Counterintuitive decisions are a double-edged sword. When they work out, you look like a genius, seeing something that no one else could see. When they don鈥檛 work out, you look like a buffoon, someone who couldn鈥檛 see the obvious.
The Canucks are 3-1-1 to start the season, but that doesn鈥檛 mean all of Willie Desjardins鈥� counterintuitive decisions are working out. Some of his lines didn鈥檛 make a lot of sense before they hit the ice and they didn鈥檛 magically make sense once they did.
I鈥檓 not claiming to be any sort of coaching genius or hockey guru. That鈥檚 kind of the point: these are not difficult decisions to make. In fact, they seem painfully obvious. Here are three lineup decisions that seem really easy to make:
1. Get Yannick Weber in the lineup and put him on the power play.
. It鈥檚 not complicated: the first unit power play, which has yet to score a single goal this season, would be more effective with a right-handed shooting threat on the point, as a left-handed defenceman, like Alex Edler, can鈥檛 take one-timers off passes from the right boards, where the Sedins set up.
To top it off, having a one-timer threat at the point will force penalty killers to play a bit higher in the zone, opening up passing lanes that will benefit Radim Vrbata, who has yet to score a goal this season.
It took months for Willie Desjardins to give Weber that opportunity last season, but when he finally did, it worked and the power play immediately became more effective. It shouldn鈥檛 take him months this season. It shouldn鈥檛 even have taken him five games. . Get Weber in the lineup.
2. Don鈥檛 put Derek Dorsett on the second line.
Putting Derek Dorsett, a career fourth-liner with occasional third-line upside, on a line with Radim Vrbata, a first-line talent playing on the second line to spread scoring around, is dumb. It just is. It鈥檚 self-evident, like all men being created equal. Not that Dorsett is equal to Vrbata, except when it comes to human rights and such. On the ice, not equal at all.
What鈥檚 the thought process here? 鈥淗ey, Radim Vrbata hasn鈥檛 scored yet; let鈥檚 take the skilled playmaker off his line and replace him with a fourth-line grinder.鈥�
Unsurprisingly, Horvat and Vrbata had one of their worst games of the season.
It鈥檚 not like Sven Baertschi was even playing poorly. The trio of Baertschi, Vrbata, and Horvat was creating chances and shots, just not getting the results yet. Baertschi was leading the Canucks in corsi, which, while not particularly predictive in small sample sizes, was at least an indication that the puck was in the right end of the ice while he was playing and it matches up with the eye test: Baertschi's ability to control the puck in traffic and distribute effectively was leading to longer puck possession for his line.
I kept seeing people complaining on Twitter about Baertschi being invisible, which makes me wonder just how closely they watch the game while telling all the stat nerds to watch the game. Put Baertschi back on the second line.
3. Put a winger on the Sedins鈥� wing.
This may sound crazy, but it just might work.
As much as Brandon Sutter has scored a point-per-game this season, buoyed by his 3-point effort against the Blues, he hasn鈥檛 looked particularly good on the Sedins鈥� wing. That鈥檚 partly because he isn鈥檛 a winger. He鈥檚 a centre. Also, he鈥檚 really bad at passing the puck, which, y鈥檏now, is something the Sedins like to do.
You know who does work well with the Sedins? Alex Burrows. Also, Jannik Hansen. And yes, Radim Vrbata. My preference is Hansen, , but I completely understand wanting to get Vrbata going by putting him with the Sedins.
Also, putting Vrbata with the Sedins opens up the possibility of a youth group on the second line, reuniting Baertschi, Horvat, and Virtanen, who absolutely destroyed during their one game together in the pre-season.
In any case, there are multiple ways to get this right and limited ways to get this wrong. Heck, Desjardins could put Jake Virtanen with the Sedins and it would make some sort of sense. Sutter doesn鈥檛 make sense. It feels like a throwback to when we all thought the only possible fit for the Sedins was someone like Taylor Pyatt or Steve Bernier.
Don鈥檛 get me wrong, Sutter certainly does some things well, but his inability to cycle with the Sedins and the fact that he does his best offensive work off the rush makes him a terrible option for the top line. Get a winger on their wing.
