Fantasy points don't happen in a vacuum, and this week ESPN's Sean Allen looks at what a box score can't show: the points a forward line scores at 5-on-5 only when all three players are on the ice together, including points by the defenders on the ice with them. Colorado's line rate stands out, and it helps explain Nathan MacKinnon's... Lehkonen's 14th-place ranking among forwards: 16.0 of his 33.8 fantasy points have come with Mac Kinnon and Necas at 5-on-5 alone. Podkolzin's 13.8 with Mc David and Draisaitl is 40% of his total.
The more useful finds are further down the list, where several lines are producing with players nobody has rostered. Kaapo Kakko, Shane Wright and Berkly Catton of the Seattle Kraken (available in 96%, 99% and 98.3%) have put up 44.6 FP in 82 minutes, the third-best rate at 5.43 per 10 minutes. Catton has scored more than half of his fantasy points with this line, and all three went back onto Seattle's top power-play unit Saturday. Jaden Schwartz, Fedor Svechkov and T.J. Hughes of the Colorado Avalanche produced 39.4 FP in 72 minutes, the second-best rate at 5.51 per 10 minutes, and Schwartz and Hughes also sit on Colorado's top power-play unit.
William Carrier, Sebastian Aho and Andrei Svechnikov of the Carolina Hurricanes posted 50.6 FP in 116 minutes, with Carrier carrying a floor through his 46 hits in leagues that count them. Alex De Brincat, Emmitt Finnie and Michael Brandsegg-Nygard of the Detroit Red Wings produced 42.8 FP in 79 minutes, with the two young players splitting their share almost evenly.
Line combinations can change with one shuffle of the whiteboard, so check the lineup before adding. If a trio gets split up, the value goes with it.
Source: ESPN NHL · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing