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12

u/whosoulie 19h ago

I feel this iteration of the team is still 2 players short. A number 2C and a top 4 D. 

Addressing those two concerns turn this team from a bubble team to a contender. 

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u/shadowpenguin29 19h ago

I think the top 4 D can be sorted out by fiddling with deployment. I think if McCabe and Raddysh are playing more time together at even strength as a minute eating pair (~20-22 mins), with Rielly and Tanev acting as the second pair (18-20 mins), they can be a fairly decent dcore.

The 2C issue just needs to be sorted out by Willy and McKenna building enough chemistry to drive the line. While he’s lost a step, JT is not as bad as his past 3 games, and is perfectly capable of playing with two play driving wingers in a more sheltered role. Actually playing Cowan’s line for more than 14 minutes a night would also help. I still believe that the team has the pieces internally to at least get them to the deadline in a decent spot, then we can evaluate for an upgrade.

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u/CMDRShepardN7 Nylander 18h ago

I might be crazy, but Rilley hasn't looked bad.

Him and Tanev might work again without Berube.

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u/rdawg1234 17h ago

Has looked good offensively but still looks the same to me defensively, idk why everyone always just watches for his assists, he never stopped being a creative offensively strong dman, it’s his dzone play that is the negative side. Him and tanev is the only option imo, Rielly/raddysh makes zero sense to me

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u/CMDRShepardN7 Nylander 16h ago

Of Rielly and Raddysh, for the 3 games played, Rielly has been making the smarter plays with breakouts.

Raddysh hits on the back wall but it never results in getting us possession.

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u/rdawg1234 16h ago

That’s still offence related, raddysh will adjust but again I just wanna focus on the defence with Rielly, he looks just as bad as ever and it makes him a net negative, but I think some fans can’t grasp that as he still scores a lot of points.

Reduce his minutes and pair him with tanev is the only thing that works, him and raddysh don’t work well together defensively

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u/CMDRShepardN7 Nylander 16h ago

Breakouts is gaining possession in our zone and clearing it with control. It is not just offense related. It has nothing to do with the points he got.

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u/rdawg1234 16h ago

I guess sure that’s one factor on defence, he’s also still been on ice for the majority of the goals against. I’ll give it 10-15 games but I think they gotta switch up the pairings

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u/CMDRShepardN7 Nylander 16h ago

I'm not arguing that Rielly is good at defense. He's never been that. I am seeing that Raddysh, for the last 3 games, has been worse than Rielly in our own zone.

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u/rdawg1234 16h ago

Yeah but I’ll chalk that up to just him adjusting to a new team, there’s optimism that he can improve as he was a net defensive positive the last couple years analytically.

They don’t work as a pairing together imo. Raddysh was next to defensively responsible JJ moser before, gotta try McCabe or tanev with him

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u/CMDRShepardN7 Nylander 16h ago

He worked well with Moser because Moser is extremely good at defensive stickwork and puck retrieval. Raddysh himself referred to him as a play-killer.

And Rielly has never been that. McCabe-Raddysh, Rielly-Tanev need a serious look under Hiller.

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u/rdawg1234 16h ago

Yeah agreed

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u/Sirrebral99 Knies 18h ago

I really hope he does. I've been very vocal about wanting Rielly gone before, he had a terrible game 1 then made some great plays in games 2 & 3. If he finds his game again, that's huge. Either long term to stick around or to pump his value to make a trade, Rielly playing well again helps both scenarios

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u/Tarquin11 18h ago

Him and Tanev worked previously, the reason Tanev was taken from Rielly is because McCabe was struggling without Tanev at the time, badly.

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u/CMDRShepardN7 Nylander 16h ago

It's because McCabe isn't great on his offside and Tanev was the only righty.

McCabe-Raddysh, Rielly-Tanev needs a seious look under Hiller.

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u/bootygoon2 15h ago

I really don’t get why that wasn’t the go to top pairings from the start. All summer long it was assumed that was what they would roll with and all of a sudden we hear about Rielly-Raddysh and McCabe-Tanev being the top four. I just don’t get it, even if you want to keep McCabe-Tanev as a pair wouldn’t OEL be a better fit beside Raddysh than Rielly is?