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I have an idea. Let's let the guy (Larkin) who is already our 1C and is our best faceoff guy and has shown chemistry with Bertuzzi and Mantha be the 1C. What's everyone think of this?

You're changing your story. An hour ago you were arguing that Fabbri, and not Larkin should be our 1C. Which means more minutes and more (lost) faceoffs against top players. And your magical cure for this is to have another terrible player do it for him, instead of just having Larkin do it?

So what you're saying is.....all of our options at C, after Larkin, suck.

Nah. Doesn't make any sense... I have a better idea. Try the guy that's never played any significant center at the NHL level there. What's the worst that could happen?

Fabbri should never be a top line center on any team, at least not until he proves that he can be a center in the NHL. The faceoff percentage is being vastly overstated though. Yes faceoffs matter, but they don't matter nearly as much as kip is making it seem. A 45% center can win a faceoff against a 55% center on any given draw. It's still basically a coin flip. What happens after a faceoff win or loss is what matters much more, and that's where Fabbri would fall short to Larkin, as well as any other 1C in the league. Larkin was just under a point per game center the season before. The team last season was historically bad. That's not on Larkin. You can't assume a downward trend because of one down season. I guarantee Larkin will outpace his points from this past season, next season. He will also out produce Fabbri while playing against tougher competition every night. Assuming both are healthy, Fabbri will not play a bigger role on this team next season (or any season) than Larkin. Sorry man, but I really can't believe this is even a discussion, much less a debate.

So you're literally saying Flip is our worst center at faceoffs, and we should let him do so on the first line because of that?

Nope. I suggested that there's no top line (which is where you'd like to see Fabbri) winger who can take faceoffs for him. It never occured to me that any sane person would consider Filppula a top line player at this point in his career. But I'll bite. Filppula only won 44% of his faceoffs last season. So if you want to let him take the faceoffs then you'd be letting top line opposition players start with the puck about 55% of the time. Certainly that's better than Fabbri's 39% faceoff win percentage, but it's still a f*cking nightmare. So good thinking. Namestnikov, before you try, is a career 44% faceoff guy. So he can't do it (effectively) either.

Filppula and Fabbri on the top line is a great idea if we wanna see a repeat of last year's goal differential.

I saw her lines. I'm suggesting that's a terrible idea for a multitude of reasons. If you think having Fabbri AND Filppula on your top line is a good idea then I don't really know what else to say. You win.

One year is not an indication of a trend... Fabbri shouldn;t touch center in the top 6 at this stage. If he dominates center on the third line, try him on the second line. No sane hockey mind would ever start Fabbri as the first line center. If Larkin was not on this team, Fabbri wouldn't start as the #1 center. Glendening would play 1C at this point before Fabbri. At least he can match up against high end players defensively. And for the record, Fabbri did not have a breakout season. He simply matched his production from the season before his injuries. AKA he has finally become the player he was 4 years ago. Haven't you heard? Flip is clearly our top line winger

Which top line winger on our team do you think would take the faceoffs then?

I just don't think she knows anything at all about how hockey is actually played on the ice. People who have never played only understand the game from a fan's perspective, and that can be misleading. If you're a below 50% faceoff guy you'll never, ever, ever, ever be a top center in the league. No coach on earth is going to play a guy 20+ minutes a night knowing full well that the other team's best guys are going to start with the puck more than half the time. Same with defense. It's all well and good that Fabbri is a decent playmaker, but if you're giving up more chances (to another team's top guys) than you're generating then you're never going to get top line minutes, regardless of your production. With our current lineup I'd probably do something like this: Ryan-Larkin-Mantha (decent enough two-way, big minutes, top line) Bert-Namestnikov-Filppula (responsible line defensively, with a little offense for matchups) Gagner-Fabbri-Zadina (offensive line to feast on mismatches/bottom pair defenders) Helm-Glendening-Erne/Nielsen (defensive and special teams line) Or Maybe.... Ryan-Larkin-Mantha Bert-Namestnikov-Fabbri Gagner-Filppula-Zadina

I mean, he can't out compete Larkin. So really, there's not much else to say. People give HSJ a hard time and sometimes I feel sorry for her but then I read articles like this one. I don't know what she's thinking. Unless she wasn't trying to say Fabbri should be #1 C rather just that he should be Mantha's C? I dunno. It's so dumb it has to be a misunderstanding.

HSJ is a dingbat. My biggest concerns would be whether Fabbri can consistently win faceoffs against top centers (he probably can't) and whether he can defend against top centers (he probably can't). We don't have other options, so I don't mind them trying him at center, but assuming that guy can out compete legit top centers is absurd.

and she is a hockey writer?

You don't (maybe) ask a guy to switch to C and then ask him to be the team's #1 C. The fact that this is even a discussion is bonkers

Larkin is this team's best center, and it's not even close. Fabbri has not played any significant amount of time at center in his NHL career, and you think it's smart to thrust him into the 1C slot, ahead of Larkin? This makes zero sense to me. I'm all for trying Fabbri at center, but I'm not sure if I want him as our 2C, let alone 1C. Ideally Fabbri slots in as the 3C, behind Larkin and Namestnikov (or Filppula). People complain about Larkin as our 1C. Fabbri would get eaten alive as a 1C. Larkin is the rising star on this team, not Fabbri. Don't get me wrong, I like Fabbri, but he's a middle six winger, maybe a middle six center. He's not, and likely never will be a 1C. Larkin is not at all trending downward... This, I agree with. Everything else, not so much.

Nice! Not sure how I missed this... Thanks! Hronek with a goal and an assist so far. Our old friend Andrej Nestrasil with a couple primary assists as well...

Hronek is playing against sweden right now berggren playing for sweden

I'm bored. I miss hockey. There's not even any SHL games to watch this week... What do people think Yzerman should do with the remaining $9.5M (+$6M Zetterberg LTIR) in cap space? Sign another free agent? Offer sheet? Trade for a bad contract? Nothing? A Hoffman signing would be a great add. He should easily net a late 1st round pick at next year's trade deadline. I know it's a pipe dream, but I'd still love to see a Sergachev offer sheet. I'd take on a bad contract, but I'd be holding out for a 1st round pick at minimum. The number of teams that need to shed varying amounts of cap space is staggering...

Yeah, I'm not sure what is worse, Fabbri as the 1C over Larkin, or Staal as the 1D over literally anyone else. I do like that line of Bertuzzi - Larkin - Ryan though. Everything else is kind of WTF?

Thoughts? How about HSJ is a hack.

You must be really fun at parties.

https://www.mlive.com/redwings/2020/11/red-wings-prospects-gaining-valuable-experience-in-sweden.html a little summary of our prospects in sweden wherever he plays, he´s taken over. He only needs a few games to adjust and is almost instantly where he needs to be. I really enjoy watching him, his calm demeanor, the awareness what´s going on around him, his strength and positioning there is so much to like... I really can´t wait to see him in the NHL.