Probably a goofy idea on my part but I would like to see them go out and get a veteran playmaker to centre a line with Stuetzle and Formenton together. Both guys easily flip to either wing and both move really well off of the boards and get to the middle of the ice when attacking the net.
- spatso
People tend to underestimate the specificity of playing LW/RW, but most coaches take it pretty seriously. Case in point, you don't just "flip" to either wing, or else all wingers would be RW/LW - but they aren't. Tkachuk/Stutzle aren't going anywhere as the top-6 LW, and Batherson is now a top-6 RW fixture. Beyond that, the prospect pool is far deeper at LW, so it would be worthwhile to start conditioning at least one winger to play the opposite side. Of the remaining wingers on the current roster, I would agree that Formenton has by far the most upside, and that having him play with Stutzle would make for a very hard line to handle in terms of raw speed.
The only question is whether Formenton might be more effective as a #3LW who attacks with speed in transition (eg. Alex Tuch in VGK), or if he has the offensive skills to play effectively on a 2nd line unit. In that regard, a guy like Sokolov may have a more advanced all-round offensive skill set, but then has more issues with speed/mobility.
