Michael Stuart: The Unanswered Question on the Top Line

There is nothing saying Stepan can't be the 2nd or 3rd line center. He might do well in that role. If training camp reports are true, both White and Anismov look good. Now, suddenly l, we have too many centers? And both Galchenyuk and Paquette can play center. And Timmy S.

I think the Sens run 5 lines and 8 D and mix and match as season goes on. Then trade away the excess players

The decision you make on 1C has very little to do with Derek Stepan. He’s a one-year filler. The decision is based on what’s best for the development of Brown and Norris. Logan Brown has played 29 games in the NHL. Josh Norris has played three. They are excellent prospects, but they are not elite prospects like Stutzle. You throw either of these guys into the 1C role and you could seriously damage their development. Hell, you’re probably better off playing Stutzle at 1C. He will be good no matter how badly you handle his development. I don’t understand why this is even a question. Bad teams set up prospects to fail and this is what it looks like. I should know, I’m an Oiler fan.

I say irrespective of camp performance you have to give it to Brown for an extended period (10 games or so), see what he is and if he can find his groove. Brown is a massive body but has a playmaker skill set, he could compliment Dadonov and Brady well if they get some chemistry going. Plus we definitely need to see if we want to spend a protection spot on him or if we should trade him out before Seattle.

I go with White. Apparently have a good camp so far by DJ. Stepan with Stutzle and.C.Brown. One of Norris or L.Brown with Batherson and Galchenyuk

Trade for PLD problem solved!

Trade for PLD problem solved!
- SENS-sational

This is true.

The decision you make on 1C has very little to do with Derek Stepan. He’s a one-year filler. The decision is based on what’s best for the development of Brown and Norris. Logan Brown has played 29 games in the NHL. Josh Norris has played three. They are excellent prospects, but they are not elite prospects like Stutzle. You throw either of these guys into the 1C role and you could seriously damage their development. Hell, you’re probably better off playing Stutzle at 1C. He will be good no matter how badly you handle his development. I don’t understand why this is even a question. Bad teams set up prospects to fail and this is what it looks like. I should know, I’m an Oiler fan.
- JimmyV1965

I agree with this post which is why I picked Stepan. Norris and L Brown are not ready to be thrust into first line duty. Their confidence would most likely be destroyed if this was to happen. Yes Dubois would be the answer but at what cost? No chance of Pierre giving up Stutzle which probably means Sanderson. He will be a stud on defense for years so I hope this trade never happens.

Trade for PLD problem solved!
- SENS-sational

They should but they don't have what Columbus wants if the Sens aren't willing to part with Steutzle or Brady Tkachuk. Sens could offer White, a 1st and a good prospect, maybe one of Anisimov or Tierny if CBJ looking for depth. Columbus is in win now mode.

Id love for mtl to get PLD but it would cost them suziki. I'd do that if I'm the Habs.

Try Brown out for five games at 1C. If it doesn't work, try Norris.

I agree with this post which is why I picked Stepan. Norris and L Brown are not ready to be thrust into first line duty. Their confidence would most likely be destroyed if this was to happen. Yes Dubois would be the answer but at what cost? No chance of Pierre giving up Stutzle which probably means Sanderson. He will be a stud on defense for years so I hope this trade never happens.
- Barrykerr1

CBJ is silly deep on D and are in win now mode.

No matter how I look at it there may be lots of centers but none worthy of first line status. I would go with Norris to see what he can do. Stepan is done like toast and Galchenyuk is better suited for wing.

They should but they don't have what Columbus wants if the Sens aren't willing to part with Steutzle or Brady Tkachuk. Sens could offer White, a 1st and a good prospect, maybe one of Anisimov or Tierny if CBJ looking for depth. Columbus is in win now mode.

Id love for mtl to get PLD but it would cost them suziki. I'd do that if I'm the Habs.

Try Brown out for five games at 1C. If it doesn't work, try Norris.
- GrimmdaGoalie

Not likely any team that wants Dubois will be able to do it on their own. Combination of CAP issues and each team getting what they need.

I could see the Sens putting up Sanderson, Formenton and the #1 (2021).

I could see Columbus putting up Dubois.

Who is the 3rd team that is interested enough in Sanderson to put up the right piece in order for Columbus to do the deal?

The decision you make on 1C has very little to do with Derek Stepan. He’s a one-year filler. The decision is based on what’s best for the development of Brown and Norris. Logan Brown has played 29 games in the NHL. Josh Norris has played three. They are excellent prospects, but they are not elite prospects like Stutzle. You throw either of these guys into the 1C role and you could seriously damage their development. Hell, you’re probably better off playing Stutzle at 1C. He will be good no matter how badly you handle his development. I don’t understand why this is even a question. Bad teams set up prospects to fail and this is what it looks like. I should know, I’m an Oiler fan.
- JimmyV1965

Agree 100%. It would be incredibly foolish to suddenly throw Brown to the wolves, and expect him to handle the responsibility of lining up against the likes of McDavid, Pettersson, Scheifele, Eichel, or Matthews. Stepan, White, and Tierney are all miles ahead of Brown in terms of two-way ability, and it's not too hard to see one of them putting up at least 50pts between Dadonov and Tkachuk. Stepan is probably the most likely choice, unless they want to specifically play him with Stutzle in order to help mentor his transition from W to C.

Agree 100%. It would be incredibly foolish to suddenly throw Brown to the wolves, and expect him to handle the responsibility of lining up against the likes of McDavid, Pettersson, Scheifele, Eichel, or Matthews. Stepan, White, and Tierney are all miles ahead of Brown in terms of two-way ability, and it's not too hard to see one of them putting up at least 50pts between Dadonov and Tkachuk. Stepan is probably the most likely choice, unless they want to specifically play him with Stutzle in order to help mentor his transition from W to C.
- khawk

I knew I would wake up one day thinking that it is too bad that we don't have JG Pageau to help the team transition. I don't regret the trade. It would not make sense for the Sens to have his CAP hit on a long term deal. Also, Pageau, rightly wants to make a run at the Cup.

I do not have a good feeling about Logan Brown

(a) no way in heck should Brown be put in the #1 center role (sorry not sorry) (b) Logan Brown does not sound like a guy to me that wants to talk about the specific problems in his game. He doesn't seem like a honest hockey player. I'm not saying he's a bad guy but when Stuetzle, Tkachuk, Chabot and older vets talk they are honest about their game in a way few young players are. They acknowledge and openly discuss when there's something wrong but with Logan Brown he almost sounds in denial with how far he is on the depth chart. Would honestly anyone trade these centers before trading Logan > (Stuetzle, Norris, White, Pinto, Greig)

Derek Stepan should start on top line with White, Norris behind

Colin White showed the most promise IMO to becoming a legit top 2C on a contending team; but with White's poor year in the NHL and Norris' strong year in the AHL, it's much closer to a toss up with regards to who will becomes the better player. I still give the edge to White and thus >> start Stepan with hopes a center steals the job with their play

I think you have to give it to White to start the year, put brown and Norris together on the second line and see what we got finally. Stepan is here to be the 3rd line centre/mentor/pk grp guy for the team. I like their lineup, all it’s missing is that player who can go toe to toe with mcdavid, scheifle, Peterseen, matthews, which Timmy will eventually be:

Tkachuk-White-Dadonov
Norris-L Brown-Batherson
Stuetzle-Stepan-C Brown
Paul-Tierney-Pacquette/Anisimov

CBJ is silly deep on D and are in win now mode.
- GrimmdaGoalie

are they though?? to me, to be in a "win now" mode, you need at the very least a playoff calibre team....which they don't have. their key pieces are all between 21-25 which means they still have time to develop. that team right now is:

jones (25)
werenski (23)
PLD (21)
Domi (25)
korpisalo (26)
bjorkstrand (25)
foudy (20)


other than that they have a bunch of WAAAAAYYYY past their prime old guys, and a pretty awful farm system.

yes, moving PLD hurts the core, but they'd be much better off adding some quality 20-22 year old prospects, who can grow and be GTG by the time the players listed above hit their prime

I think you have to give it to White to start the year, put brown and Norris together on the second line and see what we got finally. Stepan is here to be the 3rd line centre/mentor/pk grp guy for the team. I like their lineup, all it’s missing is that player who can go toe to toe with mcdavid, scheifle, Peterseen, matthews, which Timmy will eventually be:
- ahjnkn

I think some people are seriously underestimating the role Stepan will be playing this year. They didn't go out of their way to trade for him in order to be a 3rd line C, he's here to show any number of young players how to play effectively on a scoring line - at both ends of the rink. Case in point, they're already playing him in training camp between Stutzle and Dadonov, which is pretty clearly a top-2 line. As of right now, Brown and Norris are well behind all of Stepan, White, and Tierney in terms of proven NHL ability... and if the kids can't win jobs away from any of those 3, then they're nowhere near ready to be playing more than fringe time in the NHL.

Well looks like they had a line of

Stuetle Stepan Dadonov

I think some people are seriously underestimating the role Stepan will be playing this year. They didn't go out of their way to trade for him in order to be a 3rd line C, he's here to show any number of young players how to play effectively on a scoring line - at both ends of the rink. Case in point, they're already playing him in training camp between Stutzle and Dadonov, which is pretty clearly a top-2 line. As of right now, Brown and Norris are well behind all of Stepan, White, and Tierney in terms of proven NHL ability... and if the kids can't win jobs away from any of those 3, then they're nowhere near ready to be playing more than fringe time in the NHL.
- khawk

I think this is the right take. We all would love for Brown, or Norris to be centering the top line right out of the gate.

It will take some transition period. Hopefully by the end of the season there's signs they can start to take the reigns.

I think that was the hope for Stepan and guys like Keller in Arizona. Just hope if works out a little better for Ottawa

i'm in a hockey pool with a bunch of the Sens "twitter guys", like LOSP and that crew.....

we did our draft last night, 16 players total, and one of the guys with his last pick took David Ayres as his 3rd goalie.

i literally spit my beer out laughing when he made his pick.

i'm in a hockey pool with a bunch of the Sens "twitter guys", like LOSP and that crew.....

we did our draft last night, 16 players total, and one of the guys with his last pick took David Ayres as his 3rd goalie.

i literally spit my beer out laughing when he made his pick.
- sensarmy_11

Why didn't I think of that.

I think the dream Stepan scenario would be he reverts back to his form from 2+ years back.

While Brown/Norris put up points and show they can take the reigns.

Ottawa trades him at the deadline for a nice return.

That's realistic ... right?

I think the dream Stepan scenario would be he reverts back to his form from 2+ years back.
While Brown/Norris put up points and show they can take the reigns.
Ottawa trades him at the deadline for a nice return.
That's realistic ... right?
- david22

That's certainly a lot closer to reality than people who think Brown will start the year as the #1C. Even a guy like Spezza didn't walk into that role, before proving he could at produce regularly in a lesser role for a full season. People can criticize the notion of "congesting" the lineup with veterans if they want, but honestly... they're preparing the younger players to be ready to compete at the highest level on a nightly basis. Nothing's just given to anyone, and if Brown/Norris can't even outplay the guys ahead of them in the lineup, they're going to be DOA against the rest of the league.

Personally, I think the early season lines could look something like this...
Tkachuk-White-C. Brown
Stutzle-Stepan-Dadonov
Galchenyuk-Tierney-Batherson

And before people freak out, that's still 4/9 of the top-3 forward lines being accounted for by younger players (Stutzle, Tkachuk, White, Batherson), with a clear interest in seeing the likes of L. Brown, Norris, Paul, and Formenton move up if they're ready. They're also going to be making use of the taxi squad as well, so maybe guys like Norris, Galchenyuk, L. Brown, and Anisimov rotate up into higher-level scoring roles with some regularity, especially if there are frequent back-to-back games. Plus 4/9 veteran forward contracts on the team are going to expire at the end of the season (Stepan, Galchenyuk, Anisimov, Paquette), so this is really about short-term development of players who are still a step or two away from being ready to step into the top positions.

That's certainly a lot closer to reality than people who think Brown will start the year as the #1C. Even a guy like Spezza didn't walk into that role, before proving he could at produce regularly in a lesser role for a full season. People can criticize the notion of "congesting" the lineup with veterans if they want, but honestly... they're preparing the younger players to be ready to compete at the highest level on a nightly basis. Nothing's just given to anyone, and if Brown/Norris can't even outplay the guys ahead of them in the lineup, they're going to be DOA against the rest of the league.

Personally, I think the early season lines could look something like this...
Tkachuk-White-C. Brown
Stutzle-Stepan-Dadonov
Galchenyuk-Tierney-Batherson

And before people freak out, that's still 4/9 of the top-3 forward lines being accounted for by younger players (Stutzle, Tkachuk, White, Batherson), with a clear interest in seeing the likes of L. Brown, Norris, Paul, and Formenton move up if they're ready. They're also going to be making use of the taxi squad as well, so maybe guys like Norris, Galchenyuk, L. Brown, and Anisimov rotate up into higher-level scoring roles with some regularity, especially if there are frequent back-to-back games. Plus 4/9 veteran forward contracts on the team are going to expire at the end of the season (Stepan, Galchenyuk, Anisimov, Paquette), so this is really about short-term development of players who are still a step or two away from being ready to step into the top positions.
- khawk

Good post. If Brown can't earn a full spot at camp and beat out some veterans in the early season for ice time, I think his window may as well be as good as close. He will be 23 in March (few months older than Pierre Luc Dubois for perspective).

I think everyone is basically wanting Brown to be a top 6 option. How many strong 1/2 centre's only earn full time spots after 23/24 years of age without showing glimpses of success at the NHL level prior? Not too many. And yes, he has played at the NHL level, but with mild results.

I hope he impresses and breaks out this year, but I more and more skeptical as time goes by.