Powe Makes a Great Wingman; or We Got A Good Thing Goin'

Admittedly I knew little about Darroll Powe when Minnesota traded a 2013 3rd round pick to Philadelphia for him; his name would be heard in passing during Flyer games on tv, and occasionally when the topic of grinders was brought up in terms of the best league wide.

A quick google search revealed that he did own Maxim Lapierre though, which bodes well considering Powe's new zip code was now in the same neighborhood as the Vancouver Canuck.



Initially Powe was set to play wing on a line with Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Brodziak, which would have been a real pain in the ass of a checking line- and shortly before the season began, Minnesota claimed Nick Johnson off of waivers from Pittsburgh, and Powe slid down to center the 4th line.

And basically disappeared- here we are, told of Powe's speed and grit, and how those elements of his game made him a real honey badger, the kind of prototype that Mike Yeo wants in his bottom-six; even Justin Bourne, head cheese of Backhand Shelf, commented how unscary a player Powe was.

The reality was that the centering the fourth line essentially neutered Powe's effectiveness- playing eight to ten minutes a game while having the responsibilities of a pivot rendered Powe's capabilities null and void, for the most part. Alas, injury breeds opportunity- Guillaume Latendresse suffered a concussion, and with the recall of Warren Peters, there was a shift from top to bottom in the lineup card- Devin Setoguchi, Cal Clutterbuck, and Powe all went up a line. Now we now why Darroll Powe was brought in- his line with Johnson and Brodziak has been may be the best line on the team since its inception, and may have made an argument that it is the best checking line in the league. Now, on the wing, Powe can freely fly up and down the ice, plaster defensemen into the boards, and create havoc on the forecheck. Instead of just getting fourth line minutes and penalty kill duty, he's got more presence on the ice as that line is essentially Yeo's pet line.

(Getty) Ok, I guess Powe owns Chris Higgins too.

So then in the name of premature speculation (and trying to add to our post count) what does Minnesota do in terms of roster moves when (and I hope its not an "if") Guillaume Latendresse comes back?

If I had to guess, it doesn't involve Warren Peters going back to Houston and Darroll Powe going back to the 4th line.