruzicka, I just don't know that Zary is Ready, Aware and/or Strong enough Defensively to be an NHL Centre just yet