Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up and a Happy New Year to everyone. This week we're going to take a look at some more recent hot lines throughout the league. In particular, we'll discuss the hottest even strength lines from the last week. Games and player status have still been in a state of flux but relatively speaking, the last week has had teams return to varying levels of play. As always though, be sure to monitor the schedule and your roster for last minute developments.

Vladimir Tarasenko – Jordan Kyrou – Robert Thomas

Tarasenko and Thomas have been playing together on a line for a significant portion of the season – over 200 minutes – with varying levels of success. Recently however, Kyrou has joined the duo and has taken off with seven points in his last two games. The trio have been the best line in the last week with five GF and only two GA.

Both Tarasenko and Kyrou are well known and each have been rolling along with stellar seasons. Tarasenko has 14 goals and 33 points in 33 games this year to go along with three and half shots per game. While Kyrou is right behind him at 12 goals and 32 points in 29 games this year in addition to his two and a half shots per game. Each are on particular hot streaks, especially Kyrou as mentioned, but Thomas is the third wheel that can be widely available in leagues.

At just 29% owned in Yahoo leagues, Thomas is being criminally overlooked. He has quietly put up three goals and 25 points in 26 games played on the season and even has received a solid share of power-play time with 42.5%. With no advanced stats screaming regression and Kyrou being red hot, expect Thomas to tag along for the ride.

STL is one of a dozen or so teams playing three games this fantasy week and all three games are on light days.

Logan Couture – Timo Meier – Alexander Barabanov

Another hot line in the past week, is one coming out of S.J. Much like the line from STL, Couture and Meier have been attached for a large portion of the season. Over 300 minutes together and in particular they had 12 GF and 7 GA with a CF% of 52.5 when Jonathan Dahlen joined the pair. Recently however, Barabanov has replaced Dahlen and the results have been great.

In case you haven't heard, Couture has been quietly chugging along with 16 goals and 25 points in 33 games so far this season. While Meier has been an absolute force with 13 goals and 34 points in 28 games plus some very solid peripheral contributions with over four shots on goal and over two hits per game. At 75% and 90% owned respectively in Yahoo leagues, both are known quantities at this point.

At only 4% owned though, you can get the recent addition to this pair of hot players in Barabanov. With a respectable 18 points in 28 games, Barabanov has been carving a decent year out for himself. Lately though he is on a nice hot streak with eight points in his last nine games and as long as he finds himself lining up with Couture and Meier he is worth taking a flier on. That becomes especially true this coming fantasy week as S.J plays a full three games and all games are potentially lucrative matchups against DET, BUF and PHI.

Nikita Kucherov

With Kucherov potentially returning as early as this week according to NBCSportsEdge, this is a good time to review the TBL top lines. Most recently, Anthony Cirelli has been lining up with Kucherov's most frequent linemates of Brayden Point and Ondrej Palat. With his return, expect Kucherov to replace Cirelli, potentially bumping him down the lineup.

Consider trying to acquire Palat or add him if he's available and keep an eye out on where Cirelli lands as his situation could change significantly.

Michael Bunting

With the Leafs' first game since December 14th played this past weekend, we not only got the return of Mitch Marner from injury but a friendly reminder of Bunting's plumb assignment. So far, he has a solid 19 points in 31 games played but if you're in need of a depth add, consider picking up Bunting now that the top line is at full strength. The game between TOR and MON later this week is postponed but TOR will be leaving on a road trip after for a full week of games. Note that Matthews just entered Covid protocol but expect Bunting to continue Lining Up with Marner.

UPDATE: Matthews is a positive case so he will be out for the rest of the week at least.

Craig Smith

Another solid option to consider is Craig Smith. Over the last three games, Smith has replaced David Pastrnak on the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Smith has performed a little below expectations so far this season with only three goals and nine points in 21 games but he already has a point in each of the last two games with the top line. It will no doubt only be a matter of time before Pastrnak moves back up with Bergeron and Marchand so jump on Smith while you can, BOS is also one of a dozen teams with three games this fantasy week.