Between the Lines: Week Four

Chris Wassel

2014-10-28

JamieBenn1

What are the hottest lines heading into Week Four?

It is a scary time for fantasy hockey owners and not just because it is Halloween week. Strange things often seem to happen in this week as we transition towards November and busier times ahead. Zdeno Chara is the latest to go down to a knee injury. Who is healthy? Let's go "Between The Lines".

Lead Us Forwards

Jamie Benn–Tyler Seguin–Jason Spezza (Dallas) — Playing the NY Islanders helped but the trio lit the league up for 13 points last week. Tyler Seguin had five points while Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza had four each. When Benneguin's is open, it is wide open. The addition of Spezza on this line is a dynamic that almost makes it match-up proof. Just ask Mr. Dobbs himself, Spezza hasn't even hit his stride yet. This line could easily have all three players over 80 points by season's end. They are all must starts every week and every game.

Christopher Higgins–Nick Bonino–Alex Burrows (Vancouver) — Surprisingly enough, the Canucks top producing line was the Nick Bonino line? Yes, that is correct. They had 12 points while on the ice together and both Bonino and Christopher Higgins had five points each. The line is not the choice line obviously but they are a pretty good secondary option. Just don't expect them to do this every week because that is not going to happen. Tougher week four is likely.

Nick Foligno–Scott Hartnell–Ryan Johansen (Columbus) — Say it with us! Ryan Johansen does not need training camp. Please repeat this 100 times. He chipped in another several points and Scott Hartnell continues his resurgence with six points. The line had 11 points in all but who will play with Hartnell and Johnansen if Nick Foligno is still hurt this week (head into ref then boards)? Boone Jenner is getting close and so is Cam Atkinson (eye). Columbus keeps rolling despite the injuries.

Defend This

Kris Russell–Dennis Wideman (Calgary) — Hey it wasn't the first pairing in Calgary but the second pairing. Kris Russell and Dennis Wideman had a whopping ten points this week combined. The stunner may be that Wideman had four goals in a week, which will never happen again. Russell was a solid fantasy option last year and his teammate was before injuries so they are capable of decent showings. This was an outlier to say the least. Expect the top dogs to be back on here next week but their double digit outburst shows they have it in them.

Cam Fowler–Sami Vatanen (Anaheim) — All Sami Vatanen does is get points on the power play. This week, he had four in total while Can Fowler brought it with three points. Anaheim's special teams is just that good (aside from the San Jose debacle). Is this sustainable? I think that may be the question we ask all season but this is definitely a pairing to keep an eye on all year. Even Fowler still has some considerable upside and potential. Vatanen is the real wildcard, however.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson–Keith Yandle (Arizona) — They are a special teams wonder as they racked up six points when playing on the man advantage. Having two quarterbacks on one power play is a scary proposition as Arizona really does start their power play from back to front better than almost any team. If only the Coyotes had a little more high end talent up front. It would be fun to see. Maybe someday Arizona will have a payroll to find that one out. Until then, they rely on the back to facilitate the play on the man advantage.

As always you can follow me @ChrisWasselTHW and thanks for reading. See you next week with four more line combination and three pairings for "Between The Lines".