Skookum Jim wrote on Wed, 02 January 2019 11:03

shoop wrote on Wed, 02 January 2019 05:57 Potential lineups based on lines at practice. Kassian - McDavid - Draisaitl Lucic - RNH - Puljujarvi Reider - Khaira - Spooner Gambradella - Brodziak - Rattie Nurse - Petrovic Jones - Larsson Manning Benning Talbot? Uggh. Going to be a gross game tonight. Oh man... One guy (of many!) I'm disappointed in is Reider, thought he had more scoring ability... zero goals.. Figured Marody would be a better call up than Gambradella... Spooner is so freaking bad, no skill, no effort .. can't PK .. sadly that trade isn't just on Chiarelli, it means Gretzky and rest of scouting staff also thought he was better than Strome .. even if Chia gets the punt, it means these guys are still there... Lucic... nothing left to say there... I'd also play Gravel over Benning... think Benning's days are numbered...

Rieder at least gets chances, so there's a possibility that his luck shifts. He is also only 25, so it's likely that he still reverts to his career average on shooting percentage at some point, and next year he's likely a double digit goal-scorer again (unless his role changes significantly.)

He does remind me a little of Todd Marchant, especially early days Todd Marchant. Good penalty killer with speed to burn, gets lots of breakaways...never scores.

I thought it interesting that Chiarelli specifically said he sees Manning ahead of Gravel. I wonder by what metric? I thought Gravel, while far from spectacular, had been fairly solid for the team. Manning only played 12 minutes, and featured heavily in a critical goal against last game...

As for Benning/Gravel, there's going to be a preference to keep people on their strong side if possible, so unless the wheels come off for Benning in a big way tonight, I think he probably keeps his spot.

"Thinking that a bad team's best players are the reason the team is bad is the "Tambellini re-signing Lennart Petrell" of sports opinions." @Woodguy55
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