Lining Up: Some of the best lines this season
Aaron Boyle
2020-03-17
The show must go one and we are here to help you through this trying time. To be honest when I heard about the NHL 'pause' I was selfishly upset for like 30 seconds because hockey is life. I then quickly realized that without life there would be no hockey and that made the picture a lot clearer. So here I am writing this week's 'Lining Up' to hopefully give you the reader a bit of a break from all things covid-19. This week's edition I will look over the top lines for the entire season. I have used Dobber’s line production tool to compile a list of the top lines at even strength for each team. I will say I was surprised to see a couple of lines near the top of the list despite their team being out of a playoff spot.
Rank | Team | Line | Points |
1 | BOS | BERGERON,PATRICE – MARCHAND,BRAD – PASTRNAK,DAVID | 102 |
2 | MTL | DANAULT,PHILLIP – GALLAGHER,BRENDAN – TATAR,TOMAS | 78 |
3 | WPG | CONNOR,KYLE – LAINE,PATRIK – SCHEIFELE,MARK | 74 |
4 | FLA | BARKOV,ALEKSANDER – DADONOV,EVGENII – HUBERDEAU,JONATHAN | 72 |
5 | T.B | KUCHEROV,NIKITA – POINT,BRAYDEN – STAMKOS,STEVEN | 70 |
6 | EDM | DRAISAITL,LEON – NUGENT-HOPKINS,RYAN – YAMAMOTO,KAILER | 67 |
7 | NYR | FAST,JESPER – PANARIN,ARTEMI – STROME,RYAN | 62 |
8 | TOR | HYMAN,ZACH – MARNER,MITCHELL – MATTHEWS,AUSTON | 61 |
9 | NSH | BONINO,NICK – GRIMALDI,ROCCO – SMITH,CRAIG | 59 |
10 | L.A | BROWN,DUSTIN – IAFALLO,ALEX – KOPITAR,ANZE | 58 |
11 | BUF | EICHEL,JACK – OLOFSSON,VICTOR – REINHART,SAM | 54 |
12 | VAN | BOESER,BROCK – MILLER,J.T. – PETTERSSON,ELIAS | 53 |
13 | NYI | BARZAL,MATHEW – EBERLE,JORDAN – LEE,ANDERS | 51 |
14 | VGK | KARLSSON,WILLIAM – MARCHESSAULT,JONATHAN – SMITH,REILLY | 48 |
15 | COL | LANDESKOG,GABRIEL – MACKINNON,NATHAN – RANTANEN,MIKKO | 45 |
16 | PIT | GUENTZEL,JAKE – MALKIN,EVGENI – RUST,BRYAN | 45 |
17 | CAR | AHO,SEBASTIAN – SVECHNIKOV,ANDREI – TERAVAINEN,TEUVO | 44 |
18 | CGY | BACKLUND,MIKAEL – MANGIAPANE,ANDREW – TKACHUK,MATTHEW | 43 |
19 | DET | BERTUZZI,TYLER – LARKIN,DYLAN – MANTHA,ANTHONY | 41 |
20 | N.J | COLEMAN,BLAKE – GUSEV,NIKITA – ZAJAC,TRAVIS | 41 |
21 | WSH | BACKSTROM,NICKLAS – OVECHKIN,ALEX – WILSON,TOM | 41 |
22 | MIN | STAAL,ERIC – ZUCCARELLO,MATS – ZUCKER,JASON | 39 |
23 | ARI | DVORAK,CHRISTIAN – GARLAND,CONOR – HALL,TAYLOR | 36 |
24 | CHI | KANE,PATRICK – KUBALIK,DOMINIK – TOEWS,JONATHAN | 34 |
25 | PHI | COUTURIER,SEAN – GIROUX,CLAUDE – VORACEK,JAKUB | 33 |
26 | ANA | HENRIQUE,ADAM – RAKELL,RICKARD – SILFVERBERG,JAKOB | 30 |
27 | STL | O’REILLY,RYAN – PERRON,DAVID – SANFORD,ZACH | 25 |
28 | S.J | GOODROW,BARCLAY – HERTL,TOMAS – MEIER,TIMO | 20 |
29 | CBJ | BJORKSTRAND,OLIVER – JENNER,BOONE – NYQUIST,GUSTAV | 19 |
30 | OTT | BROWN,CONNOR – PAGEAU,JEAN-GABRIEL – TKACHUK,BRADY | 18 |
31 | DAL | BENN,JAMIE – RADULOV,ALEXANDER – SEGUIN,TYLER | 13 |
Boston Bruins
Patrice Bergeron – David Pastrnak – Brad Marchand
If you were able to snag a piece of this line at any point this season than you were able to reap the benefits. Being an owner of Pastrnak for the last couple of seasons I have grown to love this line even if they are a Maple Leafs killer. Together this season they have combined for a dominant 102 points which is 30 more points than they had all of last season. If the season resumes play, they will come back rested and ready to add to this total. David Pastrnak is currently tied for the lead in the Rocket Richard race with 48 goals which bests his previous high of 38 from last season. Let's hope the season starts where they left off so we can see how many goals he finishes with.
Montreal Canadiens
Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher – Tomas Tatar
If there was an award for a line that surprised me the most, I would have to give it to these guys right here. Keeping these players together for most of the season gave the Canadiens at least one scoring line. One that stayed consistent while they had a few different players miss time due to injury. Tomas Tatar is having a career year posting highs in assists and points. His goal totals are down a little, but he is turning into more than just a goal-scorer. His chances-for is over 60 percent. If the season comes back and doesn't jump straight into the playoff, I would look for Tatar to stay hot and break the 70-point mark.
Winnipeg Jets
Kyle Connor – Patrik Laine – Mark Scheifele
If the playoffs start soon without finishing the season, then the Jets will be on as they own the first wild card slot in the west. Kyle Connor has been everything you would hope he would become scoring 38 goals and adding 35 assists to put him over a point per game for the first time in his brief career. Patrik Laine has become more of a team player this year as he tried to redevelop himself into a 200-foot player and a better teammate. Mark Scheifele could be known as Mr. Consistent. Over the last four seasons, he has hovered around the one-point per game mark. His goal numbers are down this year but if the season does start again, he will certainly get over the 30-goal mark.
Florida Panthers
Aleksander Barkov – Evgenii Dadonov – Jonathan Huberdeau
The Florida Panthers are currently out of the playoffs despite this first line's efforts. Recently this line has been separated as to generate more offence but all it really did was put the team into an offensive hole. They have been struggling recently. Aleksander Barkov has had zero points over the last six games. Evgenii Dadonov has just one assist over that timeframe and Jonathan Huberdeau also has just one point scoring a goal two games ago. If the regular season does resume this line will need to step up their game if the Panthers want to make the playoffs.
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On a different note, I just want to mention that we are all here for you. If you need someone to talk too please don't hesitate to hit me up on twitter even if it's just to chat about life. Everyone's mental health is the most important thing right now and we need to be there for each other.
Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.
Aaron