Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up. Leading up to the holidays and before we jump into the year in review, we will examine some hot or returning lines as well as players who have very recently been deployed on their respective teams' lethal power-play units. All using data from the Frozen Tools section to support managers with the best roster decisions. As always, keep on the lineups as they can change frequently and within games. Additionally, be aware of this week in Yahoo leagues if you are in head-to-head settings as it is not being combined with next week for an extra long matchup. This means the week effectively ends on Friday so you will want to maximize your roster spots as best you can between now and then.

Let's dive in.

Filip Chytil – Kaapo Kakko – Alexis Lafrenière

The Kid Line from the New York Rangers has started to pick it up lately and seen multiple players begin hot streaks. As a unit, the trio have really connected with 10 goals for and only four against while controlling the play with a 52.7 CF% in close to 130 minutes of time. Chytil and Kakko are leading the way, each with five points in their last four games. For his part, Chytil is seeing some high metrics, particularly a 17.4% shooting percentage, that is due to regress. On the other hand, Kakko is within normal ranges for all underlying numbers and so if he begins to heat up and continues building chemistry, that will hopefully balance out any hard regression from Chytil. Both players are currently under 10% rostered in Yahoo leagues and so are readily available but be wary of Chytil as he is currently day-to-day with hopefully more positive information to follow.

Lafrenière has recently been complementing these two and has three points in his last three games. He currently has a lower-than-normal shooting percentage so assuming Chytil is healthy, could be due for more luck as long the line continues to drive play against the opposition. As you may or may not have guessed, he is the higher owned of the group but could still widely be had in Yahoo leagues at 22% rostered.

Evan Rodrigues – Valeri Nichushkin

Colorado has been steadily regaining players from the injury list and the pair of Evan Rodrigues and Valeri Nichushkin have returned and begun producing.  Rodrigues already has two points and 11 shots in his initial three games since returning. Nichushkin is on a streak as well with four points in the last five games, along with 14 shots in that span. The recent streak continues his incredible run so far, where he is on pace for 101 points in an 82-game season. He is accomplishing this with only a moderately-high shooting percentage and points per 60 minutes, but all other advanced metrics are within normal ranges. Rodrigues is also within normal ranges except for secondary assists of which he has zero so far this season. Secondary assists are more luck-based and that can be expected to increase and provide him with more points moving forward.

The pair have strong Corsi For metrics as viewed on the Player Usage Chart and both see a higher percentage of offensive vs. defensive zone deployment, good indicators that they perform well and are placed in favourable situations for continued production. Nichushkin is, as expected, more widely owned in Yahoo leagues but Rodrigues is 11% rostered. Until Colorado returns to full health, this line will continue to be leaned on so take a look at bolstering your roster with either player if you can.

Jimmy Vesey

It may surprise readers, but it is almost hard to believe that Jimmy Vesey is now 29 and debuted in the NHL during the 2016-2017 season with the Rangers, coming full circle back to the team that originally won the Vesey sweepstakes. Though he so far has not seemed to fully realize his original potential, Vesey looks to be receiving the Sam Steel treatment mentioned in Ramblings throughout the week. While the Kid Line remains intact for the most part, Vesey is getting long looks with the top-six as he has played nearly half of his season so far at even strength with some combination of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck. Most recently, he is lining up alongside Kreider and Trocheck and currently has four points in his past four games, including the statement two-goal game against his former team in Toronto. If he can continue to hold this deployment, he could be in line for continued production and fill a role on deeper rosters.

Hampus Lindholm

The writing appeared to be on the wall for Lindholm's production with the impending return of Charlie McAvoy. The time he was receiving alongside Boston's top power-play unit would come to an end and his career production at that point would slow as a result. Much of that did come to pass as he went from 18 points in 21 games during the first quarter to five points in his last 10 games so far this quarter. However, Lindholm has supplanted McAvoy on the top power play u and already has two power-play points to show for it. There is no telling how long this will last so scoop him up while you can as Boston still has two games remaining before the end of the shortened week.

Michael Bunting

A short note here, Bunting has been discussed in this column previously, however Toronto has been practicing with a five-forward power-play unit and guess who the lucky fifth forward is to join the star-studded quartet? Already with 12 points in hist last 11 games, including three goals in his last four outings, Bunting could be in line for an even larger boost in production by joining this unit. Keep an eye on the deployment and consider adding him to your roster as he is currently 60% rostered in Yahoo leagues.

Thanks for reading.