Being a third wheel is something that can save a non-fantasy relevant player's fantasy value. While we normally think of these types of third wheels as lower-end guys that just get thrown on a line in hopes he can mesh well enough with the other two, it's not that simple. Ryan Hartman was a good, not great, player in his own right but it wasn't until he was moved to the top line in Minnesota with Mats Zuccarello and Kirill Kaprizov that he flourished; Michael Bunting had more goals in 2021-22 than he had career points up until that season, even if he showed flashes in his brief NHL stints prior; Trevor Moore put up more shots (202) and points (48) last season than he had in his 123 career games before. Sometimes it's a guy that is taking advantage of his opportunity and sometimes it's just someone who should have had that opportunity years ago.

Regardless, these guys can be very valuable in fantasy if they can stick on that productive line for most, or all, of the year. With that in mind, here are five situations where we could have third-wheel situation with significant fantasy implications. These aren't the only situations to monitor, by the by, but ones that just piqued my interest. As always, data from our Frozen Tools or Natural Stat Trick with cap information from Cap Friendly.

One final thing: we will have projected line combinations in our 2022-23 Dobber Hockey Fantasy Guide, which is set to release tomorrow! There is a lot more in that guide of greatness than combinations, like projections, upside, team previews, and articles, but we will have lineup thoughts on digital paper for everyone to read. Head to the Dobber Shop to pre-order your copy!

Alright, let's get to it.

Montreal, alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield

Once Martin St. Louis was hired, Montreal's top offensive duo spent significant time with each other. The natural assumption is that will continue in 2022-23, at least to start the season. The key here is that Caufield did spend time playing left wing, despite being a right shot, so there's no guarantee that the third wheel will be a left-shot winger, but that's going to be my assumption.

The natural inclination is to say Juraj Slafkovsky, Montreal's recent #1 pick. He can surely play his way onto that line but assuming an 18-year-old rookie goes right to the top line, and stays there, is a long shot. He will get some time there, assuming he's on the NHL roster, but my thinking is it'll be in spurts and surely not to start the season.

My first instinct was Evgenii Dadonov. We saw how good he was playing on the top line in Florida and no, Nick Suzuki is not Aleksander Barkov, but he and Caufield are a burgeoning offensive force. Dadonov is good in both transition and playmaking, something that could mesh very well with the young core. It also has the added benefit of boosting his value for the trade deadline as with just one year on his deal, a rebound production season could fetch a decent draft pick in a trade.

Another option is Mike Hoffman and it could be a way to boost his value as well. That line had strong expected goals and actual goals rates last year, if also very weak defensively. It's why I think we see Dadonov there, but we'll see. If I were doing drafts before training camp, my money is on Dadonov to start the year on the top line.  

Buffalo, alongside Tage Thompson and Jeff Skinner

Once Alex Tuch got to the Sabres lineup in late December, by far the most popular line combination was Skinner-Thompson-Tuch. He was eventually moved off the top line late in the year in favour of Victor Olofsson. (For more on Olofsson and Skinner, read Brennan Des's 'Eastern Edge' piece from Tuesday.) Adding Olofsson didn't slow them down offensively at all and gave the second line a good two-way winger in Tuch. For that reason, I'm assuming Tuch starts the year on the second trio, but I'll freely admit he could go right back to the top line, rendering all this moot.

If that does happen, there's a top-line right wing spot open. It would seem like Olofsson has the inside track here. As Brennan mentioned in his article, Olofsson was great down the stretch with 13 goals and 25 points in 28 games. Though Olofsson hasn't generally been a great play-driver, he and Thompson were very good together in 2021-22 (per Hockey Viz):

They got a healthy dose of offensive zone starts down the stretch, a signal of how good they were together. There is competition here but I think Olofsson gets a crack out of the gate.

One guy to watch is Jack Quinn. He tore up the AHL last year with 61 points in 45 games and has all the hallmarks of a future top-line scoring winger. He turns 21 in September so he's not a true rookie in that sense. With a great training camp, they could put Quinn on the top line, Olofsson and Tuch on the second line, and that would give them a good scoring top-6. I am very high on Quinn and could see him being in the Calder Trophy race with the right deployment.

New Jersey, alongside Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt

In March and early April, before Jack Hughes's injury, Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier spent much more time together than apart. I am assuming that's the duo that starts the season together, leaving Hughes in a more sheltered role. (More on Bratt later these Ramblings.)

The three wingers that spent the most time with this duo were Pavel Zacha, Tomas Tatar, and Yegor Sharangovich. Zacha is gone, Tatar has seen his impacts decline for a couple years now as he ages, and it's an open question as to whether Sharangovich can handle top line/defensive duties. Allow me a fourth option: Dawson Mercer.

Towards the end of the season, the Devils moved Mercer to the wing at times. I will also note that he's one of three right-hand shots in the lineup and the other two – Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian – are not suited for top-line duties (Alexander Holtz would make four if he makes the team). Mercer had a good rookie campaign, and they could move him on that line to acclimate him to top-6 duties as he continues developing. Of course, they could just use recent signee Ondrej Palat and form a line with true shutdown capabilities, but my inkling is they want his skills and experience with Hughes.

Bratt and Hischer were great together in 2021-22, controlling nearly 59% of the expected goals and scoring 3.7 per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. The third wheel here could cruise to a 50-point season even without top PP minutes and my first instinct was Mercer. It would leave the top-6 looking something like:

Bratt-Hischier-Mercer

Palat-Hughes-Holtz/Sharangovich

That looks pretty good to me. Sharangovich would be the other option, having Mercer further down the lineup. We’ll find out next month.

San Jose, alongside Timo Meier and Tomas Hertl

We are assuming, of course, that Logan Couture is the "second-line" centre here, which isn't a guarantee. Meier spent 468 minutes with Couture at 5-on-5 with his time alongside Hertl totalling 608 minutes. Regardless of the centre, the right-wing spot on that top line is going to be very valuable. The team isn't deep with top-end offence and that RW1 slot is coveted.

There is an easy assumption here in Alexander Barabanov getting that assignment. The trio of Hertl/Meier/Barabanov spent over 400 minutes together at 5-on-5, which was by far the team's most used combination. Both Jonathan Dahlen and Rudolfs Balcers, other options in 2021-22, are no longer with the team, and I doubt guys like Luke Kunin and Steven Lorentz were brought in with top-line duties in mind.

When Barabanov was on the top line, they scored 3.6 goals per 60 minutes, more than Washington's top line, the Colorado trio of MacKinnon/Landeskog/Rantanen, and Boston's line of DeBrusk/Marchand/Bergeron. They were great together and with a lack of options throughout the roster, it seems an obvious choice.

The wrench in all this is a new coach in David Quinn. Maybe he wants a bit more physicality with Kunin or wants to get the most out of Oskar Lindblom and his career resurrection. Barabanov could threaten 50 points with top billing, and he looks to have the inside track.  

Vancouver, alongside Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser

This is the one where I'm really uncertain about line combinations. Pettersson spent over 400 minutes at 5-on-5 with at least one of Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller as the Swede has struggled on faceoffs for most of his career. That changed once Bruce Boudreau was hired as coach in early December, though. In the 752 5-on-5 minutes Pettersson had after Boudreau's hiring, he spent just one-third of his time with either of those guys. Over the final two months, he spent nearly as much time with Brock Boeser (170 minutes) as he did without him (185 minutes). That is why I'm assuming they go with Boeser/Pettersson, though again, I'm not overly confident in that assertion.

If we assume Ilya Mikheyev goes with Horvat in shutdown line-type situation, and Conor Garland stays with Miller as they did over the final couple months of the season, the winger situation is starting to thin out. That is why I think they give Andrei Kuzmenko a shot here.

Kuzmenko is a 26-year-old winger that was signed out of the KHL. Our Prospects team has him a top-end offensive playmaker, something that could mesh very well with scorers like Boeser and Pettersson. If this team wants to be a playoff contender, he and Vasily Podkolzin will need to be impactful. Podkolzin just hasn't looked good at the NHL level and that's why I think Kuzmenko could swoop in and take a role on what will be a sheltered scoring line.

Podkolzin is the other guy to consider but as I said, he hasn't shown much. He's a good finisher but that line doesn't need more finishers, they need guys who can transition the puck and make offensive zone plays. From Corey Sznajder's tracking data, those are areas of great weakness for him:

Of course, he just turned 21 and it was his rookie season. More development is very possible but if he turns into a Victor Olofsson-type, that's not something that line needs. They need more playmaking ability, and Kuzmenko could do that.

The final thing I'll say about Vancouver is I wouldn't rely too heavily on third wheels here. We could see duos of Horvat/Mikheyev, Miller/Garland, and Pettersson/Boeser with a lot of rotation among the third forwards. I wouldn't draft Kuzmenko in the 14^th round of a 12-team draft assuming he'll be with Pettersson/Boeser for 60% of his ice time, for example.

*

Jesper Bratt got a one-year deal from New Jersey:

Devils re-sign Jesper Bratt to $5.45 million, 1-year deal.

— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) August 3, 2022

Remember he was set for arbitration, and this saves them from going in that direction.

For cap leaguers, this is a gift. Had they extended Bratt for a long-term deal, that cap number would start with a 6 and maybe even a 7. He gets a raise, sure, but it could have been worse.

From a real-life standpoint, this is weird, I think. I wrote about Bratt back in June and why I think his 2021-22 breakout was real and was just an extension of him breaking through in the shortened COVID 2021 campaign. The team clearly wants him to prove himself for another year, but this could backfire. Bratt should be a fixture alongside Hischier (sometimes alongside Hughes) and he'll also get top PP billing. The Devils had a bottom-10 power play but Hughes missed nearly half the year while Dougie Hamilton wasn't healthy as the season wore on. With those guys at 100%, Hughes and Bratt a year further along in their development, and just added chemistry with all the PP pieces, that bottom-10 power play could be a lot better. Bratt could be just as good as he's been at 5-on-5, and with additional PPPs, he could get past a point-per-game mark. If he posts 31 goals and 84 points in 79 games, and is a year closer to free agency, New Jersey is going to pay a lot more next offseason for a long-term deal than they would now.

Of course, he has to do that first, but I truly believe he has the talent, the line mates, and the role to pull it off. It makes me wonder, if he does have a great year, if he's not moved next summer. He would fetch a really good return and give the team more pieces for the rebuild. On the flipside, they'd be trading a point-per-game 25-year-old winger, which doesn't look great in a rebuild.

But if he does smash, his next deal could start with an 8. Teams need every dollar of cap space they can manage, and this feels like a very big gamble by the Devils.