On how the club fills the void caused by the losses of Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli:
You don’t. They’re very important players on our team, not just numbers-wise, but they’re a big part of our puck possession game, our penalty killing game, all that. You don’t replace those players. What you do is you put other guys in, guys who are either bitching about ice time who think they should be playing, or guys who you have to move out of position a little bit, or veterans who just have to give you a little bit more.
On whether Andy Andreoff can expect a widened opportunity:
I’d say Andreoff and Nolan would both be in the very same boat. Guys who have played a handful of shifts once in a while and need to play a hell of a lot better than they have.
On whether he has considered an array of lineup scenarios given the injuries:
No. [Reporter: Pretty clear?] Yeah. I mean, if you look at it, there are three lines that have played together a lot. Jeff’s played a lot with Kopi and Gabby, and Brownie, Stollie and Willie have played a lot together, and Kinger and Lewie and Mike have played a lot together, so the fourth line is a line that we haven’t had much performance or production from from 2012, quite honest. I’ve said that lots…the fourth line hasn’t given us much. So now we have to see if we can find one.
On whether Nick Shore’s call-up is good, even if “he doesn’t play”:
He’s going to play. He’s deserved – and I know it’s injury that’s brought him up here, but it’s the very same as if I look back with Toffoli and Pearson, and the same age, same type of first year, same type of second years going up and down. He’s going to play. There are guys who are here who are here not because they made the team, but because they were basically given a job. I told the Shore boy I’m glad he’s here. He deserves the right, the very same way that when Tyler and Tanner went down last year, they came back up.
On whether recent roster moves affect the center/winger balance:
No, I think that Nick is a centerman, but I think that we have guys who can move around or move out of the lineup. That’s not relevant. I mean, Lewie moves around, Jeff moves around. The position is not that important.
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