Good morning fantasy hockey land. I am here with this week’s “Lining Up”. I have compiled a list of the top lines at even strength over the last ten games. I will look over the top lines over that ten-game span. I will also look at the new deployment in Nashville and look into a couple of the injuries from around the league.

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As I mentioned, there have been a few good lines over the last ten games. One of the lines has a player that is flirting with the season goals lead and another line has quite possibly the best breakout candidate of the year.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Zack Hyman – Mitch Marner – Auston Matthews

I try not to write too much about the Maple Leafs as it is the one team I cheer for the most. I also feel it is one of the most talked about teams every year. This is also the first time in these lists that they have had the top producing line, so I really had no choice but to talk about them.

Zach Hyman

Having the defensive-minded Hyman on this line has really helped propel them to the top of the chart. Hyman does an excellent job protecting the puck as he has only given the puck away six times in 27 games played. Meanwhile he is averaging 1.8 takeaways per 60 minutes. For the season, he is up to a modest 19 points, 16 of which have come at even strength. Over his last 10 games he has four goals and six assists plus one power play goal. Currently he is available in 55 of Fantrax league. I think for the short term he could be a good sneaky add while his linemates stay hot.

Auston Matthews

Matthews has done it all this season. He is having his best year in the face-off circle winning 55 percent of the draws which is important because his zone start percentage is at 66 percent. Winning that important face-off in the offensive zone certainly helps generate offence. Speaking of offence, Matthews has been on an absolute tear over the last ten games, scoring 16 points, five of those have come on the power play. In 46 games so far this season he is up to 23 goals and 15 assists at even strength. If you don’t own Matthews, I can’t imagine a scenario that lands him onto your team without giving up the farm.

Mitch Marner

Magic Mitch has been equally hot over the last ten games. He has put up 16 points, five of those coming on the power play. Marner has also been spending more time on the penalty kill but it certainly hasn’t hurt his overall point production. This season he is scoring at a career high of 1.26 points a game which spread over an 82-game season would see him break the 100-point mark. Having missed multiple games earlier in the season he will probably break the 90-point mark this season giving him back to back 90 plus seasons. As a Leafs fan I can’t wait to see what the future holds for a healthy Mitch Marner. Now to just try and figure out a way to pry him from his owner’s hands.

Vancouver Canucks

Brock Boeser – J.T. Miller – Elias Pettersson

The Canucks actually have two lines that are clicking along and both playing great hockey. The second line of Loui Eriksson, Bo Horvat, and Tanner Pearson had a combined 20 points over the 10 game span. Both lines are they key reason the Canucks have won eight of their last ten games. The above line however clearly has more fantasy relevance so we will stick to just that line for this week.

Brock Boeser

In his third full season in the NHL Boeser is scoring points at almost a point per game clip. At even strength, he has 11 goals and 18 assists. He is shooting the puck more this year at just over three shots per game. His shooting percentage is down almost two full points from his career average so we could see his goal totals rise a little more if he can get that percentage up. Over his last 19 games, Boeser has 19 points. He is owned in most leagues, but he is a player in one-year leagues you may be able to take a run at.

J.T. Miller

After coming over to the Canucks in a trade this past summer, one wonders how a new player will mesh with his new team. Well Miller has fit in really well and has been a key contributor in the team’s success. He is scoring points at almost a point-per-game clip and is on pace to put up 78 points. Miller has always been a player that can play up and down the lineup. He’s fast, gritty and a skillful playmaker but he had never been given a chance to fill a top line role for a full season. That is until this season and he has taken off in the point’s column. In his eighth season we are seeing a star in the making as it looks like Miller is breaking out. It's a little later than the normal fourth year breakout but I am sure everyone in Vancouver is happy it’s happening there. Miller is owned in almost every league so the likelihood of picking him up from the waiver wire is slim. Make your best offer if you are trying to acquire this veteran forward.

Elias Pettersson

In just his second season Pettersson has been all the Canucks hoped he would and then some. I’m not sure they expected him to have this much success early on. This season he is over a point per game and has a current pace of 86 points. That would be ten points better than his rookie campaign. He has scored 14 goals and 15 assists at even strength. He is shooting the puck more this season and is sustaining a very good shooting percentage of 17.9 which is one and a half points lower than last season’s total but still very good. Again, like his team mates he is taken in practically every league however I think Pettersson would be a lot harder to trade for then his two line mates.

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Nashville Predators

The Predators have now played three games under the new head coach John Hynes and he hasn’t changed up the lines too drastically, just the frequency of their time on ice. Here is how they have been deployed so far in the last three games and their percentage of time on ice.

So far they have won their last two games after losing in their coach’s debut. That was somewhat expected as he was hired about ten hours before puck drop. Since then they have had a few good practices and coach Hynes is really trying to instill a defense first attitude by being at the right place at the right time. He also is working diligently on their special teams as they are tied for 30th on the penalty kill and they are also in the bottom half of the league on the power play. So although at first he hasn’t changed much offensively over the first three games, we may see a shakeup occur in the matchup game as he tries to differentiate between his shutdown lines and scoring lines.

Injuries

Last week it was announced that Logan Couture of the San Jose Sharks was going to miss the next six weeks with a fractured ankle. Antti Suomela has been given a top six role in the first three games of Couture’s absence. We will see how this plays out over the next few weeks.

Brendan Gallagher missed his sixth game over the Canadiens last seven with a headache. It hasn’t been confirmed that he has a concussion but things certainly look that way. Taking over his spot on the top line is Montreal newcomer Ilya Kovalchuk.

Jonathan Marchessault has been back skating in his top line role during the Vegas Golden Knights practices over the last few days but is still dealing with a nagging lower body injury. Chandler Stephenson has filled in for him over his absence.

Other Notable Injuries

Kyle Palmieri – New Jersey Devils

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Edmonton Oilers

Jakob Silfverberg – Anaheim Ducks

Dylan Strome – Chicago Blackhawks

Joonas Donskoi – Colorado Avalanche

Thanks for reading this week’s ‘Lining Up’