Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up! With another calendar year under our belts and teams approaching the halfway mark of the season, let's take another look at a noteworthy player from each team. Some players will be those who are receiving favourable deployment more recently while others may have been in a good spot for a longer period of time this season. We'll start with the first half of the league this week and deal with the second half next week.

All good? Let's dive in.

Anaheim

During the preseason, Jackson Lacombe was receiving extended time on the power play and produced in limited action. The story has changed slightly this season as Lacombe has been splitting time with Olen Zellweger on what is Anaheim's top power play unit. Moreover, Anaheim has been splitting units fairly evenly with no player receiving more than a 60% share of power play time which is further compounded by the team's putrid conversion rate on the man advantage that has them second last in the entire league. In spite of this, Lacombe is on a decent pace for a second-year defenseman, tracking for 38 points with close to two shots per game. Decent value in deep leagues so long as he keeps getting this deployment.

Boston

Pavel Zacha was highlighted prior to the start of the season and indeed he has maintained great deployment, playing over half of his time at even strength with David Pastrnak and is on the top power play. Yet, he is only pacing for 41 points in what has become something of a down year for the Boston squad as a whole. One of the main culprits is similarly to Anaheim, Boston has a struggling power play, converting on only 13.2% of their opportunities. To compound this, Zacha himself has just one power play point so far in and as a result his PPIPP is at 16.7%, a huge drop from a three-year average of 52.7%. If Boston can improve their power play (just over the last month they are up to 16.2% conversion rate) then Zacha should ideally regress and start collecting more points.

Buffalo

Jason Zucker has been receiving great deployment on the power play this season, playing on the top unit and consequently seeing a career-high 58.7% share of the power play time and averaging nearly three minutes of PPTOI. Lately however, Zucker is also lining up alongside Tage Thompson at even strength and is on a streak now with four points in four games. All of this culminates to his best point pace in several seasons of 55 points with room to grow if he can hold onto a spot on the top line.

Calgary

When perusing Frozen Tools, one interesting standout in Calgary is that sophomore Connor Zary has the most power play points on the team with nine so far this season. He is on the top power play unit but just as we saw in Anaheim, Calgary is in the middle of the league in conversion rate while simultaneously dividing time between two units almost evenly. No forward is seeing more than a 60% share of power play time and to compound this, Zary himself has a 75% PPIPP which is more than a 30% increase from last year. The deployment is nice to see but a drop in production is likely coming.

Carolina

As noted in this morning's Ramblings, with Shayne Gostisbehere out, Carolina recalled Ty Smith and immediately slotted him over veteran Brent Burns on the top power play unit. This will be great spot in the short term while Gostisbehere is out and should provide him with decent value in deeper leagues.

Chicago

A consistent theme this season has been the rotating cast of linemates with Connor Bedard. Since the recent change in coaches, the lucky recipients have been Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi. Both players have increased their production lately with Hall in particular notching five points in four games. Now all he needs to do is find a way onto the top power play unit…

Colorado

One of the early success stories for Colorado this season was Ross Colton, who filled in admirably while the roster had a number of holes due to injury. He has even held down a spot on the top power play unit right up until the return of Jonathan Drouin today. Should Drouin miss time yet again, look for Colton to get back up into a good spot once more.

Columbus

It has been touched upon a few times in this column but one of the major success stories so far this season is the top line in Columbus. Specifically Kirill Marchenko, Sean Monahan and mostly Dmitri Voronkov who are all having great years and developing great chemistry together.

Dallas

Dallas is a team that can be frustrating for fantasy owners since their depth means the ice time can be more evenly distributed across the lineup. One player who had a slow start the season was Wyatt Johnston who came into this year with high expectations. Fortunately his deployment has not changed as he still consistently lines up with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz while seeing steady time on the top power play unit. He has picked up lately with five points in three games and should surpass his current 56-point pace for the remainder of the season.

Detroit

Based on how last season finished for him, it seemed like a given that Lucas Raymond would see an increased role this year but you just never know what coaches might do. So far, Raymond has finally been deployed like the top line, top power play forward he is, receiving nearly two thirds of the available power play time, over 19 minutes of TOI overall and on a point-per-game pace for the season.

Edmonton

When new arrivals Jeff Skinner and Viktor Arvidsson came to Edmonton, it seemed as though either player would be supplanting someone on the top power play unit which would ultimately cap their value. That has been the case but Arvidsson at least has been able to hold down a spot with Leon Draisaitl at even strength. He is currently on a hot streak with four points in three and should exceed his current pace of 35 points if he can hold onto this deployment.

Florida

Over in Florida, Adam Boqvist began the season as the quarterback on the top unit but eventually was replaced by Aaron Ekblad. Ekblad's PPTOI from the first to second quarter has almost doubled, going from 1:59 to 3:08 and with it, an increase to his production. Only posting 10 points in 23 games but is up to 10 points in just 15 games during the second quarter. That would be a 54-point pace over a full 82 games.

Los Angeles

After the injury to Drew Doughty, Brandt Clarke stepped in and assumed his role on the top power play unit. That he would be there seemed like a near certainty at the time, however what has been surprising is seeing Alex Laferriere get time on the top unit over Kevin Fiala. Recently, that has changed but consider streaming him in again if Fiala falters.

Minnesota

After spending a quarter or so of his time at even strength with Kirill Kaprizov last season, Marco Rossi has found himself doubling that amount with the young superstar in Minnesota. He has also been getting deployed on the top power play unit, receiving an extra minute in PPTOI from the first to second quarter this season. The result has put him on a career high 64-point pace. Hopefully he can keep it up and make this a permanent role.

Montreal

Since returning from injury, Patrik Laine jumped right onto the top power play unit and promptly scored eight goals. His individual output exceeds some teams in that same span. At even strength however he has not been playing with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki which would be a problem for his production. That will need to change if he is going to continue at his current 68-point pace.

Nashville

Where to begin with Nashville? Hopefully the new year brings a new coach or some kind of boost to a team that seemed poised to challenge for top of the division after a great offseason. One of the noteworthy players here is Ryan O'Reilly who has retained a spot on the top power play unit and alongside last season's linemate Filip Forsberg at even strength despite the tumultuous year. He is only on pace for 51 points but if Nashville rebounds, he will be able to get in on the action with this deployment.

Happy New Year everyone!