Lineup and Roster Discussion

[Josh]

Discuss the Sens' lineup and roster here.

[Josh]

Re: Lineup Discussion

I'm not happy with the current lineup, especially the decision to not have Zibanejad up with the team. If this is all about Melnyk's money issues, I sincerely hope he either gets his finances in order, or sells the team to a more stable owner who is also committed to keeping the team in Ottawa.

[Dean Ambrose]

Re: Lineup Discussion

Isn't he looking for more investors?

I think he should sell it. Then the new owners should look into relocating the arena.

I can dream.

[Josh]

Re: Lineup Discussion

We're short on RWs, Zibanejad should be up and playing RW2. Gryba should be in permanently instead of Wiercioch. Da Costa and Kassian should sit or play in Bingo. Dziurzynski and O'Brien should get the call-ups.

Michalek - Spezza - Ryan
Conacher - Turris - Zibanejad
Greening - Pageau - Neil
MacArthur - Smith - Condra

Methot - Karlsson
Phillips - Gryba
Cowen - Corvo

Anderson - Lehner

[Stylizer]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

I want Pageu to be on the second line. Conacher needs to go.

[Josh]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

You think Pageau should play wing though?

[Josh]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

These last two games have been downright embarrassing. Throughout both games, Ottawa has been outshot by a total margin of 106 - 54.

1 - Zibanejad (1G, 1A, 12 shots in 3 games with Bingo) needs to be up with the club! Send down / sit Da Costa and slot Zib at RW2.

2 - Gryba is a much better stabilizing force than Wiercioch is. We also need another right shot back there.

[matchesmalone]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

I gotta disagree about Wiercioch. Unless one of the three of Gryba, Wiercioch and Corvo steps up and cements themsevles a spot, I'm fine with cycling between them. We have to keep in mind, we're still in something of a rebuild, even if it is the tail-end of it. Wiercioch has major offensive upside, and he's ready to play now, so we've gotta get him into games. I'm not saying he should play every game this season, but if he's not gonna get into 50 or so games, then he might as well be in the AHL, and he would definitely get claimed if we tried to send him down. I like Gryba too, and maybe he's the better player right now, but I think Wiercioch has better upside, so they both need to get into games in order to develop, and Corvo has been playing well enough so far that he deserves to be in the lineup, so for now I think it's best to keep rotating between the two youngsters.

And, although having Zibanejad in the lineup would be a major upgrade over Da Costa, I'm not sure it would be that much off a difference-maker to be worth rushing his development. Also, when he is up, I'd rather start him on the third line center. If he's gonna be our top line center someday, better get him that experience playing center and learning how to play both sides of the ice. On the other hand, if Zibanejad really is down just because of monetary reasons, that would just piss me off.

[Josh]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

The thing with Zib playing C though is we pretty desperately need a RW2. Conacher isn't any good on his off-side, and what's going to happen is he'll get frustrated and end up getting traded or demoted because he's still racking up ice-time while hardly producing. It's unfair and the fair-weather fans are throwing him under the bus already, without realizing that he's actually playing a position he has very little experience with.

[Matt the Aussie]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

Surely Zibanejad can do better than the 20-30% faceoff success or Pageau? Don't even know what Da Costa is putting up...

[Josh]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

Surely Zibanejad can do better than the 20-30% faceoff success or Pageau? Don't even know what Da Costa is putting up...

Da Costa is hovering around 30% as well.

[matchesmalone]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

The thing with Zib playing C though is we pretty desperately need a RW2. Conacher isn't any good on his off-side, and what's going to happen is he'll get frustrated and end up getting traded or demoted because he's still racking up ice-time while hardly producing. It's unfair and the fair-weather fans are throwing him under the bus already, without realizing that he's actually playing a position he has very little experience with.

Fair enough. Why not try Pageau on the 2nd line RW? We didn't give up so much to get him and everyone knows he came out of nowhere, so there won't be so much pressure for him to succeed. Wouldn't mind seeing Condra play with Spez or Turris some due to his puck-possession numbers. If he was lined up with two highly skilled players, say Spez and Ryan, he could really help create long offensive zone cycles. Turris and Ryan have looked great together so far, so we should keep them together for now, but in the future I would really like to see this combination given a long look:

Conacher-Spez-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Michalek

[Matt the Aussie]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

Is Michalek hurt or something? He's looked all sorts of ordinary recently...

[Josh]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

Yeah Matches, that combo looks good:

Conacher-Spez-Ryan
MacArthur-Turris-Michalek

[Stylizer]

Re: Lineup and Roster Discussion

Is Michalek hurt or something? He's looked all sorts of ordinary recently...

I've been noticeing that too. He lost a lot of weight. Or at least looks slimmer in his face. Maybe he just has to get into better game shape seeing as he went to Germany for his knee this summer.