Be the Sens coach

What would you do with this lineup? Give it your best shot. Be as detailed as you want. Lets have some fun with this.

I'm at a loss personally.

For starters, on the PP, this would be my lineup:

Neil - Regin - Kovalev

Campoli - Karlsson

Neil is the only one who has shown a willingness to pay the price in front of the net and Regin and Kovalev are presently your 2 most skilled forwards. Campoli and Karlsson are supposed to be offensive defensemen so let them do what they are best suited to doing.

Here's my best go at this:

Kovalev - Fisher - Cheechoo

Justification: Kovalev has helped Fisher in the past so lets see if he can get him scoring again. This is Cheechoo's time to step up and show he can do more than hit the cross bar or post.

Foligno - St. Pierre - Shannon

Justification: You have a nice fast young line full of energy. Give this St. Pierre kid a shot at some real offensive top six minutes to show what he can do.

Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

Justification: They've shown chemistry in the past and can really agitate and bang bodies.

Donovan - Z. Smith - Regin

Justification: Dono and Z. Smith are perfect 4th line guys. Regin has been playing well but let him spend a little time on the 4th line before sending him back to the top six so he learns that it takes production to stay in the top six as a young rookie.

Defense:

Phillips - Karlsson

Justification: Give Karlsson a responsible D man so he can work some offensive magic without worries.

A-Train - Campoli

Justification: A-train can cover for Campoli. Who knows maybe with Volchie back there he can focus on Offense and actually start scoring?

Carkner - Picard

Justification: It's worked before why fix what ain't broken

Goalies:

Starter: Leclaire, Backup: Elliott

Justification: You gotta go with Leclaire. Play the heck out of him and get him out of this slump. Elliott isn't exactly playing well anyway.

Power Play:

First unit:

Kovalev - Shannon - Neil

Karlsson - Campoli


Justification: Neil parks himself in front of the net, Shannon has chemistry with Kovie and Karlsson and Campoli are here for Offense so lets see if we can get them scoring.

Bring up Bingo's top line and play them as the 3rd line.

Ease up on the aggressive forecheck and D-men pinching, which recently has resulted in a ton of odd-man rushes the other way.

Tell Leclaire to STFU and concentrate on stopping pucks, not probing questions.

Take Picard out to the shed. That 2-on-1 where Kostopoulos scored, he didn't even bend down and put his stick on the ice to try and stop the pass. He looked like he had no idea what to do even though his positioning was perfect.

Pair Karlsson up with Phillips. Someone dependable back there who will stay back when Karlsson does his thing in the offensive end.

Send Cheechoo on a "conditioning" stint in Bingo. Tell him he can come back when his foot-speed is faster than Jason Smith's.

What do I win?

SeawaySensFan wrote:For starters, on the PP, this would be my lineup:

Neil - Regin - Kovalev

Campoli - Karlsson

Neil is the only one who has shown a willingness to pay the price in front of the net and Regin and Kovalev are presently your 2 most skilled forwards. Campoli and Karlsson are supposed to be offensive defensemen so let them do what they are best suited to doing.

Very interesting. I like most of the PP unit but I'm not sure why.

I'd do what Jacques M. did with his top two d-men at the time (Redden and Chara). He split them for most of the game, but paired them up for the final 10 minutes of the game when the team would often have a lead.

A-Train/Karlsson
Phillips/Kuba (when healthy)

Kuba and Karlsson both need in help in the defensive zone while A-Train doesn't contribute much in the offensive zone. If Karlsson or Kuba pinch, this now leaves a better option between the opponent and the net.

No coach can get results out of Kovalev and Fisher night in, night out.

I see we agree on Phillips-Karlsson.

I'm no longer sure I want to see a prototypical "4th line". All that running around banging people has done little lately. I think we need another third line to go with our 2nd 3rd and 3rd.

This should be interesting to see what everyone puts up.

Ok...here goes, it might be very similar all around because we don't have much to work with.

Kovalev - Regin - Fisher or Fisher at center and Regin at wing...I prefer Fish at wing though, he's been invisible lately, time to wake up!
Foligno - St.Pierre - Shannon - fun line - again, could move Foligno to C and St. Pierre to wing
Ruutu - Kelly - Neil - have fun playing against this line!
Cheechoo - Z. Smith - Donovan - first, Cheechoo has no right being on line 3, Smith should play center on this line. I think this could be an effective checking line for sure.

The D can stay as is, not much we can do there. Although I wouldn't mind seeing what D. Smith could do.

Likey? Me likey!

Cap'n Clutch wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:For starters, on the PP, this would be my lineup:

Neil - Regin - Kovalev

Campoli - Karlsson

Neil is the only one who has shown a willingness to pay the price in front of the net and Regin and Kovalev are presently your 2 most skilled forwards. Campoli and Karlsson are supposed to be offensive defensemen so let them do what they are best suited to doing.

Very interesting. I like most of the PP unit but I'm not sure why.

I was thinking Shannon instead of Regin too and the other adjustment I might make is Phillips on the point with Karlsson. Yes, Phillips.

Of course any scenario which requires another call-up (like D. Smith, the entire Bingo top line, etc.) assumes that we live in a cap-less world.

I wouldn't mind seeing Kelly move up there too, he's been playing very very well lately. But, I also love him with Ruutu.

I really like the idea of insulating Karlsson with Phillips. It worked for Lee for a while. Karlsson is playing well right now so lets not hinder his play with Campoli or Picard. Give him a smart D man like Phillips and watch his offensive output soar.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:Here's my best go at this:

Kovalev - Fisher - Cheechoo

Justification: Kovalev has helped Fisher in the past so lets see if he can get him scoring again. This is Cheechoo's time to step up and show he can do more than hit the cross bar or post.

Foligno - St. Pierre - Shannon

Justification: You have a nice fast young line full of energy. Give this St. Pierre kid a shot at some real offensive top six minutes to show what he can do.

Ruutu - Kelly - Neil

Justification: They've shown chemistry in the past and can really agitate and bang bodies.

Donovan - Z. Smith - Regin

The only issue I have here is having Regin on the 4th line, he'd have 5 minutes a game and he's one of our best players at the moment. I also wouldn't put Cheechoo on line 1. Flip those and you're golden!

Phillips-Karlsson seems to be the consensus.

wprager wrote:Of course any scenario which requires another call-up (like D. Smith, the entire Bingo top line, etc.) assumes that we live in a cap-less world.

It also assumes that your coach is GM as well.