Good morning fantasy hockey land. My name is Aaron Boyle and you can find me on twitter @KINGTUNA4. I will be taking over the “Lining Up” article here on Dobber. This week I will be looking at a couple of newly formed lines due to key injuries. I’ll talk about a hot line and a line that needs a kick in the you know what. Using Dobber’s line production tool, I have also compiled a list of the top lines for each team over the last 10 games at even strength. 

As mentioned earlier, here’s a look at the hottest line to start the season and there is a line of lines that has had a terrible start. 

Hot Line

Boston Bruins

Patrice Bergeron – Brad Marchand – David Pastrnak

The above trio for the Boston Bruins are trying to top what they did last campaign. For the start of this year they are already up to a combined 33 points on the season looking to eclipse last year’s totals by a large margin.

Patrice Bergeron is one of the best two-way centres in the league. Known for his defensive game. Bergeron is this line’s anchor and he is quite good at it. This year he has a CF percentage of 58.9, to go with that he has four goals and four assists at even strength. He has a shooting percentage of just over 18% which is well over his career average of 9.7 percent. I would look for this to drop as the season goes, but for now, I like that percentage. He is a key cog of the Bruins offence but because of his defensive ability he won’t have nearly as many points as his linemates.

Brad Marchand is known for his gritty play making ability. Eight assist so far this year combined with seven goals gives him 15 even strength points. He has the keen ability to get the puck to David Pastrnak. MArchand’s CF% is at 62.09 showing that he is an elite puck handler. He also produce more hits and PIM so he is a good multi-category player.

David Pastrnak can do it all for his line. Pastrnak has six goals at even strength to go along with his 11 assists. He has a shooting percentage of 19.36 which is a little higher than last year but can be sustainable.He is also one of his teams best at drawing penalties with five on the season already.

All in all, owning any of these players in your pool would make you a happy camper.

Cold Line

Dallas Stars

Jamie Benn – Alexander Radulov – Tyler Seguin

The Dallas Stars top line has been anything but that to start the season. Having a combined six points at even strength. In order for Dallas to be successful this season they will need this line to step up.

Jamie Benn currently has four even-strength points on the season all of which are assists. The former, almost point-per-game performer, is currently on pace for 31 points on the season. This is obviously a low total and as soon as he and his line mates get their act together, that number will rise. Benn also needs to be better with the puck. He does have 12 takeaways on the season to lead his team, but he has coughed up the puck nine times. I wouldn’t say Benn is a drop just yet, but his future outlook looks bleak.

Alexander Radulov is in his third season with the Dallas Stars, posting career highs in points the last two seasons. This year on the other hand he is having trouble putting up the points. Radulov has four goals and three assists at even strength. He is leading the team in shots on goal so there's that. Again I think it is still too early to drop him so lets hope he can turn things around.

Tyler Seguin is the point-getter of the line. With three goals and five assists on the season at even strength, he is well on his way to a decent season. At this pace he won’t match last years total of 80 points. If he doesn’t pick it up, he will finish with a measly 51 points. Seguin is tied for the lead in shots on goal on his team with Radulov. His CF percentage is 47.5 which will not get the job done.

Realistically I see all three of these players getting back on their game put I think the times of 70-80 points seasons is well behind them.

Line Replacements

The Colorado Avalanche are dealing with losing two players from their top line. In Their last game Nathan MacKinnon was paired with Matt Nieto and Joonas Donskoi. Nieto was the third player to be put on that line with Donskoi and Mackinnon. They have also had Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky. It looks like the only player that is staying with Mackinnon for the near future is Joonas Donskoi. I would take a flyer on him and continue to watch for line combos over the next few games.

The St. Louis Blues are trying to find a suitable replacement for injured Vladimir Tarasenko. Recently they have been playing the scrappy Sammy Blais with Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz. Blais won’t see much PP time but if the line catches fire he will be sure to reap the benefits as he is a good guy to go into the corners and dig out the puck. Make sure to pay attention to how they are deploying their lines and be ready to grab Blais of the waiver wire as he is only owned in about 40 percent of fantrax leagues it shouldn’t be that difficult.