Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up! This week will focus on some players who have seen some upgrades to their deployment due to other injuries on their respective rosters as well as a look at one of the top lines in the league currently over in…Columbus?

Let's dive in.

Sean Monahan – Kirill Marchenko – Yegor Chinakhov

We will start things off by focusing on the top line in Columbus that has been absolutely dominating the competition. Sean Monahan, Kirill Marchenko and Yegor Chinakhov have connected for six goals in nearly 62 minutes of ice time together early on this season, good for tied third in the league at even strength. They have a 74.6 SF% and a 68.9 CF%, both indicating that they are tilting the ice heavily against their opposition. The line is being put into a great position for success as they are all north of 58% in Offensive Zone starts and have recently been playing together with Cole Sillinger on the top power play unit for an added bonus. Everything seems to be breaking the right way for this line and each player is feeding off one another as a result.

Chinakhov leads the way with seven points through his first five games. Due to the potency of this new line, he has seen an increase of just over four minutes of TOI so far, including almost an extra 40 seconds in power play time. He has increased he shot output from 2.1 to 3.4 shots per game on top of it and appears to really be cashing in on this new deployment. Likewise, Kirill Marchenko is not to be outdone, as he is up to six points in through five games. Similarly to Chinakhov, he has seen a substantial increase to his ice time, nearly three full minutes more on average than last season.

The last piece of the trio, Sean Monahan has also seen an increase to his ice time and is now averaging a career high 20:31. He has also increased his shot output to over 3.2 per game which is also a career high and almost a full shot higher than his three-year average. Suffice it to say, all three players are thriving now and clearly developing some chemistry early on. All three individuals are seeming individual luck go their way in terms of shooting percentage and 5-on-5 shooting percentage so no, Chinakhov will not finish the season with 115 points but while this line is good, feel free to stream in any member of this trio as they appear to be in for some heavy usage this season.

Just beware that Columbus may be making changes to their lines tonight as they gear up for a home game against Toronto.

Brandon Hagel

Last night during a heavyweight tilt in the Atlantic Division, Brandon Hagel was up on the top power play with all of Tampa Bay's star players. This is big news for fantasy owners because he posted 75 points last season and 64 the one prior all while seeing almost exclusively second unit power play duties. Having significant time on the top unit would go a long way to launching Hagel into the point per game territory so scoop him up if you can.

Ross Colton

Ross Colton has been talked about at length already but at 59% rostered in Yahoo leagues it's apparently not enough. He is currently being deployed at both even strength and on the power play with Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, seeing over 19 minutes on average per night which is about five and a half minutes more than last season. He has scored five goals in three games and is taking great advantage of his time with the two Colorado superstars. Valeri Nichushkin is apparently in town and has been allowed to use team facilities (although not practice with the team in an official capacity). While Jonathan Drouin is not joining the team on the current road trip but could play after that. So, while everything is great for Colton at the moment, the return of either of those players would likely displace him from one or both spots in the lineup.

Anton Lundell

In the absence of Aleksander Barkov, Anton Lundell has stepped up and collected seven points in his last four games while playing alongside Sam Reinhart. In that span, Lundell has averaged over 20 minutes of TOI and had nearly three shots on goal per game, making great use of the opportunity with Reinhart who, as an aside, has picked up right where he left off last season with five goals in seven games and only a 2% increase to his shooting percentage. No doubt Barkov will resume his role upon his return in the next week or so get in on Lundell while you can.

Stefan Noesen

Contrary to what may seem like the most obvious choice, Stefan Noesen is being used on the top power play unit in New Jersey over Timo Meier while still seeing third line duties at even strength. That third line role has kept his ice time down to 13:33 on average per night and he has only collected one point with the man advantage (and that was on the second unit), but none of that has stopped him from putting up eight points in his first eight games to start the year. If Noesen holds down this spot for the year, he will easily surpass his career high of 37 points. However, with the ever-present threat of Meier in the background, it would be best to enjoy the ride while you can and do not become too attached when the inevitable cold spell hits.