Hartsburg to split up top line

Sadly I agree with Jam. McAmmond, while he could be a great plug for teams, there seems to be NO demand for him. Now, Schubert on the other hand, could potentially fetch us a NICE return, but I don't know if I'm ready to entertain that...just yet...

Cronenbergfan wrote:Sadly I agree with Jam. McAmmond, while he could be a great plug for teams, there seems to be NO demand for him. Now, Schubert on the other hand, could potentially fetch us a NICE return, but I don't know if I'm ready to entertain that...just yet...

Assuming what Hartsburg says will be done...

Heatley - Spezza - Fisher
Foligno - Vermette - Alfredsson
Donovan - Kelly - Neil
Ruutu - Bass - Schubert

McAmmond in the pressbox as an injury reserve. Or Neil in the press box if he doesn't do what's asked. But with injuries etc. I wouldn't imagine they'd be out of action long.

Cronenbergfan wrote:Sadly I agree with Jam. McAmmond, while he could be a great plug for teams, there seems to be NO demand for him. Now, Schubert on the other hand, could potentially fetch us a NICE return, but I don't know if I'm ready to entertain that...just yet...

I'd rather keep McAmmond up in the pressbox than moving Schubert just because we can. I'm also not in favor of keeping guys down on the farm just because they are on a two-way contract, but that's the business side of things, unfortunately. But if it came down to trading away Schubert versus keeping, say, Bass down in Bingo, I'd say "Sorry, Charlie" (yeah, I know he's a Bass and not a Tuna).

How about completely splitting up the 1st line and Phillips and Volchenkov:

Foligno - Fisher - Heatley
Vermette - Spezza - Winchester
Ruutu - Kelly - Alfredsson
Bass/Schubert - McAmmond - Donovan/Neil

Phillips - Kuba
Volchenkov - Picard
Smith - Lee

cash wrote:How about completely splitting up the 1st line and Phillips and Volchenkov:

Foligno - Fisher - Heatley
Vermette - Spezza - Winchester
Ruutu - Kelly - Alfredsson
Bass/Schubert - McAmmond - Donovan/Neil

Phillips - Kuba
Volchenkov - Picard
Smith - Lee

I'll chalk that up to a simple mistake. Alfie on the third line? NEVER. I don't know what else to say really.

Never? I'm pretty sure it'll happen a lot sooner than you expect it to. It may be too soon to say that he belongs on the 3rd line, but he is a fantastic shutdown forward and you can't argue that he adds a legitimate threat to that line.
Also, those first two lines have so much potential to be dangerous. On paper, I love the look of those lines.

You're right of course Cash. I just got my hackles up on that one :D What I meant to say was I Don't see it happening in 08/09 EVER. He could drop to the third line in a couple seasons but even at that Alfie has stated a few times that he'd hang'm up before being demoted so who knows.

Cap'n' Clutch wrote:

cash wrote:How about completely splitting up the 1st line and Phillips and Volchenkov:

Foligno - Fisher - Heatley
Vermette - Spezza - Winchester
Ruutu - Kelly - Alfredsson
Bass/Schubert - McAmmond - Donovan/Neil

Phillips - Kuba
Volchenkov - Picard
Smith - Lee

I'll chalk that up to a simple mistake. Alfie on the third line? NEVER. I don't know what else to say really.

The only time I could see this happening is if Hartsburgh wanted to pull back into a defensive shell. And I don't see this happening.

Heatley needs pinpoint setups - Fisher alone won't be enough.
On the third line, Ruutu plays a completely different style than Kelly and Alfie.

Alfie will probably remain the T6F version of the "swing-man", flipping betwen the first and second line as demands dictate, and as the day-to-day performance of the players dictates.