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Potential glimpse into future lines and pairs |
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We are starting to get some early indications of what the lines and pairings might look like, or at least what the initial preferences are. The Penguins had what appears to be the guts of a gameday lineup skating together. So what do they look like
The Malkin line is a very believable line which makes me a little nervous about the top line. Having Sidney Crosby with Bryan Rust is no surprise. It is the presence of Anthony Beauvillier which has caught my attention. I don’t believe this is the first time they’ve had him up with Crosby during the late summer/early fall sessions. While I don’t view Drew O’Connor as a bonafide top six winger I think he might be a better option at this stage. I’m not very bullish on Beauvillier riding shotgun on the top line.
A little blue would be nice to see if you’re going to skate with Sid is all I’m saying, if it even comes to fruition.
The other line that is notable is the one with Kevin Hayes and Cody Glass playing with Lars Eller. This seems like the third line they are going to try first. Both Hayes and Glass are new to the team and it appears they will be provided a chance to earn a regular shift if they can back it up in camp. This has more of a fourth line vibe to me, but the problem is the Penguins really don’t have enough talent in the bottom six to create a significantly better third line. Eller is the best center option for the bottom six, then it is just plug and place with many of the winger options. If Drew O’Connor isn’t on the Crosby line he feels like he should be on the left side on the third line.
The other five lines feel like a mishmash of players. We’ll start to see the roster trimmed down and get clarity in the near future with many of those players.
As for the defense it appears Matt Grzelcyk is going to get a shot playing next to Kris Letang. I have absolutely no interest in seeing Ryan Graves in the top four on this team so I am certainly willing to see if someone, anyone, can play that spot. It appears Aho is placeholding for the injured Erik Karlsson which is good because I liked the Pettersson-Karlsson combo last year and when Karlsson was fed a healthy serving of Graves that is when things stopped going as well. With Graves unlikely to find himself out of the lineup it appears St. Ivany has the inside track on the sixth spot in the rotation. This will be something to track as the preseason rolls along.
The Penguins are back at it hosting the Sabres tomorrow. We’ll see if they load up the lineup like the Sabres did on Saturday and see some of these practice lines in action.
Thanks for reading!
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