r/NHLHUT•9 yr. ago

(WPR #2) Trevor! Linden Cory a hand with the Dope!

Discussion

Check out Trevor Linden below!

https://hutdb.net/17/view/11423

Currently playing on the 1st Line/1st PP

Shanahan/Linden/Bure (1st Line)

Shanahan/Linden/Bure (1st PP)

Skating 8.5/10: Unlike last weeks reviewee, Linden can skate. He's not the fastest guy on the ice, but for someone his size, he can move. Imagine putting a refrigerator on a skateboard and then pushing it down a hill, it takes a second to pick up speed, but once it gets going, good luck to the "friends" at the bottom that were supposed to "catch" it. With Speed (94), Linden has taken off on some breakaways for me where nobody can catch him, and the players that can catch him (Hagelin, Cogliano, MacKinnon, Kesler, ect) are almost always too small to knock him off the puck, with his Balance (94) and Strength (94). Linden is a smooth skater for a bigger player, like really smooth, just don't expect him to make some of the crazy cuts that some of those smaller players can at top speeds. With his Agility (90) he is able to move around the ice like the beautiful little ballerina his Pops always told him he was. His only real downsides are his Acceleration (94) and his Size/Balance (94) combo. Linden's Acceleration (94) feels more like an 88-90, catch everybody flat footed and 95% of the time Linden is gone faster than my Dad. If they're not flat footed, they most likely will catch up while Linden is doing his morning stretches. It's really a trivial gripe, and something you wont notice most of the time, but it is there. Linden's other issue is how easily he can be knocked over. His Balance (94) just doesn't feel that high. While smaller players will most definitely bounce off, Linden has been knocked over by players like James Neal, Max Paccioretty, and even Mark Scheifele once or twice. Just a little disappointing considering his rating, it almost felt like EA went "Meh, just make it a coin flip".
Shooting 7/10: Linden is most definitely someone you want to shoot the puck with...as long as nobody is in his way and he has plenty of time to go to his safe space and tell himself he's gonna do good. I'll start with the negatives first, SSA (91) and SSP (94) look really nice, but Linden's clapper looks like that one poor kid who's dad made him play baseball, but never taught him how to throw, so the coach stuck him in outfield to keep him from having to throw, but he can't throw and the outfield is the farthest place to throw from, so he always has to run the ball to the second basemen...yeah that kid. When he wasn't missing the net, Linden was politely tapping the puck into a defenseman or the goaile's chest, slapshots just aren't his thing. Wristshots, WSA (95) and WSP (95) on the other hand, were great. As long as he has some time and space to set up, he's deadly accurate and his powerful wrister will beat goalies more often than not. His only issues comes in when you need to make quick shots through traffic. I found that almost no matter where I aimed or how much power I tried to put into the shot, it would either get blocked ,go wide, or seemingly disappear into the ether and reappear somewhere along the boards . As long as you're capable of giving Linden the time and space he needs, this special little snowflake will give you goals. Also of note, he was absolute cash money on the breakaway for me. 3 breakaways, 3 goals.
Hands 9/10: Playmaking is really where Linden shines. Just like Trevor "shares" his cigs with Ricky, Linden is more than happy to share with his linemates. With Passing (94) I found that Linden allows me to make some of the slickest passes I've ever made in an NHL game. His Offensive Awareness (90) most definitely feels higher, He could probably make a pass through Tim Allen's deviated septum. Seriously, he just seems to find a way to make passes work, even passes where instantly after pressing the button I thought "this is why my dad is disappointed in me", would make it to the intended recipient. His Hand-Eye (95) and Puck Control (94) allow you to slow the game down as you please and set up offenses, and his Deking (90) again feels underrated. I've dangled my way past the likes of Lindstrom, Chara, and Weber with Linden. Just don't try any crazy dekes while he's at top speed or he'll lose control. It's like your SO told you, slow and steady wins the race. The guys basically like a pitching machine for my 1st Line, use his size and hands to clear space, pass it off to someone else, collect assist.
Checking 6/10: Linden's checking is pretty ehhhhhhhhhhh...not great, in a really bizarre way. Get him up to top speed and you would think with Strength (94), Body Checking (93), and Aggressiveness (89) he be able to send some people to the quiet room, but that really wasn't the case for me. He is more than capable of disrupting plays and bumping people off the puck, but just don't expect to blow people up because I'm pretty sure Linden is a pacifist, and he doesn't want to hurt your player or their feelings. What's really bizarre about Linden is several times after losing a face off and under AI control, he would skate straight into the opposing defensemen who had the puck, bump him off and take control, leading to 2 of his 3 breakaway goals. I mean I'm not complaining or nothin' I've just never seen another player do that.
Defense 9/10: Need a center who can win you Face Offs (90)? Linden can do that. Need a guy who can cover for your offensive forwards? Linden's got your back. Need someone to watch you're house while you're away? Leave Linden up on screen and he'll make sure your weird neighbor never comes back. Linden is just straight up responsible. With Defensive Awareness (95), Blocking (95), and Stick Checking (94) you can feel safe when Linden is out on the ice. I had no problems poking pucks away from forwards who were protecting the puck, and stick lifting actually worked, I'm serious, it really did work. With Poise (90) and Discipline (90) Linden never took a single penalty in 10 games, not one. Linden is the official #1 Dad of my first line and it shows in how I play them. When my first line is out there it's pinch, pinch, and pinch even more because if the defense misses the pinch or the forward loses control of the puck, my opponent has to go through Trevor "I already built a wall" Linden. If you need a top line PKer Linden's got you covered.

Synergies: Team Wheel X2 / Offensive Juggernaut X2

Team Wheel X2: Linden is most definitely a key piece of activating the Team Wheel synergy, and his price reflects it respectively. Since this is a player review I'm not going to go super in depth about my opinions on TW, maybe in another post. TW is a great synergy to have, but it is not the end all, be all, of synergies. I could play with or without it, and since I currently have it activated, I'm sticking with it. It's a team synergy that give you a boost in speed that'll help you out skate players, but in my opinion, if you're simply relying on speed to win you games, you have a lot to learn friendo.

Offensive Juggernaut: Does anyone really need another player that adds to the OJ synergy? Basically a waste in my opinion. Even with this activated Linden's slapper sucked for me.

Overview: Trevor Linden is almost the complete package as a TWF. He can skate, he's got a poor Slap Shot but a great open ice Wrister, he passes the puck around like Paris Hilton gets passed around at a club, smoothly and efficiently, his defensive game is amazingly solid, and his face offs are a serious key to my first line's success. As of writing this review Linden's LPS is 235K with 6 up on the XBL Marketplace from 230K-250K. Synergies aside Linden is most definitely worth the price of admission to me. He is a key player on my team, synergies activated or not, and while there are comparable players out there, Linden is pretty much in a class of his own. He quarterbacks my 1st PP Unit, my entire first line runs through him, and if it weren't for my wealth of players he'd be on my 1st PK Unit as well. You can feel safe about picking up a Linden.

10 GP

5 Goals

8 Assists

13 Points

(All games were played against a similarly skilled friend who is helping me test out cards.)

Comparable Players

On the Cheap: This one is hard honestly because Linden is pretty much a complete package of speed/offense/defense that isn't really found in cheaper players. The closest you're going to get to Linden's well-rounded style is Mikko Koivu (LPS 600) or Ryan Kesler (LPS 6K), if you're looking to spend a little more to get much better Speed (93) and Face Offs (90) than Koivu.

Mid Range: Middle of the pack I'd suggest Patrice Bergeron (LPS 65k, I'd wait until he's back in packs) if you need better Face Offs (95) and Defensive Awareness (94). If you want a true middle of the road TWF, you can't go wrong with Jonathan Toews (LPS 75K) who is solid both offensively and defensively with Face Offs (89). Anze Kopitar (LPS 73k) is also a solid option but with lower Face Offs (82).

High Tier: TOTW Anze Kopitar (91 OVR) is an option but currently there are none on the market, and again his Face Offs (84) are low, and you won't get the speed (88) you get with Linden. TOTW Jonathan Toews (91 OVR) is also an option but again, none on the market. His stats jump up and his offense and defense have been boosted. He even overtakes Linden in Deking (95), Defensive Awareness (96), Face Offs (92), and Offensive Awareness (93). TOTW Patrice Bergeron (90 OVR) is also an option (seeing the pattern here?) and is ALSO currently unavailable on the market. His Faceoffs (97), Defensive Awareness (96), Stick Checking (95), and his upgraded offensive stats make him a good choice. For a player you can actually obtain, Jeremy Roenick (LPS 110K) has three cards currently on the market with the lowest BIN at 120K and a open bid with 17 hours left currently at 15.7K. I won't sugar coat it, Roenick's Face Offs (79) don't look pretty. While his Offensive Awareness (94) and Deking (92) are better, the rest of his stats just aren't there. You're better off saving the extra 120k to get Linden.

You can get yourself a MS Modano (LPS 113k) but you what you gain in speed and hands you're losing out on making space and defensive ability, so it makes the two players a harder comparison. Obviously there is also a massive size difference.

Now onto what I'm starting to call the "MS Lindros Conundrum". MS Lindros is such a force that he compares to almost every big bodied forward in the game, and he's insanely cheap for his stats. At a LPS of 121K he is most definitely an option. With Faceoffs (91), Offensive Awareness (96), and Body Checking (97) MS Lindros is a bruiser offensive forward for 100K less, BUT with Linden's speed, offensive skill, defensive domination, and synergies, I'd take Linden for 100K more every. single. time.

https://hutdb.net/17/builder/23699

~~POTG Brad Marchand~~

~~Keith Tkachuk~~

~~Trevor Linden~~

There's my team if anyone wants to decide on which player I review next week. This'll be the last review that I'm limiting to my team, so after next weeks review, it's all fair game.

Posted Nov 7, 2016, 5:43 PM UTC · edited

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