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ExeR · 10-10-2020, 10:30 AM

Line management

This is a very broad topic, but general understanding should be good enough. 1 or 2 players in wrong line/unit won't have same impact as f.e. performance randomness. So no need to have all the possible lineups or reduce player to only one role.
But what important is the order we think about this part of tactical menu. With tendencies it's possible to define them through attribute, attribute combination ratings or general idea of his teammates. Tactics can be custom made and changed for every opponent, but line management is not that particular and glues everything together. You can have line that can execute most tactics well, but not vice versa.
OZ DZ faceoff priority

This is pretty straight forward mechanism. It gives first idea of line management: splitting lines into defensive/offensive. Outscoring opponent and focusing only on attack is fun, but you can't spend season w/o getting ton of PK time. So somebody will have to defend and be nominally "defensive" unit. Winning faceoff in DZ can be their first line of defense.
What you don't want in that situation is weak faceoff attack minded unit. Wasting precious shifts on what they can't do effectively is no go.
So FO priority works itself out if you have understanding which line/unit is defensive or not. Only other factor is faceoffs attribute. You might want to move attack minded line higher if they can win faceoffs consistently & skate at opponent with speed advantage. Difference between 13 and 18 FO attribute can cost 10% in success. Top centers faceoff 1500 to 2000 times, so that's 150 to 200 possessions going better faceoff player's way.
Line matching

Can be secondary to filling lines with players. F.e. if you want more balance, you spread talent to make 3 strong lines instead of 1-2 elite ones. That way your ability to match opponent's best lines changes drastically.
But outside of that, def/off split is too important to not use it. So default is to match defensive with 1st of opponent and vice versa. One underrated problem with default approach is centered around players that are not in line choice - goalies. Goalies and team's character define their ability to bounce back. And you will need that, because def line will often go down in score against better 1st line of opp. So if your goalie is shaky and you try to weather the storm, it may snowball more often than you think. In that case it might be wiser to go 1st vs 1st and try to kill time with puck possession+no giveaways style.

Filling special team lines

1) PK lines shows importance of defenders. Even though it's not the problem to have capable 3rd string defenders or plug injuries with AHL/backups, their impact on success skyrockets. On offense, maybe 1 of 2 defenders can have huge impact & good GR. On PK number of forwards decreases while number of defenders stays the same. So it's their time to shine, when team is at it's most vulnerable during the game.
https://i.imgur.com/eTPVEjt.png
So if you're building team around strength of defenders, strength of PK must be among priorities. 6 good defenders with 3 of them being two-way stars is much better than 6 offensive stars with meh defense, especially for PK.
2) PP has "cheat code" that can do exactly reverse and make defenders importance in PP lower (another reason to avoid 6 offensive defenders). It's not without consequences, but pretty much a must for 5vs3 PP
https://i.imgur.com/Y5QIljQ.png
Many PP tactics doesn't rely on 2 blue line shooters, so exchanging defender for forward won't have any negative impact in that regard.
For PP defense tactic choice we will also only benefit from having a more capable active "defender" for "pursue aggressively" option. Sometimes, it can be an upgrade:
https://i.imgur.com/MoW5p0h.png
3) 4 on 4 and 3 on 3 situations dramatically increase importance of skating. So the only advice here is to try and get 8 good skaters and have forwards as multi threat (score, pass, handle). But most important is to split playing time, because intensity will be too high for 1 dominant playing time line to carry.
https://i.imgur.com/aws8tPI.png
5 on 5 lines & balance of lines

There are too many variations of lines to describe and compare them all. Better way would be to describe important factors.
1) Manage playing time and opposition. Line matching is example of that. You do it to spend playing time of lines in most productive way. If 1st line is best in the league, you don't need to match it vs bad one. With other edges, described in "tactical tendencies", it might be better to go best vs best. Consistently outplay their 1st, put pressure on their goalie not yours, enjoy their 3rd being unable to consistently outscore your 3rd.
2) Don't add the 5th wheel. Lines won't be perfectly balanced. Positions on ice & tactical duties won't allow defenders to shine. So expect one of your players to have weak Off Rating. So another reason against team of 6 offensive defenders. Make one work for the other guy.
3) Don't mix strength & weakness. And don't mix up strengths and weaknesses. "Ok this guy is slow, but he can pass really well, so I give him fast pass receivers and it will work". One working for a team can be ignored, other 4 can't. They need to do stuff dictated by tendencies together as a unit. So if you play with tempo, those 4 should play with tempo. You can fine tune 1-2 players in 1-2 tendencies. But most of the things they do should be a team effort.
Same logic works for another great idea: add pure defender or power forward/tough guy to attacking unit. It almost never works. Same goes for 3 defensive forwards. Their shot creation & puck possession will be so weak, that you won't see a benefit. Low shot number for opposition will be outdone by even lower shot number by you. So it will be more productive to combine players by actions they can do together as unit (physical/hitting, pressure, passing) instead of "bad on offense" being unifying factor.
4) Sides & other space considerations. Players occupying same space in OZ, wrong shooting hand etc are often forgotten or ignored. But space created/used and roles have important connection. Screener gives more to shooting defenders&forwards. Behind the net center stays in dead zone and opens lanes to move in and receive pass, but can get pass back in unorthodox position. Shooter from perimeter can receive pass from all teammates, but blocks their lanes and force them to move wider/further.
Keep the image of who goes where, because of what attribute combo play will succeed (defender outskates opponent or forward attracts double coverage)
https://i.imgur.com/UvfxWR1.png
This will make sure everybody is doing what they should and there are no conflicts.

Post with examples

10-10-2020, 10:30 AM	#4
ExeR Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Aug 2015 Posts: 48	Line management This is a very broad topic, but general understanding should be good enough. 1 or 2 players in wrong line/unit won't have same impact as f.e. performance randomness. So no need to have all the possible lineups or reduce player to only one role. But what important is the order we think about this part of tactical menu. With tendencies it's possible to define them through attribute, attribute combination ratings or general idea of his teammates. Tactics can be custom made and changed for every opponent, but line management is not that particular and glues everything together. You can have line that can execute most tactics well, but not vice versa. OZ DZ faceoff priority This is pretty straight forward mechanism. It gives first idea of line management: splitting lines into defensive/offensive. Outscoring opponent and focusing only on attack is fun, but you can't spend season w/o getting ton of PK time. So somebody will have to defend and be nominally "defensive" unit. Winning faceoff in DZ can be their first line of defense. What you don't want in that situation is weak faceoff attack minded unit. Wasting precious shifts on what they can't do effectively is no go. So FO priority works itself out if you have understanding which line/unit is defensive or not. Only other factor is faceoffs attribute. You might want to move attack minded line higher if they can win faceoffs consistently & skate at opponent with speed advantage. Difference between 13 and 18 FO attribute can cost 10% in success. Top centers faceoff 1500 to 2000 times, so that's 150 to 200 possessions going better faceoff player's way. Line matching Can be secondary to filling lines with players. F.e. if you want more balance, you spread talent to make 3 strong lines instead of 1-2 elite ones. That way your ability to match opponent's best lines changes drastically. But outside of that, def/off split is too important to not use it. So default is to match defensive with 1st of opponent and vice versa. One underrated problem with default approach is centered around players that are not in line choice - goalies. Goalies and team's character define their ability to bounce back. And you will need that, because def line will often go down in score against better 1st line of opp. So if your goalie is shaky and you try to weather the storm, it may snowball more often than you think. In that case it might be wiser to go 1st vs 1st and try to kill time with puck possession+no giveaways style. Filling special team lines 1) PK lines shows importance of defenders. Even though it's not the problem to have capable 3rd string defenders or plug injuries with AHL/backups, their impact on success skyrockets. On offense, maybe 1 of 2 defenders can have huge impact & good GR. On PK number of forwards decreases while number of defenders stays the same. So it's their time to shine, when team is at it's most vulnerable during the game. https://i.imgur.com/eTPVEjt.png So if you're building team around strength of defenders, strength of PK must be among priorities. 6 good defenders with 3 of them being two-way stars is much better than 6 offensive stars with meh defense, especially for PK. 2) PP has "cheat code" that can do exactly reverse and make defenders importance in PP lower (another reason to avoid 6 offensive defenders). It's not without consequences, but pretty much a must for 5vs3 PP https://i.imgur.com/Y5QIljQ.png Many PP tactics doesn't rely on 2 blue line shooters, so exchanging defender for forward won't have any negative impact in that regard. For PP defense tactic choice we will also only benefit from having a more capable active "defender" for "pursue aggressively" option. Sometimes, it can be an upgrade: https://i.imgur.com/MoW5p0h.png 3) 4 on 4 and 3 on 3 situations dramatically increase importance of skating. So the only advice here is to try and get 8 good skaters and have forwards as multi threat (score, pass, handle). But most important is to split playing time, because intensity will be too high for 1 dominant playing time line to carry. https://i.imgur.com/aws8tPI.png 5 on 5 lines & balance of lines There are too many variations of lines to describe and compare them all. Better way would be to describe important factors. 1) Manage playing time and opposition. Line matching is example of that. You do it to spend playing time of lines in most productive way. If 1st line is best in the league, you don't need to match it vs bad one. With other edges, described in "tactical tendencies", it might be better to go best vs best. Consistently outplay their 1st, put pressure on their goalie not yours, enjoy their 3rd being unable to consistently outscore your 3rd. 2) Don't add the 5th wheel. Lines won't be perfectly balanced. Positions on ice & tactical duties won't allow defenders to shine. So expect one of your players to have weak Off Rating. So another reason against team of 6 offensive defenders. Make one work for the other guy. 3) Don't mix strength & weakness. And don't mix up strengths and weaknesses. "Ok this guy is slow, but he can pass really well, so I give him fast pass receivers and it will work". One working for a team can be ignored, other 4 can't. They need to do stuff dictated by tendencies together as a unit. So if you play with tempo, those 4 should play with tempo. You can fine tune 1-2 players in 1-2 tendencies. But most of the things they do should be a team effort. Same logic works for another great idea: add pure defender or power forward/tough guy to attacking unit. It almost never works. Same goes for 3 defensive forwards. Their shot creation & puck possession will be so weak, that you won't see a benefit. Low shot number for opposition will be outdone by even lower shot number by you. So it will be more productive to combine players by actions they can do together as unit (physical/hitting, pressure, passing) instead of "bad on offense" being unifying factor. 4) Sides & other space considerations. Players occupying same space in OZ, wrong shooting hand etc are often forgotten or ignored. But space created/used and roles have important connection. Screener gives more to shooting defenders&forwards. Behind the net center stays in dead zone and opens lanes to move in and receive pass, but can get pass back in unorthodox position. Shooter from perimeter can receive pass from all teammates, but blocks their lanes and force them to move wider/further. Keep the image of who goes where, because of what attribute combo play will succeed (defender outskates opponent or forward attracts double coverage) https://i.imgur.com/UvfxWR1.png This will make sure everybody is doing what they should and there are no conflicts. Post with examples Last edited by ExeR; 11-14-2020 at 08:06 AM.