McLellan and his line decisions

[MacJ88]

Very rarely do I ever criticize Todd McLellan, in fact, I can't remember the last time I said anything negative about the guy. However, his inability to keep a line intact is starting to drive me nuts. To me, his line jumbling is mind boggling. I have a hard time understanding his logic (if any) in breaking up Couture and Clowe. These guys play really well together and have excellent chemistry, what transpired to make McLellan break them up? Also, you didn't acquire Martin Havlat to play on the third line. I understand you want to give Handzus someone to pass too but he along with McGinn and Mitchell had finally put together a string of solid games and then McLellan kicked Havlat down there and brought Mitchell up to the second line. I thought Havlat was playing well with Couture and Clowe for the short time those three were together but I feel that they weren't given much of a chance to build chemistry. I believe if you consistently roll out the same lines, you will receive consistent production in return. Marleau-Thornton-Pavelski. Clowe-Couture-Havlat. Those are your top 6 forwards and that's where they belong, stop fucking with it, let them play.

 

[sjrules99]

Amen brotha... (though if he wants to swap marleau and havlat, I am OK with that too. Either way, mitchell should clearly be nowhere near anyone with talent (aka, in wooster).

I don't mind the insane juggling for now, since it might pay off down the road for everyone to have a little familiarity, but its getting close to time to find some hard and fast lines. It also makes it clearer what kind of players to add since their roles would be more well defined that way.

 

[MrChangoT97]

Yup I agree too, but I put some blame on D. Wilson. I wasn't a big fan of his lack of moves to make our 3rd & 4th lines stronger. Todd needs to keep his top 6 together, and let them work out of this goal scoring funk.

 

[Slimpikins]

13-7-1.

Not too worried about it.

 

[sjrules99]

Yup I agree too, but I put some blame on D. Wilson. I wasn't a big fan of his lack of moves to make our 3rd & 4th lines stronger. Todd needs to keep his top 6 together, and let them work out of this goal scoring funk.

me too, though the good news is that there is lots of time and cap space available, especially if niity gets moved. I am 100% sure that the team we see today is not identical to the one in april.

 

[MacJ88]

13-7-1.

Not too worried about it.

Clowe has gone 10 games without a goal. Logan Couture, one goal in his last eight games. Havlat has only one goal for the season and one assist in the last nine games. I think it's time to get worried or at least time to put these guys back together. Not doing so hot split up.

 

[SJVP408]

I understand the concern, but I don't mind the experimenting either. Gotta see what you have to know what you need. It was a long shot but what if things clicked between Handzus and Havlat and the Sharks were able to send out three scoring lines?

It's kind of a double edged sword imo. If you don't experiment, you don't know which guys can play with which. You can find a great combo and/or you can lose a few games in the process. It's clear to me that Mitchell/McGinn kill offensive possessions with their lack of offensive vision. Since the Sharks like to cycle, that requires knowing where your mates are and passing to open areas. This is something Mitchell/McGinn are very poor at. I think Todd was grasping at straws by giving Mitchell a bigger role. Doug's going to have to acquire some help.

 

[Slimpikins]

Clowe has gone 10 games without a goal. Logan Couture, one goal in his last eight games. Havlat has only one goal for the season and one assist in the last nine games. I think it's time to get worried or at least time to put these guys back together. Not doing so hot split up.

Even if TMac rolled steady lines players are still going to have slumps. Havlat will take time to build chemistry with whomever he plays with.

This team has had back to back short summers, and some significant roster turnover. I fully expected a slow start. I'm not sure the line shuffling is the reason behind the lack of production from some guys.

I think that Logan is the one who suffers the most from the shuffling. Without Clowe on his line he gets hit more often. Guys aren't as willing to take a run at him when they know they'll have to answer to Ryane after.