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No Excuses No Limits! The mother fucking goddamn season thread

My brain short circuits every time I think about all of the possible line combos. There are a lot to try I think. But for now I think Matthews-Marner have historically outperformed together (particularly Marner with Matthews) so I don't mind keeping that duo. Finding where Bert, Domi and Knies fit will be the challenge. But I think Knies with JT is the natural fit providing Knies doesn't continue to look like an AHLer.

Bert is just coming along so I don't mind giving that trio some more games - for all the criticism, they've been pretty dominant. Then it's about finding a spot for Domi and Jarnkrok can slip in anywhere as the calming boring vanilla, stabilizing presence. And then if Minten goes down you have to fit Robertson somewhere and probably slip Willy back at center. Loads and loads of possibilities.
 
Yeah all the possibilities look good really. So far Knies and Domi have been worse than i expected while Krok and Minten have been better, but overall the depth is pretty clear.

I hope this year Keefe keeps trying new lines early on before settling in later, unlike last year whete they were settled all year until the end where he wouldn't stop mixing them up down the stretch.

And i gotta give Keefe credit for giving Minten legit minutes and not leaning on Kampf as a crutch.
 
Knies hasn’t looked as good as he did in the playoffs, but hasn’t looked bad either IMO.

I like the idea of trying him on that Tavares/Nylander line too. Seems like a better fit for those two guys than Domi, who’s been awful so far, or Yarncock.
 
Hopefully Knies starts simplifying his game on a line he doesn't feel to need to try to drive the bus on. If he just works the boards and goes to the net he will be fine. If he continues overhandling the puck and continues showing tunnel vision with it, he will struggle here too
 
I think it should benefit both him and minten to get separated. NHL is hard for rookies even without having a rookie beside you.

Knies hasn't been that bad but the puck really hasn't been going their way offensively.
 
Knies' game always struck me as one who is/could be a super elite complementary player as opposed to a line driver. His preseason did persuade me that maybe he could drive a line as early as this year, but I'm not sure he's there yet. He may just need to get his game going and/or get some experience under his belt before taking on that task.

In any event, he's back in a spot where he should thrive so hopefully we see more from him.
 
The way WIlly especially but also JT are playing should help anyone. Jarnkrok looked good there. Ideally Knies should be good enough that he can be more of a line driver himself (which is more of a need on the Minten line than the tavares line) but if he needs some help as a rookie that's no biggie.
 
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