Lining Up: Montreal’s New Top Line With Hoffman, Harvey-Pinard; Tippett; Verhaeghe And Tkachuk

Peter Ryell

2023-03-28

Welcome back to another edition of Lining Up. As playoffs either wrap up this week or approach the finals next week, we will once again focus on players who are benefitting from their line deployment and who also have great schedules for your final few moves of the season.

Let's dive in.

Mike HoffmanNick Suzuki – Rafael Harvey-Pinard

The Montreal line combinations have been in a lot of flux lately, with a few young players coming into the fold and making impacts. One recent trio that has been connecting is Mike Hoffman, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Nick Suzuki. Harvey-Pinard, in only his 33rd NHL game, notched a hat trick Saturday night against Columbus bringing him to 17 points in 29 games this season. For deeper leagues he can pay some short-term dividends while he is on the top line with Suzuki. For his part, Hoffman is currently on a worse 82-game pace than Harvey-Pinard which perhaps shows his descent since the promise he showed with Ottawa and Florida. Regardless, Hoffman is seeing an upgrade here by lining up with Suzuki as opposed to his regular contributors in Christian Dvorak and Brendan Gallagher. In the same match against Columbus, he had a three-point effort. Look for him to potentially build off of this game so long as he continues being deployed alongside Suzuki.

Cole Caufield still being listed as Suzuki's best even strength linemate by six points from the next best partner is a testament to the impact they have on each other's production despite Caufield being absent since January. It is also an indication of the consistency in line mates Suzuki has had since that time, which is to say very little. Recently however, Suzuki is dragging along anyone who is his lucky enough to play on his line. He is the star here and over his last four games has produced ten points, bringing him up to a 69-point pace on the season. It is a far cry from the first quarter of the season where he had 24 points in his first 21 games and Habs fans may be dreaming of what a full season of Suzuki and Caufield might look like. For now though, he is en fuego at the perfect time.

All three players are also forming the top power-play unit and so have been seeing very positive deployment over the short term. Last night the deployment continued, and the line absolutely dominated at even strength with an 80 CF% and 76.9 SF%. Montreal has three games remaining this week including an enticing matchup against Philadelphia tonight. If you need to make a late move in the final rounds of your playoff, stream in a hot player from the top line in Montreal.

Owen TippettJoel FarabeeNoah Cates

The recent players on the top line in Philadelphia may be surprising but sure enough, Owen Tippet, Joel Farabee and Noah Cates over the last 10 games have been the number one line at even strength. To show for it, Farabee and Cates are currently riding hot streaks with seven points in the last five games and six in the last four respectively for the pair. Tippet has had more ups and downs but did produce five points in two games including a hat trick. However, he has been making up for points by pouring on the shots, averaging over four shots per game in the last 10 games. During the recent 10 game stretch, the line has a 56.7 CF% and a 52.6 SF%, demonstrating that they are playing well against opposition and driving play.

All three players are 21% rostered or less in Yahoo leagues and Philadelphia has four games remaining this week including matchups against Montreal, Ottawa and Buffalo. The combined GA/G for their opponents this week is the third highest out of every team and so the potential for continued production is very real.

With Florida having a great schedule this week, let's take a look at how the lineup was deployed last night against Ottawa.

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Carter Verhaeghe

Looking at the line combinations, Verhaeghe has been lining up alongside Matthew Tkachuk and it has been paying off both recently and over the course of the season. He is particularly hot right now with 11 points in his last nine games and is having a career season, on pace for 74 points. The increase in production is due to playing with Tkachuk at even strength for about half of his time this season as well as an increase in power-play deployment. With Duclair out for a large portion of the season and Jonathan Huberdeau leaving, Verhaeghe is receiving a 40%PP on the season. Over the last nine games during his hot streak, this number is up to 65.5% as he has seen an increased opportunity as Florida attempts to make the playoffs. Continuing to lineup beside Tkachuk and an increased role on the top power-play combined with Florida's quality schedule this week makes Verhaeghe a strong candidate to push your team towards a championship.

Anthony Duclair

Duclair spent significant time on the injury list for the majority of the season but has since resumed his spot alongside one of his frequent even strength linemates from last year in Aleksander Barkov. He has been quiet for the most part, with only five points in his 12 games but all of his advanced stats indicate that he is due for increased luck, particularly with Secondary Assists (3.1 Shooting %, 8.0 5on5 Shooting %, 1.6 Pts/60, 1020 PDO, 0.0 Sec. Asst%). To a lesser extent than Verhaeghe he may provide short term value, so long as he continues to play on a line with Barkov the luck should adjust and perhaps a few games against opponents with a high Goals Against this week could do the trick.

Florida with three more games including an off-night game Wednesday, which are infrequent this week, and a match against Montreal and Columbus. If either player is available, consider streaming them in for the ideal schedule while they are receiving quality deployment.

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