Whom do you want on the 4th line?
by OzzyFan on Sep 8, 2010 4:00 PM EDT
Email
PrintI honestly believe out of camp to start the season, the top 9 will be pretty much a lock containing Tavares, Moulson, KO, Comeau, Bailey, Schremp, Nielsen, Hunter, and Parenteau. Then we are up to the 4th line. On the 4th line we should have:
Konopka-All purpose 4th liner. Enforcer, Face-off specialist, Penalty killer, and agitator.
Weight-Low minutes specialist because of age and injuries I would assume. Still should have some gas and may work his way up to more minutes depending on how he plays with his time given.
Gillies is your reserve enforcer/tough guy. That leaves the 3rd spot open to any of the major guys we have left in the organization. The frontrunners for that position I would assume to be Matt Martin, Jon Sim, Jesse Joensuu, and Andy Hilbert.
Martin-Is young with potential
Joensuu-Is young with potential
Sim-Is another agitator with a decent wrist shot
Hilbert-Is a very reliable and solid 2-way player that could definitely help on the penalty kill
Out of that bunch, whom would you want in that 4th line role and why?
Submitted FanPosts do not necessarily reflect the views of this blog or SB Nation. If you're reading this statement, you pass the fine print legalese test. Four stars for you.
10 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
I chose martin
He brings toughness, physicality, another fighter, and some solid offensive potential. It’s the perfect test role to see what type of player Martin can turn into while being given some near pressure free nhl minutes.
A close close second is hilbert. If it was’t for Martin’s potential and toughness I’d say that hilbert should get the 4th line spot. Hilbert in a mostly 3rd line minutes role when we had our last place year(2yrs ago), showed how undervalued of a player he is. Hilbert is defensively smart enough to be a good→great penalty killer, is a very smart player, has the offensive potential to be a 35pts+ guy in a 3rd line role, and was the isles 2nd best full time +/- forward in our last place season. He has a lot of tools that make him a huge depth asset if anyone on the team gets injured.
Go isles or Go home.
How about one from right field
I have a friend who wants his motherinlaw placed on waivers. When I pressed him – he apologized and told me he wanted her to go to heaven…………………………as soon as possible.
Sim
Here’s why:
1. Martin: If all he is going to get is 4-8 minutes I’d rather see him in the AHL. If they give him a fourth line shot with the idea that they will use him on the PP and also to spell ineffective players above him I’d change my mind.
2. Hilbert: I don’t want to see Hilbert in the NHL unless injuries dictate it… and they need a bottom six PK specialist.
3. Joensuu: See Martin. I don’t see Joensuu doing anything but killing time in a fourth line role. they need to give him an opportunity in one of the top two LW spots. Well… that’s if he has a great camp. If that doesn’t happen he’ll be spending most of his last year as an Islander in Bridgeport tryiing to prove to SOMEBODY that he belongs in the NHL.
4. Sim: I’m not crazy about him being used in a 4th line role either. But he can handle it, and will get opportunities throughout the year until somebody claims him to fill a need.
My cup is 3/4 empty, How 'bout yours?
by JPinVA on Sep 8, 2010 4:37 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Sim
Excellent analysis. but just using your logic which is good, I come to another conclusion. I rule out Hilbert and can’t figure out Snow’s logic in getting him. I think that Hilbert is a near miss as a NHL talent – a soon to be AHL regular, where he can score a few and teach the kids. Josensuu and Martin are very differnt types of players and this season they will get their chance to prove that they have roles with the big club. Sim is an honest hard worker who had a role before the team got bigger and tougher but now the limited space on the Island means that his depth is going to be stationed at Bridge and not on the fourth line. Sim is part of the past , not the future.
Thanks...
…but I think one issue with most fans is that we’ve been sold a bill of goods for so long that we forget standards in the NHL (and basic human structure).
Matt martin is 21 this year. I really want to see him in the NHL, but I want to see the 24 year old Matt Martin when his head catches up to his physical maturity. I think he can contribute to the team this year, and he’ll get every opportunity to make the team, but he will be a better player if he gets more responsibility in an enviroment he can DOMINATE.
Jesse needs to show us all more. His STARDOM is predicated on him doing a lot of off-season work on his skating. He did show some physical play in his NHL cameos, but he needs to show hands, and puck control and vision… with a physical bonus. He isn’t dominating at the bridge, why would we believe that he would do that in the NHL.
Which brings this full circle.
First Base Andy… the way I see it Andy is going to be the BP center that will help our young talented forwards grow offensively. there was NOTHING up the middle in BP last year. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few more additions to BP in the middle this year. AAAA centers that just can’t crack the NHL, but are offensively gifted at the slower AHL pace. PLUS Snow knows that Hilbert can be a responsible NHL contributor should he need a bottom six guy.
My cup is 3/4 empty, How 'bout yours?
Jesse
‘cause I think his future follows Bergy- allowed to walk at the end of his contract. Martin needs to play full time to develop- it’s the AHL for him this year
Nearly enough defensemen to last through the injury bug
Joensuu and/or Martin will be on third line
Parentau will be on 4th line or Bridgeport unless he really surprises like Moulson did last year. He has put up some nice numbers in the AHL, but then again so did Dave Chyzowski.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on Lighthouse Hockey
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
Featured Stories
Islanders Schedule
In Association With
Latest Puck Daddy - NHL from Yahoo! Sports
- Coyotes’ Mike Smith believes Dustin Brown should be ‘done forever’ for Rozsival hit; slams Game 5 officiating
- Tuesday’s Three Stars: Penner’s overtime winner puts Kings in the Final
- Mike Milbury vs. Jeremy Roenick over Dustin Brown’s Game 5 OT hit on Michal Rozsival (VIDEO)
- Watch Kings, Coyotes in hostile handshake line after Dustin Penner sends LA to Stanley Cup Final (VIDEO)
- Kings vs. Coyotes Game 5; Pierre McGuire on Tortorella/DeBoer argument (Playoff Puck Previews)
SBNation.com Recent Stories
1979-80
Source: Uploaded by user via NYIslanders on Pinterest
May 24, 1980: Tonelli to Nystrom. At long last, the steady build of the New York Islanders from expansion doormat to surprise semifinalist to annual contender reaches the promised land: Buoyed by a late season trade for Butch Goring that gave the team the depth up the middle GM Bill Torrey had been seeking, the Islanders knock off the Philadelphia Flyers in six games.
The victory justified the faith in coach Al Arbour who guided them from their second season to their first Stanley Cup seven seasons later. The Islanders would not be the first expansion team to win the Stanley Cup, but they would be the only one capable of a dynasty.
1980-81
Source: Uploaded by user via NYIslanders on Pinterest
May 21, 1981: This time it was much easier. After falling to "only" 91 points in the 1979-80 season, the Islanders returned to their division title tradition, piling up 110 points -- a whole 13 points over second-place Philadelphia.
Between the quarterfinals (where they beat the upstart Oilers in six games) and the finals, the Islanders reeled off eight consecutive wins -- with a four-game sweep of archrival Rangers in between. As they defeated the Minnesota North Stars in five games for their second Cup, their goal difference in the final was a combined +10.
1981-82
Source: Uploaded by user via NYIslanders on Pinterest
May 16, 1982: Another year, another landslide title. The Islanders won the Patrick Division by a whopping 26 points over the second-place Rangers, and were seven points clear of their nearest competition for the President's Trophy, the still-not-quite-ripe Edmonton Oilers.
A first-round scare against the Pittsburgh Penguins turned in the Isles' favor thanks to John Tonelli's heroics, and a true dynasty was on its way: Past the Rangers in six games, then an eight-game sweep of the Quebec Nordiques and Vancouver Canucks to run away with the Stanley Cup.
1982-83
Source: Uploaded by user via NYIslanders on Pinterest
May 17, 1983: Not so fast, whipper-snappers. The Edmonton Oilers' steadily rising challenge for league supremacy took them all the way to the finals for the first time, where the New York Islanders summarily dispatched them in a four-game sweep. For the Islanders, the Dynasty was secured. For the Oilers, it was a powerful lesson in where talent ends and the demands of playoff hockey begin.
Four years, four Cups, 16 consecutive playoff series wins (a record that would grow to 19 until the rematch with the Oilers the following year). Mike Bossy scored 60 goals yet again, and Wayne Gretzky became acquainted with Billy Smith's crease.
