Dallas Stars Should Break Up Their First Line Against Islanders
By Josh Clark
On Friday night, the Dallas Stars should split up their top line against the Islanders. It may be crazy, but it just might work in helping Dallas achieve maximum potential on offense.
It’s fun going against the societal norms and trying your own thing. And sometimes, your rebellion will be enough to make other people join up too. That’s what the Dallas Stars need to do in regards to their offense.
For at least one of the next few upcoming games, the Stars need to split up their powerful top line.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the phone. You mean break up the line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov? The only line that has even an average amount of offensive production this year?”
Precisely, yes.
Dallas Stars
The long standing tradition in the NHL involves putting your best and most talented forwards on the top line. Why? It just makes sense. Just like in any sport, you put your best players up front so they play the largest amount of time and help your team win.
But that’s obviously not working for the Dallas Stars, at least so far in the 2017-18 season. 50 percent of the Stars’ goals are coming from their top line through the first 15 games. While that speaks volumes about the dominance of the top line, it’s a serious cause for concern with the bottom lines.
The Dallas Stars need depth scoring and they need it soon. Getting a strong effort from their bottom nine once every four or five games isn’t going to cut it. They need a consistent and powerful performance every night from their entire offense. After all, the Stars will need some help on the nights when the top line falters.
So why not split the top line up and see what happens?
Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock already seems to be off and running with this idea. In Wednesday’s practice, he significantly juggled the forward lines in an effort to “find more participation.” Here is how the lines looked.
Gemel Smith – Jamie Benn – Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark – Tyler Seguin – Devin Shore
Remi Elie – Martin Hanzal – Jason Spezza
Antoine Roussel – Jason Dickinson
The Stars were missing a forward due to injury problems with Radek Faksa, Tyler Pitlick, and Brett Ritchie. If none of the three practice today, the Stars will likely call up a forward from the AHL.
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But back to the split. Not only did Hitchcock move Seguin down to the second line, but he shifted Benn back over to the center position. Benn has not played center for Dallas since the lockout season of 2013 just before Tyler Seguin arrived.
It’s an entirely new look, but could end up having a major payoff. With this breakup, the Stars are distributing their high-flying talent more evenly throughout the top six. Placing Seguin on the second line gives Dallas two lines with speed and scoring capabilities instead of one.
Not only that, but they are also giving the depth players a better chance to contribute. By moving Gemel Smith up to the top line, they are giving the young winger a chance to produce at a larger rate. Smith has already proven his effectiveness in the little playing time he has received, so putting him on the top unit next to Benn and Radulov could be a thing of beauty.
Meanwhile, Seguin will line up next to two of the Stars’ quickest and most determined wingers in Janmark and Shore. The mixture of youthful talent and veteran skill could combine rather nicely to form a threatening second line.
On the third line, veteran centers Martin Hanzal and Jason Spezza will match up with young power forward Remi Elie. With that move, the Stars are balancing the third line with playmaking abilities, physicality, and scoring power.
It may seem like a crazy idea, but is actually being more widely-used in today’s NHL. Teams are more prone now than ever before to separate their superstars in an effort to create balance. Hitchcock is an unpredictable coach and does not take subpar starts lightly. He’s a determined coach and is willing to try just about anything to charge up the team.
By rearranging the top line, the Stars are giving themselves four neatly combined lines. Each line seems to offer a combination of speed, grit, playmaking abilities, and a knack for scoring.
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Maybe it’s a plan destined to fail and the Dallas Stars need to revert back to hoping solely on their top line to put points on the board. But they will not know until they try. Hitchcock mentioned after Wednesday’s practice that he’s considering using these lines in the Stars’ next game. After an 8-7-0 start to the season, it’s only logical that something be changed in the gameplay.
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That next game is Friday night against the New York Islanders. Give it a shot and see what happens. Considering it’s still early in the season, why not try it out?