The Erik Karlsson Watch

N4L wrote:

cas wrote:Kuba never (!!!) uses it...

Still not sold on Campoli.

I know, I wish he did too, but man he can dish the puck as well... perfect partner for Karlsson IMO. You will see those two together by november IMO.

So the question becomes: Who plays on the 1st PP with them?

Kovalev is a given, but who takes the other two spots?

cas wrote:

N4L wrote:

cas wrote:Kuba never (!!!) uses it...

Still not sold on Campoli.

I know, I wish he did too, but man he can dish the puck as well... perfect partner for Karlsson IMO. You will see those two together by november IMO.

So the question becomes: Who plays on the 1st PP with them?

Kovalev is a given, but who takes the other two spots?

Spezza and Alfi.

No Heatley? What about Foligno instead of Alfie, just so Heatley doesn't feel left out

cas wrote:

N4L wrote:

cas wrote:Kuba never (!!!) uses it...

Still not sold on Campoli.

I know, I wish he did too, but man he can dish the puck as well... perfect partner for Karlsson IMO. You will see those two together by november IMO.

So the question becomes: Who plays on the 1st PP with them?

Kovalev is a given, but who takes the other two spots?

Spezza and Foligno, perhaps?

And then the second unit (sorry Heatley) becomes

Heatley - Fisher (strictly to stand in front of the net) - Alfredsson
Campoli - Picard/Lee

Pretty nasty. Alternatively, you could try playing Heatley with Kovalev, who, like Spezza, likes to try to work the cross-creaser. But then does Spezza just stand in front of the net? That seems like a waste of his abilities. Maybe Foligno should centre the first unit and Spezza play wing across from Kovy.

cas wrote:No Heatley? What about Foligno instead of Alfie, just so Heatley doesn't feel left out

Either way, I think we have two solid PP units. Try out different think I guess, lol.

asq2 wrote:

cas wrote:

N4L wrote:

cas wrote:Kuba never (!!!) uses it...

Still not sold on Campoli.

I know, I wish he did too, but man he can dish the puck as well... perfect partner for Karlsson IMO. You will see those two together by november IMO.

So the question becomes: Who plays on the 1st PP with them?

Kovalev is a given, but who takes the other two spots?

Spezza and Foligno, perhaps?

And then the second unit (sorry Heatley) becomes

Heatley - Fisher (strictly to stand in front of the net) - Alfredsson
Campoli - Picard/Lee

Pretty nasty. Alternatively, you could try playing Heatley with Kovalev, who, like Spezza, likes to try to work the cross-creaser. But then does Spezza just stand in front of the net? That seems like a waste of his abilities. Maybe Foligno should centre the first unit and Spezza play wing across from Kovy.

Trying to figure out where to fit all the talent is a problem I'll gladly take anyday.

Has anyone given any thought to a top 6 of:

Heatley - Spezza - Kovalev
Foligno - Fisher - Alfredsson

I ask because this might be the top 6 formation that makes the most sense IMO. Alfie isn't looking to wrack up 100 points, he just wants to win (that was addressed to you Heatley). I don't think I've thought of this top 6 formation enough personally - this is the one that might reap the most rewards.

The power play is a tough nut to crack. I would imagine we'll go 3 forwards and 2 D, but the temptation is there for Alfie to take the point due to his passing abilities and accurate shot. I think I remember him saying he wasn't overly fond of it, but it might be the best option. That leaves Spezza with Heatley and Kovalev down low. All skill, spread out the PK box and leave Alfie and Kuba to rip shots. Or you simple keep Heatley on PP2, but I think that might be a wee bit of a waste to be perfectly honest.

asq2 wrote:
Spezza and Foligno, perhaps?

And then the second unit (sorry Heatley) becomes

Heatley - Fisher (strictly to stand in front of the net) - Alfredsson
Campoli - Picard/Lee

Pretty nasty. Alternatively, you could try playing Heatley with Kovalev, who, like Spezza, likes to try to work the cross-creaser. But then does Spezza just stand in front of the net? That seems like a waste of his abilities. Maybe Foligno should centre the first unit and Spezza play wing across from Kovy.

Shannon's a great QB as well, he could be in Picard's place - although I like Picard's shot a lot.

asq2 wrote:

cas wrote:

N4L wrote:

cas wrote:Kuba never (!!!) uses it...

Still not sold on Campoli.

I know, I wish he did too, but man he can dish the puck as well... perfect partner for Karlsson IMO. You will see those two together by november IMO.

So the question becomes: Who plays on the 1st PP with them?

Kovalev is a given, but who takes the other two spots?

Spezza and Foligno, perhaps?

And then the second unit (sorry Heatley) becomes

Heatley - Fisher (strictly to stand in front of the net) - Alfredsson
Campoli - Picard/Lee

Pretty nasty. Alternatively, you could try playing Heatley with Kovalev, who, like Spezza, likes to try to work the cross-creaser. But then does Spezza just stand in front of the net? That seems like a waste of his abilities. Maybe Foligno should centre the first unit and Spezza play wing across from Kovy.

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe take Spez off the 1st unit all together and put Foligno in the middle?

Off the first unit!!?? Reduced role on the team!! That's not what Spezza wanted when he signed that contract!! TRADE ME!!

N4L wrote:

wprager wrote:OK, I finally watched that rookies game. Loved Karlsson's goal, was that Regin setting him up (sorry, I was prepping supper while my kid watched it, so I only caught bits).

Do we have anyone on the back-end right now who can take a fairly fast pass and one-time it on goal? I certainly can't think of anyone. With that on the back-end and Kovalev on the half-boards, I think we're going to have a very, very good PP.

I can't wait.

Campoli and Kuba both have pretty good shots from the back end.

If Kuba had that shot he would have scored goals. I didn't mean just the accuracy and power, but the one-time aspect of it. We've had it from Heatley from close in, but I can't remember when (if ever) we've had it from the back-end.

They've tried Alfie on the point a few times for it, but I don't recall ever seeing Heatley back there.

mattshock wrote:They've tried Alfie on the point a few times for it, but I don't recall ever seeing Heatley back there.

I don't know if Heatley can get it on the net from that far out. He's got a deadly release which, from close-in, is really important. From the back-end you've got to sometimes thread the needle. You also have to be able to decide between shooting and passing in a split-second. Contrary to what someone said (in another thread, I think) I don't think Heatley is a great passer. He's thinking "shot" all the time. Which he rightfully should be, to be fair. Not to put him down, but to be a great PPQB you need to have more than a single dimension to your game.

As for Alfie on the back-end, I really, really don't like that. Even before that Pominville goal I always cringed when he was at the blue line; I just cringe more now. Of course on that Pominville goal there were *two* defensemen on the blue line, and one of them *wasn't* trying to hold a puck in. Just like the left-fielder in baseball coming in on *every* throw to first (even though 99% of them are caught) Redden should have been on his 10-speed coming across, making sure that if Pominville got around Alfredsson he'd get a mouthful of elbow-pad before getting his shot off on Emery.

Still, I don't want Alfie back there.

wprager wrote:

N4L wrote:

wprager wrote:OK, I finally watched that rookies game. Loved Karlsson's goal, was that Regin setting him up (sorry, I was prepping supper while my kid watched it, so I only caught bits).

Do we have anyone on the back-end right now who can take a fairly fast pass and one-time it on goal? I certainly can't think of anyone. With that on the back-end and Kovalev on the half-boards, I think we're going to have a very, very good PP.

I can't wait.

Campoli and Kuba both have pretty good shots from the back end.

If Kuba had that shot he would have scored goals. I didn't mean just the accuracy and power, but the one-time aspect of it. We've had it from Heatley from close in, but I can't remember when (if ever) we've had it from the back-end.

I can't stand Kuba on the point of the PP. He seems to hesitate taking one-timers and ops to slow things down after our other guys have sped things up to get the PK out of position. Kuba's play back there infuriates me. But only on the PP.

cas wrote:

asq2 wrote:

cas wrote:

N4L wrote:

cas wrote:Kuba never (!!!) uses it...

Still not sold on Campoli.

I know, I wish he did too, but man he can dish the puck as well... perfect partner for Karlsson IMO. You will see those two together by november IMO.

So the question becomes: Who plays on the 1st PP with them?

Kovalev is a given, but who takes the other two spots?

Spezza and Foligno, perhaps?

And then the second unit (sorry Heatley) becomes

Heatley - Fisher (strictly to stand in front of the net) - Alfredsson
Campoli - Picard/Lee

Pretty nasty. Alternatively, you could try playing Heatley with Kovalev, who, like Spezza, likes to try to work the cross-creaser. But then does Spezza just stand in front of the net? That seems like a waste of his abilities. Maybe Foligno should centre the first unit and Spezza play wing across from Kovy.

I was thinking the same thing. Maybe take Spez off the 1st unit all together and put Foligno in the middle?

I would love to have Alfie and Kovalev on off wings on the same PP and frankly, on the same line. Have Alfie on the left side so you have both on their off wings. And since they are both so deft at passing, and both have incredible shots, it makes it very difficult to defend against, and even more difficult to be goalie against.

If your 1st PP unit clicks you don't really care who is on your 2nd, right? Load up the first unit with Alfie, Spezza, Kovalev, Karlsson and someone big to stand in front of the net (yes, I realize I just contradicted my earlier post by putting Alfie there with only one D-man) and they should be scoring a goal in the first minute one out of every five times. If the 2nd unit can score one in twenty then you've got yourselves a PP clicking at 24%, which should be in the top-five in the league. And if you put Heatley on the 2nd unit until he's dealt, then the second unit should be able to score more often than that.

Edit: Corrected the math a bit. If the first unit is clicking at 20%, and the second unit at 5% of the remaining 80% of the chances, the combined average is only 24%, not 25%. Still pretty good. And if the second unit gets 10% of their chances, then you most likely lead the league with 28%.

Bass Destruction wrote:

wprager wrote:

N4L wrote:

wprager wrote:OK, I finally watched that rookies game. Loved Karlsson's goal, was that Regin setting him up (sorry, I was prepping supper while my kid watched it, so I only caught bits).

Do we have anyone on the back-end right now who can take a fairly fast pass and one-time it on goal? I certainly can't think of anyone. With that on the back-end and Kovalev on the half-boards, I think we're going to have a very, very good PP.

I can't wait.

Campoli and Kuba both have pretty good shots from the back end.

If Kuba had that shot he would have scored goals. I didn't mean just the accuracy and power, but the one-time aspect of it. We've had it from Heatley from close in, but I can't remember when (if ever) we've had it from the back-end.

I can't stand Kuba on the point of the PP. He seems to hesitate taking one-timers and ops to slow things down after our other guys have sped things up to get the PK out of position. Kuba's play back there infuriates me. But only on the PP.

Kuba was golden on the 1st unit last year. He obviously passes up the chance to shoot but he still was a great PP QB last season. The power play was decent for the most part and the only time it really struggled was when Kuba was hurt.

It's frustrating watching him dish it off ALL time, I get that. He was still was a key part on a good power play. Pair him with Karlsson next season, and the threat of both those guys have cannon's on the PP and the ability to dish as well as anyone on that team... very dangerous from the blueline.

asq2 wrote:

cas wrote:

N4L wrote:

cas wrote:Kuba never (!!!) uses it...

Still not sold on Campoli.

I know, I wish he did too, but man he can dish the puck as well... perfect partner for Karlsson IMO. You will see those two together by november IMO.

So the question becomes: Who plays on the 1st PP with them?

Kovalev is a given, but who takes the other two spots?

Spezza and Foligno, perhaps?

And then the second unit (sorry Heatley) becomes

Heatley - Fisher (strictly to stand in front of the net) - Alfredsson
Campoli - Picard/Lee

Pretty nasty. Alternatively, you could try playing Heatley with Kovalev, who, like Spezza, likes to try to work the cross-creaser. But then does Spezza just stand in front of the net? That seems like a waste of his abilities. Maybe Foligno should centre the first unit and Spezza play wing across from Kovy.

On the surface it does seem to be a waste of Spezza's abilities but, on the rare occasions that he's found himself in front of the net he's made some fantastic tips into the net. He also loves picking up the loose puck at the side of the net and popping it in. With Kovalev handling the puck I wouldn't mind trying Spezza at the side of the net, waiting to skate out front and tip home a shot or pick up a loose puck at the side of the net on the PP.