Every Tuesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey insider Pete Jensen provides in-depth forward analysis. From updated weekly top 100 rankings to trending players and more, Jensen is your go-to guy for fantasy forward advice all season long.
Line combinations are the most important factor when determining the value of a fantasy forward at any point during a particular season. Many teams shuffle lines and power-play units all season long before finding the perfect recipe, while others find trios that click early and often.
There have been plenty of large-scale line developments for teams two or three games into their respective seasons. The St. Louis Blues (Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen with Paul Stastny), San Jose Sharks (Joe Thornton and Joe Pavelski with Joonas Donskoi), Vancouver Canucks (Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin with Brandon Sutter) and Dallas Stars (Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin with Cody Eakin or Patrick Eaves) are some of the many teams pairing dynamic fantasy duos with sparsely-owned forwards -- sparking the latter's fantasy upside. Though these third wheels are rounding out explosive lines in the short term, their teams have second or third-line options (i.e. Jori Lehtera, Tomas Hertl, Radim Vrbata, Patrick Sharp) more than capable of playing elevated roles if and when slumps occur.
Fantasy owners should study up on each team's line situation in the season's infant stages, but always need to prioritize attainable first or second-line trios with staying power. Last season, underrated trios for the Tampa Bay Lightning (Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov) and Calgary Flames (Johnny Gaudreau, Sean Monahan, Jiri Hudler) came out of nowhere to sustain elite-level production. Here are three newly formed trios who are flying under the radar and could follow in their footsteps:
Artemi Panarin - Artem Anisimov - Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
Not many teams could dismantle half of their top-six forward groups and remain afloat, but the Blackhawks have tapped into their prospect pool to build early chemistry on its top two lines minus Brandon Saad, Sharp and Brad Richards. Kane leads the League in points (six) and shots on goal (17), and he has quickly made a commodity out of Kontinental Hockey League product Panarin (39 percent owned), who has two goals, two assists a plus-2 and eight SOG in his first three NHL games. Anisimov, more readily available at nine percent owned, has a goal with five SOG and a plus-1. This has a chance to be one of the best second-line trios in the League, with each component seeing power-play time in the process.
Dylan Larkin - Henrik Zetterberg - Justin Abdelkader (Detroit Red Wings)
This line's staying power hinges on the eventual return of Pavel Datsyuk, who usually plays with Zetterberg and Abdelkader, but the current unit appears to be the perfect blend of youth, physicality and veteran savvy. Abdelkader (61 percent owned) had a hat trick in the season opener and another goal Saturday, and has added a plus-4, five SOG and nine hits. As projected in my preseason hits guide, Abdelkader is a dynamite coverage guy in those formats and should be owned regardless of league size. Zetterberg was obtained on average with the 37th pick in Yahoo drafts, which is serious value if he plays 70-plus games at a point-per-game rate. Larkin, the touted Red Wings prospect who's 19 years old and 31 percent owned, is the most attainable of these three if you're in a shallow league. He has three points and 10 SOG in two games and is tied for the NHL lead with a plus-6. He's not seeing much power-play time yet (0:41 per game through two), but that could come with time and potential injuries around him in Detroit's lineup.
Max Domi - Antoine Vermette - Mikkel Boedker (Arizona Coyotes)
We've only seen flashes of potential at this point from the Coyotes' top unit, but it's important that Domi, 20, has not only made the roster but has taken on a top-line role. Domi, the highest-ranked Coyotes skater on NHL.com's preseason list, has one goal, one assist, a plus-1 and four SOG in two games -- both wins against the Los Angeles Kings and Pittsburgh Penguins. Boedker, who was limited to 45 games (14 goals, 14 assists, 79 SOG) last season because of injuries, is dual eligible (LW/RW) and five percent owned despite playing alongside Domi at even strength. Many forget Boedker (five percent owned) had 19 goals, 51 points and 166 SOG in 2013-14, and has a much higher goal-scoring ceiling if Arizona is respectable and hangs around for most of the season. Vermette (nine percent) is a reliable faceoff player with Stanley Cup championship pedigree and is seeing first-unit power-play action in his return to the desert. This line could be one of the most underrated League-wide at this point and carries sneaky fantasy potential as the young season rolls on.
Other early combinations that could stick this season: Anders Lee, John Tavares and Ryan Strome (New York Islanders); Mathieu Perreault, Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers (Winnipeg Jets); Brandon Pirri, Nick Bjugstad and Reilly Smith (Florida Panthers).
TRENDING UP
Nathan MacKinnon, C/RW, Colorado Avalanche
The bounce-back we anticipated from MacKinnon is already in full effect, with the third-year forward scoring five points (T-2nd in NHL), with two on the power play, to go with seven SOG in two games. He's centering Gabriel Landeskog and opportunistic shooter Alex Tanguay, and has been a top-10 fantasy performer so far in standard Yahoo leagues. Those who reached for him in the third or fourth round are cautiously optimistic after the Avalanche scored 10 goals in two games against Stanley Cup Playoff contenders.
TRENDING DOWN
Pittsburgh Penguins forwards
It's a little too early to be panicking about downward fantasy trends, but the Penguins' top-six group has been a disappointment thus far. Phil Kessel has Pittsburgh's lone goal through two games (road losses to the Stars and Coyotes), with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patric Hornqvist, Chris Kunitz and David Perron all pointless entering their home opener Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens. The Penguins are 0-for-7 on the power play to start the season, which should change for the better soon, but their thin defense has been exposed thus far and has left the offense out of sync. Fantasy owners must be patient with this bunch, but may want to consider dropping Sergei Plotnikov if he gets bumped out of the top six in favor of Perron.
KEEP AN EYE ON
Mikael Granlund, C, Minnesota Wild
Granlund's sleeper potential has been well-documented in the past, but it finally may be coming into fruition. Zach Parise is off to an unconscious offensive start with four goals (T-NHL lead) on 10 SOG in two games, with two of those goals being assisted by his linemate Granlund (three assists, one PPP, plus-3, four hits, two SOG). He's 18 percent owned in Yahoo and playing on Minnesota's top power-play unit, which has seen a much-needed spark since he moved there. If Granlund sticks with Parise and Jason Pominville at even strength, the 23-year-old has legitimate 60-point potential. A few more games at this rate and he'll be owned in more than 40 percent of leagues, so scoop him up before it's too late.
These rankings are based on expectations for this season. Value is quantified by line combinations, power-play usage, past performance and overall upside in standard Yahoo categories (goals, assists, plus-minus, penalty minutes, power-play points and shots on goal).
1 | Alex Ovechkin, LW/RW, WSH | 51 | Jeff Carter, C/RW, LAK |
2 | John Tavares, C, NYI | 52 | Gustav Nyquist, C/LW/RW, DET |
3 | Sidney Crosby, C, PIT | 53 | Jason Spezza, C, DAL |
4 | Tyler Seguin, C/RW, DAL | 54 | Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT |
5 | Patrick Kane, C/RW, CHI | 55 | Tomas Tatar, LW/RW, DET |
6 | Steven Stamkos, C, TBL | 56 | Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL |
7 | Jamie Benn, LW, DAL | 57 | Jack Eichel, C, BUF |
8 | Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL | 58 | Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL |
9 | Claude Giroux, C/RW, PHI | 59 | Chris Kreider, LW, NYR |
10 | Evgeni Malkin, C/RW, PIT | 60 | Eric Staal, C, CAR |
11 | Joe Pavelski, C/LW, SJS | 61 | Jarome Iginla, RW, COL |
12 | Max Pacioretty, LW, MTL | 62 | Mark Stone, RW, OTT |
13 | Phil Kessel, RW, PIT | 63 | Tomas Plekanec, C, MTL |
14 | Zach Parise, LW, MIN | 64 | Derek Stepan, C, NYR |
15 | Ryan Johansen, C/RW, CBJ | 65 | Jaromir Jagr, RW, FLA |
16 | Corey Perry, RW, ANA | 66 | Justin Abdelkader, LW/RW, DET |
17 | Tyler Johnson, C, TBL | 67 | Evgeny Kuznetsov, C/LW, WSH |
18 | Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA | 68 | Kyle Okposo, RW, NYI |
19 | Jonathan Toews, C, CHI | 69 | Ryan Kesler, C/RW, ANA |
20 | Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI | 70 | Matt Duchene, C/LW, COL |
21 | Blake Wheeler, RW, WPG | 71 | Scott Hartnell, LW, CBJ |
22 | Rick Nash, LW/RW, NYR | 72 | Bobby Ryan, LW/RW, OTT |
23 | Henrik Zetterberg, C/LW, DET | 73 | David Krejci, C, BOS |
24 | Nathan MacKinnon, C/RW, COL | 74 | Milan Lucic, LW, LAK |
25 | Anze Kopitar, C, LAK | 75 | Patrick Marleau, C/LW, SJS |
26 | Daniel Sedin, LW, VAN | 76 | Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL |
27 | Filip Forsberg, C/RW, NSH | 77 | Mark Scheifele, C, WPG |
28 | Alexander Steen, C/LW, STL | 78 | Jason Pominville, RW, MIN |
29 | Taylor Hall, C/LW, EDM | 79 | Ryan Strome, C, NYI |
30 | Logan Couture, C/LW, SJS | 80 | Dylan Larkin, C, DET |
31 | Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL | 81 | Craig Smith, C/RW, NSH |
32 | Andrew Ladd, LW, WPG | 82 | Jonathan Drouin, LW, TBL |
33 | Connor McDavid, C, EDM | 83 | Bryan Little, C/RW, WPG |
34 | Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL | 84 | Ryan O'Reilly, C/LW/RW, BUF |
35 | David Backes, C/RW, STL | 85 | Jonathan Huberdeau, C/LW, FLA |
36 | Marian Hossa, RW, CHI | 86 | Ryan Callahan, RW, TBL |
37 | Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY | 87 | Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, MTL |
38 | Patrick Sharp, C/LW, DAL | 88 | Derick Brassard, C, NYR |
39 | Wayne Simmonds, LW/RW, PHI | 89 | Marian Gaborik, RW, LAK |
40 | Brandon Saad, LW/RW, CBJ | 90 | James Neal, LW/RW, NSH |
41 | Sean Monahan, C, CGY | 91 | Tyler Toffoli, LW/RW, LAK |
42 | Nick Foligno, C/LW, CBJ | 92 | Mats Zuccarello, LW/RW, NYR |
43 | Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS | 93 | Chris Kunitz, LW, PIT |
44 | T.J. Oshie, C/RW, WSH | 94 | Artemi Panarin, LW, CHI |
45 | Evander Kane, LW, BUF | 95 | James van Riemsdyk, LW, TOR |
46 | Kyle Turris, C, OTT | 96 | Nick Bjugstad, C, FLA |
47 | Joe Thornton, C, SJS | 97 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C, EDM |
48 | Radim Vrbata, RW, VAN | 98 | Thomas Vanek, LW/RW, MIN |
49 | Jiri Hudler, LW/RW, CGY | 99 | Mike Hoffman, C/LW, OTT |
50 | Henrik Sedin, C, VAN | 100 | Max Domi, C, ARI |
Just Missed: Mike Ribeiro (C, NSH), Kevin Hayes (RW, NYR), David Pastrnak (LW/RW, BOS), Paul Stastny, (C, STL), Teuvo Teravainen (LW, CHI), Brayden Schenn (C/LW, PHI), Oscar Lindberg (C, NYR), Loui Eriksson (LW/RW, BOS), Mikael Granlund (C, MIN), David Perron (LW/RW, PIT), Matt Moulson (LW, BUF), Justin Williams (RW, WSH), Brandon Dubinsky (C/LW, CBJ), Mike Cammalleri (C/LW, NJD), Nikolaj Ehlers (LW/RW, WPG)
Key injuries: Nicklas Backstrom (C, WSH), Pavel Datsyuk (C/LW, DET), Jordan Eberle (RW, EDM), Brad Marchand (LW, BOS)
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