image courtesy of Star-Telegram

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Happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone! In the spirit of spending time with family, I’ll be sharing quick straight facts this week. A lot of kids are in the lineups right now, so let’s look at their line combos, TOI, and see if we expect them to hang around:

Elias Pettersson (VAN)

• Playing with Goldobin and Eriksson at even strength, the 3rd most used line. 
• On top PP – spent over 3:00 on the man-advantage.
• Last game total TOI only 12:56 total…he’s having a hot start but he won’t keep up the pace with this little time out there.

Rasmus Dahlin (BUF)

• Paired with McCabe on the 2nd pairing.
• < 1 minute PP time on the second unit, < 20 minutes total aTOI.
• We know he’s a star, but it won’t come immediately, and he may not see fantasy-relevant PP time for a while. Don’t overrate in the short term.

Martin Necas, Lucas Wallmark, Andrei Svechnikiv, Valentin Zykov, and Warren Foegele (CAR)

• Foegele getting the most ES time of the group alongside Staal and Williams on 2nd line.
• Svech and Wallmark on the “3rd line” (11 minutes), Necas and Zykov on “4th line” (also ~11 minutes).
• Necas and Zykov seeing some PP time (1-2 minutes per game), Svech saw PP1 time in game 1, but zero usage in Game 2.
• Clearly  this team is still figuring everything out. Svech is too good to bury for long, is most likely of the group to see uptick in minutes. 

Miro Heiskanen (DAL)

• Paired with Methot on the 2nd pairing
• PP2 d-man, but we know DAL only uses their PP1
• Significant PK time already (over 2 minutes yesterday)
• No points yet, but he’s being used well right off the bat and getting over 20 minutes a night…could break onto the scoresheet soon

Jesperi Kotkaniemi (MTL)

• Centering Drouin and Armia, only the 3rd-most-used line at even strength
• Already a PP1 lock, seeing over 2:00 per night
• TOI hovering between 14 and 15 minutes, but lots of room in MTL’s lines to boost that once he gets comfortable. Good chance of rising as the season progresses, points will start flowing soon.

Troy Terry (ANA)

• Playing with Getzlaf and Rakell at even strength, obviously the top line.
• Limited PP2 time, 14:55 total aTOI.
• Getting enough TOI to make an impact, but nothing to show so far after 2 games on the top line…this chance wont last forever so watch for a serious drop soon.

Andreas Johnsson (TOR)

• Starting games on the 4th line with Lindholm and Kapanen.
• Roughly 1 minute per game on PP2, no PK time so far.
• Leafs look rough and could scramble the lines so don’t give up yet… but if he stays on the 4th line he won’t be relevant.

Dominik Kahun (CHI)

• Running shotgun with Toews and DeBrincat in the top-six.
• Some PP2 time (but very little).
• Total aTOI only 12:18 so far… doesn’t look like he will get a chance to be overly fantasy-relevant.

Michael Rasmussen (DET)

• 3rd line usage with Nielson and Bertuzzi.
• 12 minutes total TOI, 1:30 on the PP.
• Only been 1 game, but chances of staying past 9 games is not good if they’re burying him behind Vanek.

Daniel Sprong (PIT)

• 4th line wingman with Cullen and Sheahan.
• Getting serious time PP2 (2+ minutes per game).
• Total TOI is under 9 minutes per game…he needs more than that to score like he did in the AHL.

Filip Chytil (NYR)

• Tagging along with Spooner and Fast on the 3rd line so far.
• Cracked PP1 in Game 2, seeing almost 4 minutes(!) there.
• Total aTOI at 15:00 right now…not bad but unlikely to provide even-strength production unless Spooner gets hot.
• Lots of opportunity on this team if he does start clicking, I wouldn’t pass on him just yet.

Maxime Lajoie (OTT)

• Top-pairing ES minutes paired with Ceci.
• Somehow seeing almost 2 minutes PPTOI per night.
• Over 20 minutes total aTOI…this kid came out of nowhere.
• Lack of AHL production makes him unlikely to break out now, but his big TOI makes him an immediate-impact in roto-scoring leagues if you need hits/blocks.

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All info courtesy of Dobber’s FrozenPool 

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Thanks for reading, and remember to set your lineups before the early Monday games!!

Hayden Soboleski

@soboleskih