A look at the hottest lines in the National Hockey League, including a few defensemen chipping in plenty of offense …

Lead us forwards…..

Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane – Artem Panarin (Chicago)

The Blackhawks had one hell of a week and naturally this line piled up the points. Chicago has scored 11 goals in their last two games as all of the playoff bound Western Conference teams watch in terror. Next up… the Coyotes, who by the way played Monday night and head into this matchup with no rest. So, if you enjoy playing your DFS, then I recommend a healthy Blackhawks stack Tuesday.

I don’t really know how much more I can say about this line that we already don’t know. The Calder should and will go to Panarin who has come out of nowhere this season to out produce Jack Eichel and the rest of the field by over 20 points. Sure, Connor McDavid may have topped the “Bread Man” if healthy, but toughness and durability are part of the game. The Hart will go to none other than "Agent 88" who just eclipsed the 100 point mark for the first time in his career.

What Kane has managed to do this year is absolutely incredible considering he is coming off a Stanley Cup win. To comeback this season after a long playoff run and produce at the rate he has speaks volumes about his insane skillset. Not to mention all the offseason non-sense he had to deal with regarding the rape allegations. If you own Kane or Panarin… enjoyThis duo will be special for many many years.

EV Strength Production = 9 points

PP Production = 7 points

Nikolaj Ehlers – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg)

True story. Late one night on February 18 of this year my brother asked me if he should drop Scheifele in his one year point’s pool. I told him to STAND PAT because with Ladd and Little out of the picture, Scheifele could potentially produce down the stretch. I was a big fan of Scheifele leading into the season, as I heard many reports about him adding several pounds of muscle and looking fitter.

Well guess what? Since then, Scheifele has amassed 27 points through 21 games, and in the process, he has set a career high already with 56 points. The moral of the story is patience. The most important things to look at are TOI, PP time, and SOG. Furthermore, if a player is not producing but his entire team is in the dumps… things can turnaround.

Wheeler is quietly having himself yet another solid year already posting a career-high 73 points already. What is most impressive about his season is of those 73 points only 16 have come on the man advantage, which makes me believe he can flirt with 80 points if the PP was better than a league-worst 14.6 percent.

As for Ehlers, he has had himself a decent rookie season, and with Ladd and Little out of the picture, he’s been able to garner more ice time. You could start Scheifele and Wheeler with confidence down the stretch, as they have been automatic as it gets in the last month.

EV Strength Production = 6 points

Aleksander Barkov – Jonathan Huberdeau – Jaromir Jagr (Florida)

This line has been money in the bank all season. One player I will surely target next season is Barkov. Want to talk about a fourth-year breakout? Well, Barkov is definitely in line for a massive 2016-17 campaign. Barkov has set a career high this season with 55 points but most impressive are his 26 goals.

The only reason why this line has not received as much fuss as other top lines in the NHL is because multiple injuries have caused the trio to be jumbled at points throughout the year. Keep in mind that Barkov has 55 points through a mere 62 games.

Then we have Jagr, the ageless wonder… who at the age of 44 has dropped 62 points like a boss. I really can’t explain how he does it, nor can the rest of the hockey world, but it is a pleasure to watch. Ride this line down the stretch if you own any piece of it.

EV Strength Production = 7 points

Matt Cullen – Eric Fehr – Tomas Kuhnackl (Pittsburgh)

Nick Bonino – Carl Hagelin – Phil Kessel (Pittsburgh)

The Penguins have been scorching hot down the stretch with a 9-1 record through their last 10 games while scoring 45 goals over that span. Their recent form has catapulted them to second place in the Eastern Conference behind their arch rival Capitals.

All this success and without Evgeni Malkin!?! And Marc-Andre Fleury!?! What gives?

Obviously, Sidney Crosby is lighting it up with that top line right? Wrong.

With 21 goals in their last four games the Pens have been firing on all cylinders. But surprisingly the two lines listed above have done the majority of the scoring for the high-flying Penguins.

The third line, led by Cullen, has been a pleasure to watch as a Pens fan. Fehr and Kuhnackl play with such high intensity and energy that it creates a lot of offensive opportunities, which they have capitalized on.

As for the second line, I think it should be untouched going forward. Kessel seems to be shaking off his early-season rust and his chemistry with the rest of this line looks scary good. My hope is,if and when Malkin returns, he is put alongside Crosby and Hornqvist, which would make for a dangerous top line.

EV Strength Production = 8 points

EV Strength Production = 6 points

Defend this…..

Trevor Daley – Kris Letang (Pittsburgh)

Naturally, when a team scores 21 goals in a week, you would expect the defense to be involved. Letang and Daley have developed an interesting partnership on the man advantage. Although, this pairing will eventually dissipate with the return of Evgeni Malkin.

Letang has set a career high this season with 64 points and along the way has produced handsomely in a majority of rotisserie leagues. Letang has produced shorthanded, on the power play, and he’s even chipped in 60 penalty minutes. Letang is truly world-class, and his only Achilles' heal is his health, which has surprisingly somewhat held up this season. Going forward I would not recommend drafting Letang as he is too much of a risk for me, but I certainly enjoy his production when healthy.

PP Production = 4 points

Matthew Carle – Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay)

With Anton Stralman out of the picture, Hedman has picked up the pace with eight points in his last seven games. Hedman is such a hard player to gauge and thus extremely annoying to draft. I was once an owner, and I must say, he is great to watch, but he just can’t seem to take it to an elite fantasy level.

The closest he got was in the 2013-14 season which saw him set a career high of 55 points. The big problem with Hedman seems to be the PP. This year alone, he has a measly 11 power-play points, which is miniscule when compared to a Brent Burns' 29 on the season.

Nonetheless, the Lightning surprisingly have a weak PP this year which is ranked 26th and scoring at just 16 percent. When watching the Bolts on the man advantage it is clear that the rarely use their blue line, as they are really focused on getting the puck to Steven Stamkos and their other skilled forwards.

The difference is with Ottawa, San Jose, and Nashville, for example, the puck on the PP is always finding its way to Erik Karlsson, Burns and Shea Weber, respectively.

EV Production = 4 points

Brent Burns (San Jose)

I put Burns here by himself because he has a cool beard and he produces like a champ.

Who is my pick for the Norris? Brent Burns.

I have watched tons of San Jose games this season, mainly because I own Burns and Joe Thornton in a majority of my pools. One thing I can say is that every time Burns steps on the ice he has an impact. Burns can handle the puck like a seasoned forward, and his shot is so clinical that he has managed to score a whopping 27 goals this season, which is 12 more than Erik Karlsson.

Want to know another crazy stat? Only Alex Ovechkin has more shots on goal than Burns. Burns has managed to shoot the puck a ridiculous 344 times this season. Suffice to say, he is the catalyst for the Sharks on offense and a major reason why Joe Thornton has returned to elite form at the age of 36.

Add the fact that Brent plays a physical brand of hockey, and he’s not scared to get dirty with 137 blocked shots… I think he has a case for the Norris.

Drew Doughty, who by the way has not won a Norris to date, is a name that constantly comes up for Norris consideration, but I cannot justify him winning it over Burns. I understand that Burns may not be as valuable in the defensive end as Doughty, but Burn's offensive presence is so impactful that it makes up for any defensive deficiencies he may have.  Anyways, Burns is a must start in fantasy and a pleasure to watch.

EV Production = 4 points

PP Production = 1 point

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Follow Jonathan Coretti on Twitter (@HolyPuckHockey)