Looking for a way to catch up to your competition? Trying to figure out who the next breakout star will be? Head over to the Dobber Shop and pre-order the Midseason Guide. The expected release date is January 10th so don’t miss out.

Now that the advertising is over, My name is Aaron and I am here with this week’s installment of ‘Lining Up’. Using Dobber’s Frozen Tools Line Production Tool, I have compiled a table of the hottest lines at even strength over the last three games. I will go over a couple of the hot lines and take a look at a couple of cold lines.

As the kids would say, These lines are lit (insert fire emoji here)

Minnesota Wild

Joel Eriksson Ek – Marcus Foligno – Luke Kunin

The Wild have been playing much better over the last six weeks but they still see themselves four points out of the final wildcard spot. This line above has been the best line at even strength over the last three games.

Joel Eriksson Ek

In his third full season, Eriksson Ek has started to put things together as a pro and it is starting to show in the points column. For the season he is averaging .47 points per game which gives him a pace of 39 points. There isn’t much fantasy relevance over a whole season but over his last six games he has been hot with five points. If you are looking for a cheap streaming option, he may be a good short-term play or a player to add into DFS if you are top loaded with expensive options.

Marcus Foligno

The elder statesman of the line, Foligno has found some chemistry paired with these two young bucks. For the season Foligno is on a scoring pace of .48 points per game which puts him in line for about 35 points on the season. That number would be a career best. If he sticks with this line and they continue to stay hot I can see him getting closer to 40 points. Foligno does have 116 hits on the season which is great for banger leagues.

Luke Kunin

Kunin is in his first full season in the NHL. He certainly has a lot of upside as he is a skilled skater with loads of offensive upside. For the season Kunin has put 19 points, 18 of them have been at even strength. His current pace of 37 would certainly be an improvement over the half of a season he played last year. He may not be fantasy relevant just yet, but he could be a good sleeper grab in dynasty leagues.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Pierre Engvall – Kasperi Kapanen – Jason Spezza 

The maple Leafs third line has been dynamite over the last three games scoring 9 points over that span. This newly formed line is showing great chemistry and they have earned the trust of their head coach Sheldon Keefe.

Pierre Engvall

Having played under coach Keefe for the last year and a half, Engvall has earned a spot in the Maple Leafs top nine. In 22 games this season Engvall has 12 points. That’s an 82-game pace of 45 points. That would be a good rookie season as a role player. I would be interested to see what he can do when put into a scoring role with one of the top two lines,50-60 points could be possible. Engvall makes a nice cheap DFS play to pair up when trying to go top heavy.

Kasperi Kapanen

The speedy winger of the line, Kapanen is a great puck retriever and he is turning into quite the little playmaker. For the season Kapanen is up to 26 points which puts him on pace for almost 50 points. That total would best last season’s 44 points. Over the last six games he has seven points. If he can continue his hot streak, he may find himself back into a top six role which would certainly be good for his production, but it wouldn’t be so great for his linemates. For their sakes I think he sticks with this line and still manages to get to the 50-point mark.

Jason Spezza

Spezza isn’t used to the role he has been put in as previous seasons with Dallas and Ottawa he was more of a playmaker then a shutdown guy. In his new role, though, he is starting to thrive and we are starting to see the points column rise as well. He is having his best point per game total in the last three years at .53 points per game ,which in deep leagues isn’t too bad of a number. Spread over an 82-game season he would be on pace for 44 points. If he sticks with the two youngsters for the rest of the year, I could see him get close to the 40-point mark.

BRRRR It’s cold in here

New York Islanders

Jordan Eberle – Anders Lee – Brock Nelson

The above line has been absolutely frozen over the last three games. It hasn’t been just them however, it has been the whole New York Islanders team that has been cold. Before scoring in last night’s game, they went 139 minutes and 21 seconds without a goal. I’d like to say things will turn around for the Islanders and this line, but the team is scoring 2.76 goals per game which is ranked 22nd in the league. Don’t set your expectations too high until we will see a shakeup to get the teams act together.

Ottawa Senators

Connor Brown – Jean-Gabriel Pageau – Brady Tkachuk

The Ottawa Senators weren’t expected to do much this year so it’s no surprise that any line is struggling. The line above in particular has scored zero points at even strength over the last three games. Even if I go back as far as ten games this line has only combined for seven points. The Senators are tied with the Islanders for goals per game on the season and I don’t expect that number to rise for at least the rest of this year as they continue their rebuild. Be real choosy if you have to have a Senator on your team. There isn’t much value there.

*

As most have seen, The Nashville Predators fired head coach Peter Laviolette. As of Tuesday morning, they have not announced who his replacement is. In next week’s ‘Lining Up’ I’ll dive into the new coach’s line deployments.

Thanks for reading,

Aaron