Flavin Media

If your hockey team has a lack of overall skill, the one thing a team needs to rely on is chemistry. Jim Montgomery is not encouraging a concept of ultimate chemistry when he changes the lines this often.

Forward Lines Fix in Mind:

Marchand – Lindholm – Pastrnak (Try a new version of Perfection Line)

Frederic – Coyle – Zacha (Get Coyle with Frederic to help revitalize Frederic)

Geekie- Poitras – Brazeau (Support Poitras’ size problem with two bruisers)

Koepke – Beecher – Kastelic (4th line = GOOD)

I’ll flash back to the line suggestion I made a few weeks ago to show why the lines need to be more solidified. Marchand sees Lindholm as a good linemate—evident in a very Bergeron-Marchand-esque goal vs. Calgary in OT—so pair them with Pastrnak to aim for consistency up top as a Perfection Line remake.

This way, you ideally have a consistent top and bottom line, with enough depth fluff in the middle to get by. If you keep changing lines every day, you’re not gaining any more competitiveness in terms of fundamentals or skill.

(Yes, I know Tyler Johnson has been signed, and he/Geekie need to be rotated in and out of the lineup…)