In the spirit of Christmas and the Holiday season, this week will examine even strength lines combinations or players that have been gifts to fantasy owners this calendar year. On the flip side, who has been a lump of coal? We will take a look at some players who despite receiving favourable deployment, have disappointed.

Let's dive in.

Presents

Let's look at the top even strength lines for the calendar year and see what gifts have been given to fantasy owners this year. Sorting by Top EV Line and entering a custom date range for the calendar year in Frozen Tools, we will discuss a few lines listed below.

Joe Pavelski – Roope Hintz – Jason Robertson

Jason Robertson is the straw that stirs the drink on this line and what a gift he has been for fantasy owners. Since his first full season in the NHL, Robertson has steadily progressed in his points per game rates starting with 0.88, then 1.07 and finally this season he is at a 1.37 rate with 48 points in 35 games, including taking a run at the Rocket Richard Trophy.

Roberston's ascension to a top-tier fantasy asset has allowed Joe Pavelski to, in turn, become a near ageless wonder. In his first season with Dallas back in 2019-2020, he had 31 points in 67 games which is just below the half point-per-game mark. In the subsequent season, Pavelski shot up to a near point-per-game pace and has stayed there ever since. The point output also coincided with doubling his power-play point output and adding half a shot per game on the season. Similarly, Roope Hintz scored 33 points in 60 games during the 2019-2020 season before elevating his game to above or slightly below the point-per-game mark, including this season where he currently has 36 points in 34 games.

If you are following along, the rising tide of Robertson lifted Pavelski and Hintz to high-scoring seasons, and the continued effectiveness and chemistry of this line is the reason why it sits at the top of the board with 69 GF over the course of this calendar year.

Jeff Skinner – Alex Tuch – Tage Thompson

Another line combination here that is being drive by a monster fantasy performer is in Buffalo where Tage Thompson continues a remarkable run from where he left off least season. So far, he is currently on an 11-game hot streak with a whopping 24 points during that span. On the season he is on pace for 128 points and has 50 in 32 games overall. He has continued his strong play from the beginning of this calendar year, from January 1^st to April 29^th last season, he had 48 points in 46 games. Thompson has continued to build and the chemistry he has with his current linemates Jeff Skinner and Alex Tuch is indicative of that progression.

Thompson should probably be thanked for single-handedly dragging Jeff Skinner back from fantasy purgatory. Skinner spent the previous two seasons in Buffalo before Thompson's arrival from 2019 to 2021 at 0.26 and 0.39 point-per-game paces. This calendar year however, Skinner has 82 points in 79 games and has been a real present to owners who drafted or even added him off the waiver wire in shallower leagues. Skinner's deployment alongside Thompson has really allowed for him to flourish. To a lesser extent, Tuch has also been fortunate enough to predominantly be deployed alongside Thompson and Skinner, playing over 50% of his even-strength time with this line combination. Tuch has been able to enter into the realm of fantasy relevance with 72 points in 80 games this calendar year and has almost matched his point total from last season in 18 less games.

Fantasy owners will hope that these will be the gifts that keep giving next season as Skinner and Tuch should maintain solid point production so long as they are being deployed alongside Thompson.

Michael Bunting

A quick shout out here for Michael Bunting, who has managed to solidify himself alongside Mitchell Marner and Austin Matthews on the second-best even strength line in the league over the last calendar year. If there was ever a flagship player who truly exemplifies "Lining Up", it would be him.

Linus Ullmark

Many assumed that just as last season, Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman would split the goaltending duties. Considering that last season, both goalies played the same number of games with very similar goals-against averages and save percentages, it was no wonder that owners anticipated another timeshare as indicated by his current 64% ownership in Yahoo leagues. Even Dobber's confidence in Ullmark being the starter was 60%. Since this season began, Ullmark has been a big gift to owners who drafted him as he has so far been stellar with 18 wins in 23 games along with a 1.86 GAA, 0.939 SV% and a Quality Start percentage (QS%) of 73.9. He has completely dominated the crease and currently has a stranglehold on the starting position.

Ville Husso

Husso exploded onto the scene this calendar year when he began challenging and eventually supplanting Jordan Binnington for the starter role in St. Louis. From January 2^nd to the end of the the regular season, he started 33 of the last 50 games over Binnington and on the season, finished with 25 wins a 2.56 GAA, 0.919 SV% and a 60 QS%. After that season he priced himself out of St. Louis and landed in Detroit, where it seemed he would be behind or at best competing with Alex Nedeljkovic who was brought on to solidify the position in net. However, where Nedeljkovic so far has posted a 4.09 GAA, 0.880 SV% and 22.2 QS% in nine starts this season, Husso has hardly missed a beat by posting a 2.72 GAA, 0.912 SV% and 52.2 QS% in 23 starts. Considering he left a team with Stanley Cup aspirations for one that was likely to miss the playoffs altogether this season, the drop is not as drastic as owners may have expected. Husso's strong play from St. Louis to Detroit has allowed him to earn more starts and better deployment than originally anticipated, thereby bolstering his fantasy relevance.

Lumps of Coal

Jonathan Huberdeau

Because he is being written about here, Huberdeau has six points in his last four games and will no doubt continue at this pace for the remainder of the season. Until that time however, his tenure with Calgary to date has been lacklustre to say the least, as even with the recent hot streak he is only pacing for 62 points on the season which is almost half of what he put up last season if it can be believed. Such a steep drop is shocking for a player of this calibre, especially considering what Calgary gave in return to acquire him. All his advanced analytics indicate that he is underperforming, from his shooting percentage to his PP IPP, are all multiple points lower than his previous three seasons. He is also taking below two shots per game for the first time in almost a decade and on top of that his ice time is a full minute and a half less than his previous three-year average. The level of deployment he is receiving in Calgary is impacting his potency as a high-producing forward and until he either finds chemistry with Tyler Toffoli and Elias Lindholm or finds another player to connect with, it could continue to be a season of muted expectations.

Jack Campbell

Prior to the start of this calendar year, Campbell was having a remarkable run with Toronto. In his first 18 games there, he posted 12 wins in 18 games played along with a sparkling 1.64 GAA, 0.946 SV% and an 83.3 QS%. In the 41 games since the start of this year, he has dropped down to a 3.55 GAA, 0.886 SV% and a 39 QS%. The disappoint comes from expectations or perhaps high hopes that he would regain his form from the beginning of last season with a move to Edmonton. Indeed, the signing of Campbell and the five-year contract he received seemed to indicate that he would be given every opportunity to succeed. Alas, Campbell has continued to flounder and Stuart Skinner has shouldered his way into the crease with his impressive play. He has effectively lost his prime deployment as the volume starter in Edmonton, which mutes his value and seemingly will continue for the duration of the season and beyond so long as Skinner is at least serviceable.