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Demotions/Promotions

October 31, 2013, 12:00 PM ET [102 Comments]
Travis Yost
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DEMOTED: Jean-Gabriel Pageau, to AHL Binghamton. Pageau's scoring luck ran dry to start the season, and he wasn't able to get the job done in a bit more of a defensive-minded role skating alongside Matt Kassian and Erik Condra. Pageau, for now, appears to have been beaten out by another Binghamton centerman in Derek Grant, predominantly due to the disparity in faceoff ability.

Pageau, unlike Zibanejad, could benefit from another stint with Luke Richardson. His game isn't as well-rounded as the coaching staff would like, and he wasn't able to drive play at a consistent level. My guess is the team's really going to work on his defensive game down in the minors, and bring him back up at some point later in the year.

PROMOTED: Hard to really know where to begin with Paul MacLean's new combinations in preparation for Friday's game against the New York Islanders. I guess we'll start with the trios up-top, which have been more or less imploded and rearranged in some indiscernible order.

Conacher-Spezza-Neil
MacArthur-Turris-Ryan
Michalek-Smith-Zibanejad
Greening/Kassian-Grant-Condra

I'll say one thing -- it's hard to know which line, technically, is line one. I made it a point yesterday that the Jason Spezza line should really be tentatively back-seated to the far superior line in MacArthur-Turris-Ryan. If that's what's sort of happened here, then at the very least, I applaud Paul MacLean for making the switch and, really, giving the full-time green-light to one of this year's most dominant lines.

But, I'm skeptical. I'm skeptical because this team is built around Jason Spezza. And because this team is built around Jason Spezza, he's going to be regarded as the 1LC regardless of who he's playing with.

One of his linemates, Cory Conacher, has looked quite alright along the new captain.

But, what the hell is going on with Chris Neil here? It's a maddening move, if it sticks. Neil's game has deteriorated wildly over the last couple of years. Aside from his seven-point pace this season, he's mostly known for hitting guys (OK) and taking penalties. Currently, he holds the second-worst penalty differential (taken v. drawn) amongst all qualified forwards, sitting only behind Toronto's Dave Bolland.

The Michalek-Smith-Zibanejad line intrigues me a bit. Again, I'm hopeful that MacLean's making a bit of a statement moving the Spezza line down, perhaps even behind the Smith line. Smith's not a second-line center, but he has played decently this year and, in some weird way, might deserve a bit of extra ice-time. And, any line with Mika Zibanejad on it strikes me as a strong one.

OK. So, best-case scenario, MacLean's shuffled the lines and really promoted a lot of the better guys, but weirdly crushed Jason Spezza by pairing him with Chris Neil on a third-line. Worst-case scenario, Chris Neil and Cory Conacher are your first-line forwards, and Mika Zibanejad's toiling on the third-line, and the Turris line is still sitting behind the Spezza line for no justifiable reason.

Let's move on to the pairings. We knew changes were coming here after Tuesday's debacle. They came.

Karlsson-Phillips
Wiercioch-Methot
Cowen-Corvo/Gryba

OK, so here you're sort of taking the good with the bad. Chris Phillips on the first-pairing, nothing that anyone, anyone wants to see. He's going to be an anchor for Erik Karlsson, reminiscent of the one attached to Erik Karlsson in the 2011-2012 season. Believe his name was Filip Kuba.

Again, it's not that Phillips can't play still at this level. It's that he belongs nowhere near a top-pairing that's (a) going to log twenty-five minutes; (b) going to play first-lines left and right. It's sort of terrifying.

But, in fairness to MacLean, what choice does he really have? He has two competent defenders right now. Splitting Methot and Karlsson, at the very least, seems like a decent alternative.

The second-pairing moves Wiercioch back to his proper side, and gives him another crack at a top-four role playing with the very-sound Marc Methot. I kind of like this play here. Wiercioch has been excruciatingly mediocre this season, but .... in the relative sense, he's more deserving of an opportunity than anyone else right now.

And then there's the statement. Jared Cowen, third-pairing. One step from the press-box. I can't think, outside of maybe Colin Greening, there's been a more disappointing performance to start the year. Perhaps in a more limited role, Cowen can find his game. To-date, he has shown nothing of a top-four defenseman.

What scares me here though is that, a very real possibility is now Cowen-Corvo. Even as a third-pairing, not many pucks are leaving the zone with these two on the ice. We'll see how MacLean approaches that as it comes.

Back with more tomorrow.

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