Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up! This week we will check in on younger players or rookies and how they have been deployed during the first quarter or so of the season. There is no specific criteria for 'young' here, we're just digging a little deeper on younger players that owners have been waiting to see perform or rookies.

So, without further ado, let's dive in.

Quinton Byfield

Kicking off our review of younger players, Quinton Byfield was selected second overall in the 2020 NHL Draft and came with high expectations of becoming an important piece of this Los Angeles roster. So far, the development has been slow but steady as he has increased his point per game rates from 0.17 to 0.25 then 0.42 and now with 0.86 this season. With two goals on Sunday against Colorado, he is up to 18 points in 21 games while maintaining his spot on a line with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.

Recently however, he has replaced Pierre-Luc Dubois on the top power-play unit which is a great sign of how far he has come. Keep in mind that he only has 120 games under his belt so far and so his breakout threshold is still well past this season, but the recent reward of power play time can only help his numbers moving forward. Additionally, L.A plays four games this week including matchups against weaker teams in Montreal and Columbus. At only 37% rostered in Yahoo leagues, get him into your lineup while the schedule is good and the deployment is better.

Marco Rossi

Similarly to Byfield, Marco Rossi also potted two goals on Sunday and now sits with 14 points in his last 22 games. He is consistently being deployed on the top line with Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov but unlike Byfield is still seeing time on the second power play unit. Regardless, Rossi is showing early signs of progress after having a slow start to his NHL career on account of COVID and other injuries.

Overall he is averaging 16:10 of TOI and with that second unit deployment is seeing a 34% share of power play time. He has two shots on goal per game which is not bad, but it has led to a slightly high shooting percentage of 17.8%. Although, considering he scored his first NHL goal this season, that may not be too great an outlier for him. It is higher than average but at this point we do not have any data to say how high. With four games still to come this week as they tour through the Pacific Division, now is a good time to buy in on Rossi who is owned in just 4% of Yahoo leagues at the moment. Four games of a top prospect playing on the top line is a decent gamble to make this week.

Alexander Holtz

Alexander Holtz is making his presence known on a deep New Jersey squad with five points in his last five games. Overall on the season he is not being deployed heavily with an average TOI of 12:35 but during this streak that average has gone up to 15:31. During that span, Holtz has been firing on all cylinders with over three and a half shots per game, which is nearly a full two shots more than he has been averaging on the season. Most of the damage has come while playing with Curtis Lazar and Michael McLeod, neither of whom are on hot streaks of their own. So it seems Holtz is getting points in spite of his linemates and not because of them but it is worth noting that in Saturday's game against San Jose, Holtz was lining up alongside Timo Meier.

Holtz also has somewhat of a high shooting percentage at 18.4% but in the same thought process as Rossi, he has only played 50 NHL games and has an average shooting percentage of 14.1%. If we dig a little deeper into his AHL numbers, he did average a 14.6% shooting percentage in 66 games over his last two seasons while with the Utica Comets. So while 18.4% may not be an extreme outlier for him, sustainability will be an issue unless he can consistently receive better line deployment.

Matthew Knies

After turning heads while debuting for Toronto during the playoffs season, Matthew Knies has been on a line with Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner for nearly 100 minutes at even strength. With the recent line shuffle, he has still retained prime deployment as Marner was swapped out with William Nylander. With the abundance of time alongside star players it may surprise some that he is only on pace for 41 points however, this is with only 14:22 of average TOI and very minimal power play or shorthanded time as well. Knies is also in his rookie season, so to see him play over half of his time at even strength with one of the star forwards on the team is a good indication that the coaching staff is giving him an opportunity to succeed. While he is not scoring in bunches, fantasy owners can meanwhile be satisfied with his peripheral production where Knies has averaged one and a half shots and two hits per game, including a big performance against Boston on Saturday when he posted five shots and five hits.

Logan Cooley

Out of the other three players discussed so far, Logan Cooley probably has the best deployment at all strengths. His average ice time in the second quarter so far is three minutes higher than the first quarter, over 19 minutes now, and he has averaged over three minutes on the power play, good for a 60.8% share. He has been playing with Nick Schmaltz and Clayton Keller on the top line at even strength and joining them on the power play. Cooley kicked off the week by scoring a goal last night against Washington in the hopes of shaking a recent cold streak and his advanced metrics indicate that there is room for him to go on a streak again with a low shooting percentage and secondary assist percentage. At only 24% owned in Yahoo leagues and an abundance of time with top linemates, Cooley should be on your roster.