At this point of the NHL and fantasy hockey offseason, chatter related to actual hockey news is starting to get noisy once again – indicating nightly action is getting tantalizingly close.

Teams across the league will be opening training camps in less than a month, meaning the time for projections and speculation over what line combinations coaches will utilize is set to kick into high gear. Before things get too hectic and fantasy draft season sends most GMs into a research-fueled frenzy, we wanted to take a look at some of the most under-the-radar line combinations in the Eastern Conference that could lead to valuable fantasy production come October.

It must be noted that these are purely projections and combinations are obviously going to change as coaching staffs get a proper look at their players on the ice after a long summer off it. Furthermore, these are all new potential trios that have yet to play together. Even still, having a finger on the pulse of what combos are set to click early on could go a long way to help building a winning fantasy squad. Here are some of the underrated new line combinations catching our fantasy gaze.

Honourable Mention: Vladimir Tarasenko–J.T. Compher–Patrick Kane & Connor McMichael–Pierre-Luc Dubois–Andrew Mangiapane

Anthony Duclair–Bo Horvat–Mathew Barzal

Banking on a player and fantasy piece like Duclair to be the offensive saviour of a team in the New York Islanders that has perennially lacked scoring depth would surely be a foolish expectation. However, if Duclair can replicate the success he had in his short stint as a Tampa Bay Lightning where he registered eight goals and seven assists in 17 games down the stretch last season, this newly-formed top-line trio along with Horvat and Barzal could be a lot for opposing teams to handle. The rest of the Islanders' scoring punch leaves a lot to be desired and head coach Patrick Roy has his work cut out for him on special teams as well, after New York finished with the 19th-ranked power-play unit and worst penalty kill in the NHL.

Although, that doesn't change the fact that this new potential combination could be effective with the addition of Duclair's speed and quick release alongside Horvat's work ethic and faceoff efficiency and Barzal's offensive upside. Much like the rest of these trios, closely monitor it to see if chemistry builds early.

Johnny Gaudreau–Sean Monahan-Kirill Marchenko

For the more adventurous fantasy hockey GMs willing to wade into a high-risk, high-reward-like scenario, the next two trios are definitely worth a shot.

Monahan is coming off his first fully healthy season since 2017 and his offensive production of 26 goals and 33 assists returned him to fantasy relevancy while eating over 18 minutes a night in ice time split between the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets. Aside from the Columbus Blue Jackets still being a very difficult team to trust, there are two angles to really read into here: first, the potential for Monahan and Gaudreau to reignite the chemistry they had in their early years as Calgary Flames teammates and second, can a pure shooter like Marchenko (23 goals, 19 assists last year) benefit from playing with two pass-first, playmaking-type forwards on his flanks? Considering that both Marchenko and most of the Blue Jackets don't get any fantasy attention, both of those possibilities could end up being advantageous under-the-radar angles to consider. Marchenko's money hands and wicked shot combined with Johnny Hockey's creativity and Monahan's nose for the net could form a potent trio. Columbus is still assuredly a bottom-feeding club that is going to struggle mightily to keep pucks out of their own net, but offensively, expect a step forward this season and their current top line to drive that.

Alex Newhook–Kirby Dach–Patrik Laine

Everyone's talking about it so why not try and take a little bit of a different spin and ponder for a moment what Laine's impact could be on the likes of other such reclamation projections as Dach and Newhook. On paper, at least, this trio has all the potential in the world to be just the kind of second-line option Martin St. Louis could mold into a scoring unit capable of spreading out the Habs' offensive attack, taking pressure off the likes of Juraj Slafkovsky, Cole Caufield, and others. There is no hiding the fact Laine's drop off has been one of the hottest topics in fantasy hockey circles for the last number of seasons and his inability to remain a healthy piece has to be considered if ever considering him as a week-to-week fill in and Montreal will definitely still be a team dealing with growing pains that will impact fantasy value.

With all that said, Laine can still shoot, Dach had an excellent start to last season, and Newhook's offensive capability could combine for an interesting trio producing noteworthy numbers.