Frozen Tools Forensics: Lines on Fire

Chris Kane

2022-04-01

At this point we are in playoff season. Many leagues are deep into their first round already. A good add can make or break your season and there is a lot less leash for players who we would historically keep long term. Player schedules, or bumps in deployment all have bigger impacts when it's win or go home.

This week we are going to take a look at the hottest lines in the league and see if there are any lines and third wheels and so on worth taking a look at.

We will be focusing on the Even Strength Line report for the last two weeks and sorting by goals for. With each of the lines I have bolded players who are more readily available in leagues and we will briefly touch on their performances.

Line CombinationTeamGFGAGF%SFSASF%
PATRICK KANE – DYLAN STROME – ALEX DEBRINCATCHI8561.5494452.7
TOMAS HERTL – TIMO MEIER – ALEXANDER BARABANOVS.J8372.7412958.6
ELIAS LINDHOLM – JOHNNY GAUDREAU – MATTHEW TKACHUKCGY7463.6404050
ANDERS LEE – BROCK NELSON – ANTHONY BEAUVILLIERNYI7846.6364942.4
MITCHELL MARNER – MICHAEL BUNTING – AUSTON MATTHEWSTOR6366.6412265.1
TAYLOR HALL – ERIK HAULA – DAVID PASTRNAKBOS6185.7412760.3
EVANDER KANE – CONNOR MCDAVID – KAILER YAMAMOTOEDM5362.5412463.1
TEUVO TERAVAINEN – SEBASTIAN AHO – SETH JARVISCAR5271.4293446
SIDNEY CROSBY – EVAN RODRIGUES – JAKE GUENTZELPIT5271.4322457.1
MATT DUCHENE – RYAN JOHANSEN – FILIP FORSBERGNSH5455.5323150.8
MIKA ZIBANEJAD – CHRIS KREIDER – FRANK VATRANONYR5183.3271171.1
COLTON SISSONS – YAKOV TRENIN – TANNER JEANNOTNSH5362.5353351.5

Quick side note: all data is before game time on March 31, and rostered percentages are from Yahoo.

Alex Barabanov has six points in his last six games, though only two in his last three. He also had five shots in his game on March 30, but you have to go back seven games before getting another three-plus-shot game. He also has two games over 19 minutes of total time on ice in his last four starts, plus about two minutes of power-play time. At only four percent rostered, he seems like a decent grab if you need help down the stretch.

Anders Lee, Brock Nelson, and Anthony Beauvillier have been on fire for a little while now and have been talked about all over. Lee (53 percent rostered) has 20 points in his last 13 games, Nelson (47 percent rostered) has 20 points in his last 15 games, and Beauvillier (7 percent rostered) has 12 in his last 13. Go grab Lee and Nelson if they are somehow available. Beauvillier is definitely a deeper cut and not getting in on as much of the action. He is down to four points in his last six and without the power-play time of Barabanov. If I am taking a swing here, it might not be with Beauvillier.

At this point it should not come as a surprise that Erik Haula is playing with David Pastrnak and Taylor Hall. Minus a couple of injuries that has been a constant for a while. At six percent rostered he is widely available. He isn't shooting much, getting a lot of ice time overall or on the power-play so you are relying on that even strength production (and primarily assists). He has seven points in his last four games, but nothing in his most recent game, and was cold for six games prior to this little outburst. 

Kailer Yamamoto (26% rostered) should be more widely rostered. He has been going for several weeks now, and getting pretty reasonable deployment. He has 13 points in his last 11 games, though only one in his last three. He has been bouncing around a little, particularly on the power-play, but at even strength he is seeing time with Leon Draisaitl, and most recently was off the top power-play, seeing second unit time with Evander Kane and Ryan McLeod. It is a bit concerning that he was moved off that top unit, but only three points in this run were on the power play.

Seth Jarvis (seven percent rostered) has had multiple runs of excellent deployment so far this season and he is on another one. He has been lining up with Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen. The problem in Carolina is that they don't often stick with lineups all that long. Over his last seven games Jarvis has been productive though and has literally been alternating two point and zero-point games for a total of eight points over his last seven. He isn't shooting much, and has been down below 14 minutes of total ice time the last several games, and not getting any power-play time.

Evan Rodrigues (27 percent rostered) had a wild ride to start the season, but disappeared once Pittsburgh was healthy and his deployment tanked. He has been getting a little deployment bump recently as Bryan Rust was moved to a line with Evgeni Malkin but he still only has one point in his last four and as of practice on 3/30 it looks like the Penguins were changing things up again with Rodrigues back in the bottom six. I think it is safe to avoid this one, and drop if you somehow still own him.

Ryan Johansen's (30 percent rostered) linemates are having success that isn't really translating to him. He has four points in his last six, and five in his last nine. He has no games with more than one shot during that nine-game stretch and four with zero shots. Like with Rodrigues, I think this is a good avoid situation.

Frank Vatrano's (21 percent rostered) name has made the rounds recently as he was traded and then got better deployment for the Rangers. He has five points in his last four games plus two or three shots in each. I don't know that we are looking at point-per-game Vatrano going forward as he has four goals on his last ten shots, but his even-strength deployment is certainly an improvement and he is worth a look.

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Tanner Jeannot (52 percent) is much higher rostered than most of this list. That is likely due to his great run of 13 points in twelve games in December/early January. He went pretty cold after that with only five points in his next 12, but kept providing hits, which likely kept him on some rosters. He is back at it again (despite missing a game for the birth of his child) with seven points in his last seven games. Again, this likely isn't sustaining but get him while he is hot, particularly if hits are helpful in your league.

That is all for this week

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