WWYDW: Is It Time For The Lines To Be Mixed Up?
5 years ago
Six games into the season and outside of a player or two, the lines that Paul Maurice has ran for every game has stayed virtually the same. Are we at the point where that needs to change? Most Jets fans likely would say a resounding ‘yes’ but the question then becomes, just what kind of lines should they run?
The lineup the Jets went with last night against the Oilers was virtually the same as it was the night they opened the season in St. Louis. Brandon Lemieux did get into the mix last night in place of Kristian Vesalainen and the first night in St. Louis saw Ehlers in a line with Roslovic and Perreault, but Paul Maurice quickly reverted back to last year’s less than successful Little/Ehlers/Laine grouping.
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 KYLE CONNOR Rating: 77.3#19 LW |  MARK SCHEIFELE Rating: 83.0#9 C |  BLAKE WHEELER Rating: 80.4#5 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 80.25#7 FL1 |
 NIKOLAJ EHLERS Rating: 75.1#32 LW |  BRYAN LITTLE Rating: 73.2#78 C |  PATRIK LAINE Rating: 81.2#3 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.50#5 FL2 |
 ANDREW COPP Rating: 71.0#95 LW |  ADAM LOWRY Rating: 73.2#76 C |  BRANDON TANEV Rating: 71.4#86 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 71.88#19 FL3 |
 BRENDAN LEMIEUX Rating: 72.1#81 LW |  JACK ROSLOVIC Rating: 71.8#116 C |  MATHIEU PERREAULT Rating: 74.1#42 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 72.66#2 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 JOSH MORRISSEY Rating: 74.5#30 LD |  JACOB TROUBA Rating: 77.4#16 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 75.96#14 DL1 |
 JOE MORROW Rating: 71.7#71 LD |  TYLER MYERS Rating: 75.2#31 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 73.46#12 DL2 |
 DMITRY KULIKOV Rating: 70.4#104 LD |  BEN CHIAROT Rating: 71.1#76 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 70.77#24 DL3 |
Meanwhile the defense has been without for Dustin Byfuglien for a couple of games now and the real question here is if the Jets should be looking at bringing back Sami Niku as Kulikov and Chiarot have been largely ineffective and the pairing of Morrow and Myers isn’t working.
Before the season began, we ran a series of posts where Kyle Buhler spit-balled a handful of lines that ranged anywhere from plausible to flat out crazy. One spin around Jets Twitter and you would see a lot of those lines mentioned in that series as lines some fans would like to be seen given a shot.
It’s still early enough in the season that maybe some experimentation in the lineups should happen. The top line has been ok but Blake Wheeler has struggled a bit out of the gate and in five on five situations he doesn’t seem to be meshing well with Schiefele. The Lowry line has been good and brought terrific energy to games, but maybe it’s time to try Lowry with some new linemates and let the speed and bulldog-ish ways of Tanev and Copp to work with say a Bryan Little or a Mathieu Perreault.
Jack Roslovic has largely been ineffective, but what if he gets reunited with Kyle Connor? Is it maybe time to split up Morrissey and Trouba, especially if Byfuglien misses more time?
There are a lot of ways to go with this one and while Jets fans don’t want to hit the panic button yet, concern about this team six games in is justified.
JetsNation, WWYDW is all about the lineup. How would you make the offensive lines and defensive pairings?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or on either our Twitter feed or Facebook page!
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