Thoughts on Our Offense/Changes I think We Need For Playoff Success(Long Read)

[ButterBean]

I honestly don't get it. I don't think I've ever seen a CDC proposal or post that ever even exercised the idea of trading Burrows. Yet there is tons of chatter about trading Kesler.

Now let's look at the skillset of Burrows realistically. The reason why he is successful with the Sedins is because he has great chemistry with them, can anticipate what they're gonna do, and battles hard in front of the net. Now that's all well and all, but when we run into elite defensive teams in the playoffs, they get absolutely shut down. He isn't very strong along the boards, doesn't possess elite speed, and has average offensive skills. Notice how the Sedin - Sedin - Burrows line almost always gets split up right before we get eliminated? We tried Samuelsson, Hansen, and Booth there in recent years briefly and those experiments failed(maybe except Samuelsson who did pretty well there, but he's gone now). So then we slide Burrows down to the 2nd or 3rd line.

Starting next year Burrows will be getting paid 4.5m for 4 years. Do we really want to be paying that much for a player who doesn't bring much more to the table than guys like Higgins, Hansen, and Lappy? Our team has enough of those hard work type grinding players that I mentioned above, it's time to bring in more toughness and skill into our top 6.

I truly believe Zack Kassian is the man we've been looking for to play next to the Sedins. He possesses the size, speed, toughness, and the right hand shot. We saw early in the season how effective they could be and it's something that could very well translate to playoff production. Now we don't have to worry about other team's agitators/goons taking liberties with our star players. I dunno about you guys but the memory of Marchand's jabs on Daniel Sedin still makes me sick to my stomach till this day.

Now the 2nd line. I don't think Booth, Raymond, or Higgins are solutions to our 2nd line because none of them have above average playmaking skills. We should be looking very hard at acquiring a legit playmaking top 6 forward(preferably a center). Doing this would allow us to move Kesler to the wing where I think he belongs to reignite his 5 on 5 offensive game. We should also bring Jensen up and see what he can do. He can definitely snipe, plus he has the speed and size to be a legit top 6'er at the NHL level.

Having those guys would make our offensive really versatile. Something I think we've lacked for a really long time. When we play different styles of opponents our offense can't stay the same and be predictable. With depth up the middle it gives us a chance to put out a lot of different line combinations that can take opposing defenses by surprise. Something along the lines of this...

Possible 1st line combos: Sedins/Kassian, Sedins/Kesler, Sedins/Jensen

Possible 2nd line combos: Jensen - 2nd line playmaker - Kes, Jensen - Kes - 2nd line playmaker, Jensen - 2nd line playmaker - Kassian

Possible 3rd line combos - Higgins - Lappy - Hansen, Higgins - Kesler - Hansen, Higgins - ____ - Hansen, _____ - Higgins - Hansen

4th line - Pinizzotto - Lappy - Weise/Sestito

For our D, we can try

Hamhuis - Bieksa: Reunite one of the best shutdown pairings

Edler - Tanev: Gives Edler a reliable d-partner

Ballard - Garrison: Ballard is mobile and can set up Garrison for one-timers

So to sum it up simply in a perfect scenario:

Out: Burrows(will probably never happen), Booth, Raymond, Schneider/Luongo, Prospect, Draft Pick

In: Top 6 playmaker, 3rd line center shutdown center with size, effective, tough 4th liner

Summary: Past 3 Stanley Cup winners - Blackhawks, Bruins, Kings, were all built with depth up the middle, and the perfect balance between skill, toughness, and role players. I think a lineup similar to what I posted would fill those requirements. A man can dream.

[The Magician]

So to sum it up simply in a perfect scenario:

Out: Burrows(will probably never happen), Booth, Raymond, Schneider/Luongo, Prospect, Draft Pick

[Honky Cat]

I doubt it,but it is possible.....It's the kind of trade that would shake up this team internally,and I would'nt be surprised to see MG do this.He has to do something.

[KeslerBEAST]

henrik needs be above 50% on faceoffs

[KFBR392]

I like Kassian, but he's not a proper replacement (yet) for what burrows currently does with the sedin's. I think Kassian's early success with the Sedins somewhat came at the cost of the Sedins performance. He didn't do much to assist their games whatsoever. Thats why, despite his small success of 5 goals, the team still sucked until he was ultimately moved down. At least Burrows can chip in and improve the performance of the line overall. However inconsistent they've been this year.

[SkeeterHansen]

Stopped reading after you inferred that you wanted Burrows included in trade proposals.

[King Heffy]

3 guys who NEED to go:

Luongo

Edler

AV

[Jay86]

while i agree some additions and some subtractions would improve our team, Gillis will do little to nothing. He will say " you don't blow up back to back winning presidents trophy winners, we feel we can win our division,, etc etc" and hes right to some degree.

if we are able to deal a goalie before the deadline and/or package picks and prospects bring back a top 9 forward/centre and maybe a rental "impact" dman, we will be in excellent shape. unfortunatley, 75% of the teams in the league are thinking something very similar. We must wait and see if the hockey gods will smile upon us and allign the stars, it takes some of that in a run to the promise land.

d:

hainsey?

regher?

redden?

visnovsky?

forward/centre:

perry ? ...i know....

simmonds?

malone?

santorelli?....i know...

antropov?

setting sights high, but if youre gonna do something, then do it.

if not, then all responsible should go down with the ship.

[rb4u]

This club will see its fair share of success in the regular season, but not much in the playoffs as long as the twins are our No 1 line. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of how they conduct themselves on and off the ice, but they are on the backside of their career and their game is not built for the playoffs. IMO they are more suited for a No 2 secondary scoring line on a Stanley cup winning team...

[uber_pwnzor]

Burrows, do we really need him?

[Legend Killer]

AV needs to stop being afraid to mix up the lines, everybody needs a role. I mean, last night Heatley was on the 3rd line. Edmonton has Ryan Smyth on their 4th.

[TOMapleLaughs]

Agreed that we'll need to start cutting the fat, contract-wise. But the Sedins, Burrows, Kesler and our top-4 d's are untouchable, unless we're going a COMPLETELY new direction.

And if you look around the league, they are all on pretty decent contracts, comparatively, when healthy.

We could trade a core player, like how Philly traded Carter and Richards, but why not trim the non-core caphits instead?

[TimberWolf]

No way

Why did we just sign him and he's more than Higgins and hansen he is great in the playoffs and plays great under pressure scored on of the biggest goals in team history

[Maniwaki Canuck]

Burrows has been amazing for us over the years but at this point, if we could get someone like Vermette for him straight up it would be worth a thought. Our depth at centre is non-existent, and we have more 2-3 line wingers than we know what to do with. If we could balance out the lineup and gain some cap space at the same time, then maybe ... But he's been the heart and soul of this team during its best years.