Chirpin' Grinder wrote:Sutter definitely can and needs to show more. He can certainly play with more passion and physicality, as he proved during the playoffs. He needs to bring that game more consistently.
He also has been saddled by Bylsma and Shero. It will be interesting to see how he is deployed by Johnston.
Mikey, what type of line would you build around Sutter and who do you see as the best fit from this roster?
Personally, I'd love to see Johnston develop a real shutdown line that could be deployed against any line. Not sure the Pens really have the proper wings for that type of unit though. From the available options, I'd probably go with Spaling and Downie.
I think you have a terrific third line, RHS center in Sutter...I think he can be deployed as a player with a role, with a goal on every shift and excel. What he needs is a hard working, up-and-down, first-on-the-forecheck right winger...Pascal Dupuis is probably the best fit on the current roster. But he's not the right handedness. He's also not as physical as I might have liked. But he makes up for the lack of physicality with hockey smarts, which is a trade off I'll almost always take.
The left winger is crucial because Sutter is RHS. He will be the easier winger to pass to on the rush and on the cycle. He needs to be intelligent - moreso than the right side player - but it would be nice if he provided what the RW cannot. So, let's say it's Dupuis at RW. I'd prefer the LW to have some truculence, because it's a good thing to have a shutdown line - a little nasty...it would be nice if he had a decent shot, puck protection ability and just have the ability to not lose draws cleanly in case they are hemmed in after an icing on the wrong side of the ice, a LHS ought to take the draw...Nick Spaling is the best reasonable fit on the roster probably, but he does not have a lot of physicality, but I will assume - and this is kind of leap on my part - that the confidence in himself will rise over the course of the year and he'll handle the puck a little cleaner...
But Spaling is ideal from the sense that the LW on this line does not need to be fast, he has center experience and is very competent defensively...we're missing some muscle on the line, but in the Wales Conference, we're gonna be able to get away with that...we have to stop Giroux, Backstrom, Tavares...not Getzlaf, Kopitar, Backes...Spaling-Sutter-Dupuis can do that I believe if we have good pairing behind them, something that includes Paul Martin...in fact, if you can another player with hockey sense on LD with Martin, we could really get a lot of IQ points out there...a distinct rarity in recent times...