Tippet is out tonight
If I were to name three players that I feel like have to get going the most right now, it would be Trevor Zegras, Porter Martone, and Travis Konecny. Without Tippett, those are your three main guys to light the lamp. Trevor Zegres at center has been a really effective situation since he was moved there. However, here's the thing...Zegras needs a go-to guy to dish to. Someone who is fast and strong and able to open up some space for both Zegres and himself.. I believe Zegres play at center may have been very tied to Owen Tippett. We've seen since Tippett has been out of the lineup...and even before, when he was hurting...Trevor hasn't been quite as effective.
So let's give him Porter Martone and his shoot-first mentality, and let's put TK on this line as well to create a true first line. TK is the guy who's going to go get the pucks. Trevor is the setup man. Porter is the finisher. And of course, this opens up room for TK, the team's leading scorer in the regular season, to get some opportunities to score on rebounds and in front of the net.
Another thing I wanna see here is Martone playing with Konecny, because Porter has a lot of respect for TK and won't wanna let him down. Also, every time they come back to the bench together, they can discuss what went on out there on their last shift. I think that could be invaluable to a young player
For the second line, I reunite the line that tore it up in the one game they played together..the final game of the regular season...Barkey, Bump, and Michkov. Yes this line may be a defensive liability, but the Flyers have the last change at home, so Tocchet should be able to protect them.
You have essentially loaded the top two lines with scorers. Now for your third line, you put together a solid defensive line: Christian Dvorak, Tyson Foerster, and Carl Grundstrom. If Dvorak can't go, I have no issue putting Jett Luchanko there. Jett might never be a sniper like Martone, but he is a very fast, very smart two-way center. I would love to see him in the lineup, especially against Carolina. Your fourth line returns to Couturier, Glendening, and Hathaway.
Without Tippet:
Zegres/Konency/Martone
Barkey/Bump/Michkov
Dvorak(Luchanko)/Foerster/Grundstrom
Couturier/Glendening/Hathaway
What say you?