Nuge – Magpie 3rd line -> YES PLEASE!

There are guys that are a bit more unique. They are amazing in ways individually in some or many ways but they play their way and that way can come with sone deficiencies depending on who they play with or at least limit their upside depending on whether they play with people that can compliment them. Coaching and management has to do their work surrounding these players with the right personnel
-> let’s call these guys “uniques”
-> case 1 mcdavid -> yeah he can almost do more alone and almost carry a line even if 1 or more linemates are of no use to him but you lose value big time this way. The complimentary parts are much easier to find if you actually look at what has worked before and think a bit. Maroon can score 20 goals because he was big and knew how to use it. Drive net, picks and always have stick on ice ready for quick shovel in if he ever managed to sneak some open ice in close. Exactly same as perry. Both can also cycle puck exceotionally well and if mcdavid skating free form gets jammed that is most likely thing that will happen in order to try to keep puck in zone.
-> case 2 bouchard -> calmest player i’ve almost ever seen. Nerves of steel and confidence but somedays a bit too much of this. Needs a solid tough partner who can really fight net front, good at least at retrieving pucks and breaking cycle who has decent at least short passing skills to get the puck over to him to tape to tape it wherever the hell the open forward is going
-> case 3 nurse -> he’s not a shutdown dman. He’s a solid pk player, his athleticism can get him back out of trouble but they paid him for after he was a rover scored a bunch of his goals sneaking down from point river boat gambling, had ample power play time and often carried puck out or into offensice zone. Knows nothing about what a stretch pass is and hasn’t met a net his point shot if he winds up can’t ususlly miss. What did they do after his career year and sign thst contract? Dubbed him sir shutdown and buried him in the defensive end. Results to be expected. He’s okay but far from perfect at it. And he most definitely can’t carry a pair doing a job he isn’t meant for.
-> problem with case 2 & 3 being in this category is you now need 2 guys who can specifically compliment both of them. Like undeniable bouchard is a better meshes with Mcdavid (not adaptatively complimenting but mutual styles best played) which means while nurse is a solid player he will likely never be value miscast in last man back defense role, next to no puck carrying and skating or pinching. Not the guy for the job of shutdown.

So yeah our defense composition capwise is inherently flawed at top end and this will always be a problem if a team is stubborn enough to keep both of them or they need to get the actual guy thst coukd compliment nurse. 2 years ago at deadline i wanted gudas. You need an actual shutdown guy on his right side. It’s not him and never will be. You are losing 10 goals off his stick alone a year because he stopped sneaking in.

There’s guys who can play around people and adapt to best fit line needs
-> highest end IQ
-> certain temperment required in that they truly are what is best for team/company types rarer than most
-> generally, these guys have what it takes to play top 6 Forwards/ top 4 defenseman or can be part of a deadly 3rd line or bottom pairing and likely more than competent any special teams role you might add them to
-> i call these the “adaptables”
-> drai, nuge, henrique, hyman, ekholm & walman, and maybe savoie in time

There are players that are best suited to play certain style of games. When used in the right systems or lines that cater to their strengths they can be positive impact players
-> let’s call these the “square peg round holers
-> magniapane is a prime example to me. These types of players should not be within a country mile of the uniques they don’t fit.

He is too small to cycle or fight his way to high danger make space with his stick on ice. He’s an opporrunistic north south player and passing decisions and ability under pressure aren’t good enough to find mcdavid wherever he is. Him on that line is the most i’ve ever seen errant passes that don’t make it because they aren’t to where player is they are to 7 out of 10 tens this is where players might be variety.

How he’s spent so much time to degree mcdavid’s results are dragging this baddly is madness. When they got him i assumed he was likely seen as the guy who has some scoring ability that put with drai and podz on other wing good chance a guy like drai could figure out how to adapt to use them both effectively.

Nuge mcdavid hyman
Podz drai magpie

That’s a maybe might work sort of thing.

I think roslo works better but he also might work with mcdavid. Only issue with that is that hyman and roslo aren’t good enough on defensive end tgis line could bleed to much other way if not scoring in heeps.

What i’d like to see

Rnh rici magpie

Or

Magpie rnh rico (with rico at least taking strong side draws but more likely all defensive end ones and then those two just swapping over when theee’s opportunity because i think nuge is better in center of ice outside the draw portion).

This line gets heavily weighted dzone draws. Try to score of rush or get puck in and get line 1 or 2 on again.

If you put them this way:

You might be able to use nurse a bit more right way as well. Because nuge was the guy who covered for him by and large the season he kept scoring on pinch in (up left wing nuges side. Where nuge when he saw this magically almost always covering him). Gives nurse some of his rover back as he can skate puck out more often and even take some chances skating it into offensive end.

Have sone different options deoending on who is on ice. Developing strstegies around uniques to a degree.

Keep nurse away from mcdavid and vice versa but drai can recognize and change attack strategy at drop of a hat depending on which d pairing is behind him.

So, what do you need?

A very specfic type of RW to compliment mcdavid fully.
Option 1: good at puck retrieval/cycling, good big enough to find space with puvk on ice for magic pass tap ins or goaline shovelling, sonewhat defensively competent.

Option 2 -> lethal sniper type. Smart at finding open space mid range or better with a shot that kills.

Kuzmenko is my personal cheaper range option for a few years now. I think you find the right option 2 this team is the best it’s ever been.

I think easier to find a decent option 1 that will work to be solidly outscoring if heavy weighted to ozone letting line 2&3 do the heavy lifting defensively.

If they had that guy they could make 2 pp units and actually use them.

3-5 less minutes to the positive of mcdrai be a huge upgrade. Like last couple minutes of every period throw them together or late in a game but and end to if they go diwn a goal instantly that’s the call made and even if they hace played a full shift or more if a powerplay given they stay out there. Like it just seems such a piss pour mentality for effective minutes and team building.

As for nurse need the shutdown guy like larsen or whomever. 2a/2b type pairings as i think walman can carry a lesser player.

Right move is trade nurse in my opinion. Not because i don’t like him but if walman is your 4th you have wrong complimentary player for him to be positive impact as he could be and bouchard can get puck to mcdavid in motion which far superceeds nurse skating out of position with it as an option.

End of babble.