For me, the question is Gerbe's offensive upside. No group of players is going to shutdown the opposing teams top line every night. That's going to require at least decent production from Dwyer/Gerbe. Can they be 30-40 point players?
- notwalnc
I think your question and assessment are dead on. While a 0-0 tie is a win for this line, you cannot shoot for that every night playing against the elite players in the league.
Unfortunately, I think that last season might have proven that Dwyer's ceiling is something like 25-30 points. Even thrust into a more offensive situation with Skinner and JStaal, he just did not score that much (16 pts in 46 games). His offense is mostly limited to scoring off the rush on breakaways using his speed/ability to create turnovers (exactly how he scored in the last preseason game). His ability to create or finish in the offensive zone is limited. But while not being an offense-heavy 2nd line center Jordan Staal has proven that he can score at least 50ish points at the NHL level and he did this without 1st line power play minutes or offensive-oriented line mates which is important. And Gerbe as you mentioned is the wild card. Can he score some himself to the tune of 45-50 points and help boost his line mates? If so, I think the team has a chance to get a decent mix of 0-0 and 1-1 ties to keep the team in games and put the ball on the tee for EStaal's line which was utterly dominant for long stretches last season.