Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up. Following the All-Star weekend, we are going to take a look at how Anthony Beauvillier and Bo Horvat were deployed with their new teams and who might benefit most from these line combinations. Players this week will also be from teams who heavier schedules this week as several teams are still on a break. If your roster has a player with only one game played this week, consider streaming in a player from a busier squad to maximize your roster spots.

Let's dive in.

Anthony Beauvillier

There are a plethora of takes already done by better writers on this site, but Anthony Beauvillier was lining up alongside Andrei Kuzmenko and Elias Pettersson at even strength last night. This deployment will certainly be a much-needed boost to Beauvillier's fantasy stock as he has so far been producing at a 33-point pace, his lowest in his last four seasons. Besides playing on a low-scoring team, this dip can also be attributed to his drop in power-play time, as his percent of power-play dropped from 40% over his last three seasons to 30% this season. Luckily, we got to see how he was deployed on the Vancouver power-play last night and he was indeed slotted on the top unit, receiving a 77.5% PP%. He is definitely being given great opportunity and that is a significant improvement to his situation in New York.

At 6% rostered in Yahoo leagues, it seems many managers are taking more of a "wait-and-see" approach. However, if this top line and top power-play deployment continues he could be in for a significant bump in production. Vancouver plays three more games this week and keep in mind that multiple teams play two or less coming out of the All-Star weekend. If you are in need of a winger to stream in for the week, Beauvillier might be in a situation that is too good to ignore.

Mathew Barzal

As suggested during the Fantasy Take, Horvat played alongside Mathew Barzal last night, shifting him to the wing. While Barzal has predominantly been deployed with Josh Bailey and Oliver Wahlstrom for the majority of the season at even strength, it will be interesting to see if Horvat can elevate his game. His 35.9 FOW% on the season will not be missed but playing with someone who has already scored 31 goals should help Barzal dish more assists out. Aside from the FOW%, Barzal is having a decent season, pacing just shy of his three-year average of 70 points while all of his advanced metrics are within normal ranges. His PPIPP is actually a bit high this year at 84% but if he can continue cashing in at that rate and the arrival of Horvat improves the Islanders' power-play, he could be in line for better value with the man advantage.

Joel Eriksson Ek

Joel Eriksson Ek has been on a nice hot streak lately with seven points in his past six games. He is typically a solid multi-category performer who over his last three seasons has averaged two shots and close to two hits per game along with a 0.55 point per game pace. This season he is continuing to elevate his game and is on pace for a career 68 points while taking just over three shots per game. Despite playing nearly a third of his time at even strength with Marcus Foligno and Jordan Greenway, Eriksson Ek has been able to step it up on the power play, where he is being deployed on the top unit which gets a majority of the available time in games. This increase has been a steady progression for him, in the 2020-21 season he averaged 01:11 of PPTOI and a 22.8 %PP. The following year, he jumped to 02:59 PPTOI and a 57.3 %PP. Now this season he is up to 03:39 PPTOI and a 70.3 %PP. His production has followed with the increase in power-play deployment to now looking like a 70-point threat with solid peripherals.

Minnesota still has three games remaining this week and like New York and Vancouver, is one of the few teams playing four games after the All-Star weekend.

Mikael Backlund – Blake Coleman – Andrew Mangiapane

If you are in deeper leagues and in dire need of streaming options, the line of Mikael Backlund, Blake Coleman and Andrew Mangiapane have been putting the Calgary team on their backs lately. In the last ten games (not including last night), the line has a plus-eight goal differential and a 62.9 CF%. Last night the line went off again, combining for three goals and zero against with each player collecting two points. They are evidently developing some chemistry and each player has been involved in the offense. In those ten games, Backlund has eight points, Coleman has eight and Mangiapane has nine, all even strength. Each player is also within normal ranges for their advanced stats such as shooting percentage, points per 60 and PDO. Mangiapane is the only player with room for some positive regression has his shooting percentage is low at 9.3% compared to his previous three season average of 18.1%.

All three players are rostered in a third of Yahoo leagues or less and though Calgary has a lighter schedule than the other teams mentioned above, they still play two more games this week against Detroit and Buffalo. Rotate a player in from this line to maximize your roster spots on this post All-Star week.

Thanks for reading.