Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up! This week will talk about a few players producing well based on their line combinations as well as a couple of players who have been displaced to the detriment of their production.

Let's dive in.

Jason Robertson – Evgenii Dadonov

In case you missed it, Jason Robertson has been getting himself back on track lately with 12 points in his last eight games. After a slow start to the season that saw him post a measly 13 points in his first 21 games, Robertson is up to 22 points through the next 21 games which is much closer to what managers had been expecting. That still puts him on pace for only 69 points and where Robertson previously had Joe Pavelski to play with, he has been lining up predominantly with Evgenii Dadonov this year at even strength.

For his part, Dadonov is seeing a slight uptick in performance from the first to the second quarter of the season. After posting nine points in the first 21 games, he is up to 13 points in the next 21 games. His ice time is minimal, averaging just over 14 minutes of TOI but sticking with Roberston at even strength should help to keep him on that 40-point pace in addition to nearly two shots per game. That can play in deeper leagues or for streaming in on a dense Dallas schedule.

Marco Kasper

Marco Kasper has looked awfully comfortable lately on the top line with superstars Dylan Larkin and Lucas Raymond. He has tallied six points in four games on top of some peripheral contributions, averaging just over 1.5 shots and hits per game. In just over 50 minutes of even strength TOI together, the line is really driving play with a 58.4 CF% and a plus three goal differential. It's no surprise that a line with Larkin and Raymond are positive drivers of possession, however when Vladimir Tarasenko played third wheel in double the amount of time, they were under 50% in CF. This may be an indicator that Kasper is meshing well on the top line and hopefully could lead to a more permanent fixture. If that were the case, he could certainly be worth a look in deeper leagues or as a streaming option when Detroit has a dense schedule.

Lane Hutson

Over in Montreal, rookie sensation Lane Hutson has been making a lot of noise lately with ten points in his last six games, pushing him to a 67-point pace on the season. For a rookie defender, this pace is incredible and due in no small part to his deployment. Hutson has supplanted Mike Matheson on the top power play unit and is seeing nearly a full minute more in PPTOI with the team's top scorers recently compared to the first quarter of the season. In the second quarter alone, Hutson notched ten power play points in 20 games. He won't assist you with peripheral categories but owners probably are not concerned about it so long as he is producing like this.

On the other hand, Matheson's value is now concerning. Losing the spot on the top power play has impacted his performance, in that same 20-game span that saw Hutson post ten power play points, Matheson only had one. His PPTOI was cut by more than half from the first to the second quarter of the season and he is on pace for 43 points. A pace which is largely buoyed by 13 points in his first 20 games. He has decent peripheral contributions with two shots and two blocks per game, but owners who were hoping for closer to that 60-point mark that he has posted in his first two seasons in Montreal will need to adjust their expectations.

J.T. Miller

On a sourer note, J.T. Miller has been relegated to what appears to be fourth line duties in terms of TOI with Conor Garland and Nils Hoglander. That line combination has played a combined 13:51 over the last three games and has seen the least usage. He has also lost his spot on the top power play unit in Vancouver, over the same period of time, the group seeing the most time did not include Miller. Consequently, Miller has not been above 15 minutes in those three games and is on a five-game pointless streak. He's already at a six-year low in TOI for the season, averaging less than 18 minutes a night which is a full minute and a half less than last season. Any further drop from here is another tick towards midnight on the Doomsday Clock. Clearly Miller and Vancouver as a whole are going through some mighty inner turmoil at the moment, fantasy owners can only hope that the situation resolves itself soon, even through a trade.

Casey Mittelstadt

More bad news but to a lesser extent, Casey Mittelstadt was relegated to the fourth line as well in Colorado's game against Edmonton last night. He is now on a line with Jason Polin and Jere Innala and has gone ice cold with zero points in his last five games and three in his last twelve. Even after Jonathan Drouin left the game, Mittelstadt was only able to jump up to the third line with Parker Kelly and Juuso Parssinen. Neither line seems poised to be a strong performer and after a solid first quarter where he took on a larger role due to a slew of injuries, it appears his production has cratered and subsequently his deployment to go along with it.