Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up! This week we will discuss some hot players in good situations as well as a potential change of the guard coming in the crease.

Let's dive in.

Logan Stankoven and Wyatt Johnston

Logan Stankoven made his NHL debut last Sunday and seems poised to make it as difficult as possible to justify sending him back down to the AHL. He currently has four points in the last three games with a goal in each consecutive game. He is averaging three shots per game while seeing a healthy dose of secondary power play time. Stankoven joins the roster having torched the AHL with 57 points in 47 games and prior to that, the WHL where he posted a 2.02 point per game rate. The kid can score and is immediately showing he can transition to the top level, even in limited action.

Joining him for the ride is his most frequent linemate so far, Wyatt Johnston. A young player himself, Johnston has already continued to elevate his play from last season, increasing his pace from 0.50 to 0.69 points per game and adding an additional half shot per game. He is seeing nearly a minute and a half more ice time this season thanks in large part to a jump in short handed ice time. Recently, Johnston has ten points in his last nine games and has assisted on all three of Stankoven's goals so far. Together with Jamie Benn, the line is dominating competition with a 62.8 SF% and a 58.9 CF%.

With Tyler Seguin still out with an injury for the near future, Stankoven, Johnston and Benn should remain intact as a line moving forward. This will be especially important for next week as Dallas plays San Jose twice and Anaheim. A great time to stream in one of the young Stars on hot streaks.

Artturi Lehkonen

Although he has not consistently played with the top guns this season, Artturi Lehkonen has predominantly filled the void left by Valeri Nichushkin on the line with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Since his return from injury on January 24^th, Lehkonen has 11 points in 14 games with the top line, including four power play points which he collected while also playing on the top unit in Colorado. That stretch alone has Lehkonen on an 82-game pace of 64 points compared to the 54-point pace he was on prior his injury. With the prime deployment seemingly locked in at the moment, consider streaming in Lehkonen over the short term as Colorado will play three games next week, all on off nights and one of which will be against Chicago.

Brandon Montour

Brandon Montour started the season slowly after coming off of his injury that kept him out of the lineup until November 17^th. He had only recorded seven points in his first 27 games of the year which is a far cry from his 73 points in 80 games last season. Lately however, Montour looks to have returned to form with 10 points in his last six games. He is a good example of how high-end, consistent deployment will eventually yield results and of how owners should not give up on players if they are still getting the opportunity to correct themselves. Montour has very consistent deployment compared to last season, seeing 23:23 TOI and 3:50 PPTOI versus 24:08 and 4:17 respectively, all on the same top unit with Florida's stars. Lining up alongside such players as Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Reinhart and Aleksander Barkov was bound to payoff eventually and it looks as though that time has arrived.

Philipp Grubauer

After missing most of December and January with an injury, Philipp Grubauer has begun to leech starts away from his own usurper in Joey Daccord. He has four wins, and four quality starts, in his last five games, including a shutout against Pittsburgh last night. This comes after having not played in his first six games back from injury, despite being available. That was likely due both to how well Daccord had been playing and his own poor performance up to that point in the season, sporting a 2.83 GAA and 0.899 SV% through his first 22 games. However, given the recent stretch, Grubauer has earned more deployment moving forward.

Daccord meanwhile has not fallen off the map, only having two Really Bad Starts in the last month but he has dropped from what was a lights-out second quarter, 10 Wins, 1.75 GAA, 0.943 SV% and 81.3 QS% in 16 games played. Moving forward, now that Grubauer has cracked the door open for himself, it's more likely that each goalie will cede starts to whoever is playing better. In leagues that count goalie averages however, it is worth holding onto either goalie with Seattle's excellent playoff schedule. From March 25^th to April 14^th, Seattle plays Anaheim three times and San Jose once in the first two weeks.

Here are couple quick hits to monitor:

Shane Pinto

On a quick note, Josh Norris appears to be out for the remainder of the season due to an injury, but Shane Pinto took his spot on the top power play unit with Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle and Claude Giroux in that game. This will be something to monitor ahead of Ottawa's next game as Pinto is already having a career 0.81 point per game rate in addition to adding a full shot per game. Lining up on the top unit will be especially helpful for him.

Alex Kerfoot

With Clayton Keller day-to-day, Alex Kerfoot has taken his spot on the line with Nick Schmaltz and Barrett Hayton. He currently has four points in his last four games with a goal last night against Toronto and will continue to play in this role tonight and potentially Sunday as well. If you are looking for an option to stream in, take a look at Kerfoot with the excellent off-night.