With the Dallas games postponed they can get a few practice sessions in. I wouldn’t expect to grade much before 7 games. Unfortunately that’s an 1/8 of the season but times have changed. 4th line is fluid like the last D pair it’s a taxi squad line and pairing for awhile. They need to keep these guys involved and play every so often. We were spoiled a bit with our fourth line. It’s now a testing and evaluating line for awhile anyway
- tpd11
That's kind of how I look at it also. That fourth line is an ongoing experiment. We may as well put a turnstile up for that line, because a lot of faces are going to come and go.
I am struggling to think of something positive to say about Schenn besides the obvious that he provides toughness. I have noticed that he is pretty good at threading the needle and getting shots to the net. Not a lot of his shots get blocked, or it seems that way. That's a good thing. But, Schenn is a known quantity, so I would put Foote in and let him get some seasoning early on before the games start getting more meaningful.
Volkov shows flashes of skill, but just doesn't seem to gel with any of his linemates. Something is missing there, and I can't put my finger on it. At this point, I think we know pretty well what to expect from him - a puzzling 4th liner and borderline AHL'er. I wouldn't expect him to light up the world. I think I would give somebody else a chance for now.
Joseph is all wheels with stone hands. He's another one that is a known quantity at this point. Another borderline 4th liner and AHL'er. Give somebody else a shot.
Johnson looked pretty good, but not 5-million good. I really do wish him the best and wish he could recapture some of that 2015 magic. He's not a geezer yet, so I suspect some of it is diminished ability from that old wrist injury (like ankles, those can change your mobility permanently, even after it's "healed") - some guys just aren't the same after a nasty wrist or ankle break. Another part of it is (I think) complacency on his part. We'll see. If he can pot 20 this year, then that'll go a long ways, but I'm not holding my breath though.
