Welcome back to a brand-new hockey season and, with it, the first edition of Lining Up. Hopefully everyone has had a relaxing summer either resting on their laurels after a job well-done or stewing over what might have been.

This week will examine some way-too-early line combinations from the opening of preseason to get excited about. Today will focus on the Eastern Conference and next week will follow with teams from the Western Conference. Both articles will contain short notes on interesting developments to either watch for your upcoming draft or keep an eye out for as the regular season approaches. The 'Last Game Lines' tool from Frozen Tools will help ensure that we are using the most recent line combinations available and if teams have been resting many fantasy relevant players so far, we will turn to 'Game Day Lines' on X/Twitter for beat writer comments on deployment during practice.

Let's dive in.

Boston

In the game against the New York Rangers, James Van Riemsdyk was playing alongside Jake DeBrusk. Last season, DeBrusk scored a career-high 50 points in 64 games while playing over half of his time at even strength with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. With Bergeron and David Krejci having retired, DeBrusk will need to maintain that deployment with Marchand in order to match or exceed that 64 point-pace.

Buffalo

Peyton Krebs and JJ Peterka were paired in Buffalo's game against Washington Sunday night. Peterka spent the majority of his time last season on the second line with Dylan Cozens and Jack Quinn. With Quinn set to miss a significant portion of time to start the season, this may be an early indication that Krebs could step into the role for the time being. Certainly, worth monitoring as opening night gets closer.

Carolina

Early power-play work at practice saw Tony DeAngelo joining Brent Burns on the top power-play for Carolina. DeAngelo set a career high 65-point pace in his season with Carolina and so any hopes of coming close to that again rest on his ability to maintain a spot on the top unit. No doubt the best-case scenario for him is to share that spot as it would be difficult to imagine Burns being moved to the second unit altogether.

Columbus

The early indications are that Adam Fantilli will be playing with Patrik Laine and joining the top power-play unit. If Fantilli can connect early with Laine and hold that spot on the power-play he will absolutely hold value in one-year leagues this season. He may not reach Connor Bedard levels, but his situation will help facilitate solid production.

Detroit

Max Bultman reported on Twitter that Lucas Raymond, Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Larkin are forming a line together in preseason. Last season, Raymond spent most of his even strength time alongside Larkin but still felt a sophomore slump, going from a 57-point pace in his first season to a 50-point pace last year. If he has hopes to rebound, maintaining this spot with Larkin and the incoming DeBrincat will be crucial to a rise in production.

Florida

With injuries to Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour keeping the pair of top defensemen out for the first couple of months this season, one big question is which defensemen (if at all) will assume the role of quarterbacking the Florida power-play. Gustav Forsling has the inside track, but a potential candidate may also be Oliver Ekman-Larsson. OEL has seen a 43.9% share of the power-play so far and as many longtime owners will know, certainly has the pedigree to assume this role.

If he can take hold of that spot, he could provide very good value early on until Montour and Ekblad return.

Montreal

No major news so far out of preseason but it will be curious to see how new trade acquisition Tanner Pearson slots in with Montreal. So far it appears that he has recovered from the ailment that prevented him from playing the majority of last season. In addition, we are looking forward to sniper Cole Caufield being at full health and resuming his role on the wing of Nick Suzuki. Both players benefited greatly from each other last season prior to Caufield's season-ending injury.

New Jersey

As reported by Amanda Stein on Twitter, Tyler Toffoli has been slotted alongside superstar Jack Hughes. There is concern about what kind of role Toffoli will have on such a deep team, especially his ability to crack the top power-play unit. However, a small consolation prize will be if he can maintain this spot beside Hughes for the season.

New York Islanders

There are no significant changes so far, but what we are looking forward to here is a healthy Mathew Barzal to finally join Bo Horvat as Barzal missed the final few months of the season. Having both players on the power-play for a full season would hopefully improve the Islanders' overall production with the man advantage.

New York Rangers

New York Rangers beat writer Vince Z. Mercogliano has projected a top line of Chris Kreider, Mika Zibanejad and Alexis Lafreniere. Needless to say, Lafreniere joining the top line would be a huge opportunity for the first overall pick and would certainly help him surpass the 40-point mark for the first time in his career. Keep an eye on how it develops moving closer to opening night.

Ottawa

Much like the New York Islanders, there are no significant shakeups but in this case, we may have expected a change given that Josh Norris is seemingly at full health. Norris primarily played with Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat last season in his eight games played and with Brady Tkachuk the season prior. Having missed almost the entire season, Giroux, Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle played most of their time together and so far, it appears as though that will continue going into this season.  This will help all three players as they continue to build upon the chemistry from last season, further cementing the trio as a dominant top line.

Philadelphia

In the game against New Jersey, Cam York saw 61% of the available power-play time, a good early indication that he will assume that role as the season begins. As projected in the Guide this year, the role is his to lose and the dividends would be great if he can hold it for the season.

Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh has been resting their stars so far in preseason and there have been no notable lineup combinations in practice. The big question to continue monitoring will be to see who manages the top power-play unit? Incumbent Kris Letang or new acquisition Erik Karlsson? Or perhaps better yet, both?

Tampa Bay

Another big question on deployment heading into this season is how the top power-play role would be split between Mikhail Sergachev and Victor Hedman. Last season, both players split time manning the top unit after Hedman had historically been the sole defensemen to hold that spot. So far in the preseason, Sergachev has played with the top power-play unit and had a 76.7% share compared to 20.4% for Hedman. Look for Sergachev to build off his career season last year if he holds the power-play role throughout the season.

Toronto

Perhaps as many expected, Tyler Bertuzzi has been playing on the top line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. It is unlikely that many people are sleeping on Bertuzzi at the draft but in this spot, he should threaten to match or exceed is 75 point-pace from the 2021-2022 season in addition to peripheral contributions of two shots and one hit per game. This would make him comparable to players such as Elias Lindholm and Joe Pavelski.

Washington

So far there have been no major line combinations worth noting, although Lining Up will continue to monitor who assumes the top-line centre role coming out of preseason. Nick Backstrom has long held that spot alongside Alex Ovechkin but based on Backstrom's recent injury struggles, it is anticipated that Dylan Strome will be the go-to centre. Holding this spot as well as his role on the top power-play will be essential for him to build off of his career season last year.