NHL Line Combinations for 2016-17 (Metropolitan Division)

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NHL Line Combinations: New York Rangers left wing Jimmy Vesey (26) skates against New Jersey Devils left wing Vernon Fiddler (38) during the first period of a preseason hockey game at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

NHL Line Combinations for 2016-17 – Training Camps are Coming to a Close as Teams Face Those Final Crucial Roster Cuts. Now, With Only 7 Days Until the New NHL Season, Depth Charts Begin to Take Form. Projected Lines/Defensive Pairings in the Metropolitan Division

Moving on with the season preview, we turn our focus to NHL line combinations for all 30 teams. Since we’re only seven days away from a brand new season, prospective opening night rosters are becoming much clearer. At this point, most teams are making those final decisions and rosters should start to take shape in the final couple preseason games.

Sticking with the Eastern Conference, we move over to the Metropolitan Division. The Washington Capitals not only won the division but took home Presidents’ Trophy honors in 2015-16. Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins will look to challenge the Caps after a strong second half that carried into the postseason. You could also throw the Islanders, Rangers, and Flyers in the mix to challenge in the division. Meanwhile, Carolina, New Jersey, and Columbus are simply hoping to avoid the lottery draft once again.

*It’s worth noting these are simply early NHL line combinations for how things might shake up on opening night/early on in the season.

NHL Line Combinations in 2016-17 (Metropolitan Division)

Washington Capitals

Alex Ovechkin – Evgeny Kuznetsov – T.J. Oshie
Andre Burakovsky – Nicklas Backstrom – Marcus Johansson
Zach Sanford – Lars Eller – Justin Williams
Tom Wilson – Daniel Winnik – Jay Beagle
xs: Brett Connolly, Stanislav Galiev

Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen
Dmitry Orlov – John Carlson
Brooks Orpik – Madison Bowey
xs: Nate Schmidt

Braden Holtby – Phillip Grubauer

It seems Zach Sanford is likely to earn a roster spot on opening night based on his preseason performance. If he disappoints early on, Burakovsky would slide down into the 3lw slot, Marcus Johansson would shift back over to the left side at 2lw, Justin Williams would slide up to the 2rw slot, which makes room for Brett Connolly on that third line.

Don’t be surprised if Madison Bowey starts the year in Washington. This defensive group wasn’t good enough in the playoffs and could benefit from Bowey’s ability to create offense and move the puck efficiently.

Carolina Hurricanes

Jeff Skinner – Victor Rask – Lee Stempniak
Joakim Nordstrom – Jordan Staal – Andrej Nestrasil
Teuvo Teravainen – Elias Lindholm – Sebastian Aho
Bryan Bickell – Jay McClement – Viktor Stalberg
xs:Phil Di Giuseppe

Jaccob Slavin – Justin Faulk
Noah Hanifin – Brett Pesce
Haydn Fleury – Ron Hainsey
xs: Ryan Murphy, Trevor Carrick

Cam Ward – Eddie Lack

Columbus Blue Jackets

Brandon Saad – Boone Jenner – Cam Atkinson
Nick Foligno – Brandon Dubinsky – Oliver Bjorkstrand
Scott Hartnell – Alex Wennberg – Sam Gagner
Matt Calvert – William Karlsson – Josh Anderson
xs: Gregory Campbell, Markus Hannikainen

Ryan Murray – Seth Jones
Jack Johnson – David Savard
Zach Werenski – Dalton Prout
xs: Cody Goloubef

Sergei Bobrovsky – Anton Forsberg

Not too many surprises here, except perhaps the omission of Pierre-Luc Dubois. Sorry folks, he’s likely headed back to junior – a nine-game tryout to start the year at most. Dubois may very well develop into a quality NHLer someday, but unfortunately, he’ll always be compared to Oilers winger Jesse Puljujarvi.

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Obviously, this is nothing more than pure speculation, but it feels like the lofty expectations are setting Dubois up to fail. Jarmo is proclaiming him the next big center (to basically replace Ryan Johansen) and chose to pass on a fellow Finnish prospect that was proclaimed NHL ready and also dominated the international stage in 2015-16.

Watch for Oliver Bjorkstrand to flourish a top-six setting this season. There’s a chance he even throws his name in the hat for Calder Trophy consideration.

The only head scratcher (for some) would be opting to select Anton Forsberg over Curtis McElhinney. In today’s NHL, you can no longer get away with a mediocre backup goaltender and expect to win games. Forsberg has outplayed

Forsberg has outplayed Joonas Korpisalo, even though the Finn stole the show in Columbus in 2015-16. Anton was also the man between the pipes for their AHL Championship run last spring. When it comes to a close decision like this, mid as well turn to seniority. It wouldn’t hurt Korpisalo to serve as the starter for Cleveland for a year with Curtis McElhinney backing him up.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Conor Sheary – Sidney Crosby – Patric Hornqvist
Chris Kunitz – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust
Carl Hagelin – Nick Bonino – Phil Kessel
Eric Fehr – Matt Cullen – Tom Kuhnackl
xs: Scott Wilson

Brian Dumoulin – Kris Letang
Olli Maatta – Trevor Daley
Ian Cole – Derrick Pouliot
xs: Justin Schultz, David Warsofsky

Marc-Andre Fleury – Tristan Jarry (until Murray returns from injury)

*Matt Murray expected to be out until mid-November

If the Penguins hope to repeat in 2016-17, they’ll need two forwards, in particular, to step up and continue their hot play from the previous season. Conor Sheary and Bryan Rust will likely be depended upon to fill voids alongside superstar forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. If even one of them fails to pan out, line juggling could get a tad tricky.

On the back end, we expect Derrick Pouliot to finally earn a full-time NHL roster spot. Just in time too; the Penguins need to decide how they plan to protect a plethora of defenseman in expansion. A strong showing by Pouliot would only further complicate matters, though.

New York Rangers

Rick Nash – Derek Stepan – Mats Zuccarello
Chris Kreider – Mika Zibanejad – Pavel Buchnevich
Jimmy Vesey – Kevin Hayes – J.T. Miller
Brandon Pirri – Josh Jooris – Jesper Fast
xs: Nathan Gerbe, Tanner Glass

Ryan McDonagh – Dan Girardi
Marc Staal – Kevin Klein
Brady Skjei – Dylan McIlrath
xs: Nick Holden

Henrik Lundqvist – Antti Raanta

*Oscar Lindberg out until Early November

There was a temptation to leave Jimmy Vesey with Zibanejad and Buchnevich to open the season, but that would essentially force Rick Nash to a third line right wing role. It’s definitely a possibility if the Rangers top line gets off to a slow start.

All the offseason signings put the New York Rangers in a pretty good position. As you can see above, they can leave Tanner Glass in the press box for whenever they need his presence, otherwise, they can dress four quality lines that could provide some type of scoring touch. This is something the Rangers have been missing for a long time.

One of the surprises (to some) might be Brady Skjei paired with Dylan McIlrath on the bottom pairing. You could easily swap free agent signing Nick Holden alongside either one of those young blueliners. Mid as well give the kids an opportunity to play, though. This franchise has been moving in a sideways direction for too long, a little change never hurts.

New York Islanders

Andrew Ladd – John Tavares – P.A. Parenteau
Anders Lee – Brock Nelson – Ryan Strome
Anthony Beauvillier – Mathew Barzal – Josh Bailey
Jason Chimera – Casey Cizikas – Cal Clutterbuck
xs: Nikolay Kulemin, Alan Quine

Nick Leddy – Travis Hamonic
Calvin de Haan – Johnny Boychuk
Thomas Hickey – Ryan Pulock
xs: Dennis Seidenberg

Jaroslav Halak – Thomas Greiss

*Mikhail Grabovski out indefinitely, Shane Prince (day-to-day, could be headed for IR)

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Let’s just get right to it; going out on a limb to project both Anthony Beauvillier and Mathew Barzal on the opening night roster. Both have been very impressive in training camp, and now with Dal Colle and Ho-Sang sent to Bridgeport, the door opens for at least one of these guys. GM

GM Garth Snow would be wise to give both an opportunity to stick around. This roster hasn’t seen a major overhaul in recent years and can’t seem to get over the hump. It’s these talented rookies coming up through the ranks that’ll make a real difference.

Until someone emerges to give John Tavares a true legitimate top line option to play with, this team will continue to tread water. Whether it’s an existing option such as Ryan Strome for example, or one of the many top prospects, the Islanders need to hope that somebody steps up in a hurry. Tavares isn’t getting any younger (only so many years in his prime) and 2018 free agency isn’t that far away.

New Jersey Devils

Mike Cammalleri – Travis Zajac – Kyle Palmieri
Taylor Hall – Adam Henrique – Devante Smith-Pelly
Pavel Zacha – Sergey Kalinin – Joseph Blandisi
Reid Boucher – Vernon Fiddler – Beau Bennett
xs: Jacob Josefson

Andy Greene – Damon Severson
Yohann Auvitu – Ben Lovejoy
Kyle Quincey – Steve Santini
xs: John Moore, Seth Helgeson

Cory Schneider – Keith Kinkaid

*Jon Merrill expected to miss 4-5 weeks, Luke Gazdic out 4 weeks

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Most have top rookie Pavel Zacha penciled in at third line center. I wouldn’t be so sure about that. Sure, he’ll spend some time up the middle, and take his share of faceoffs in 2016-17, but it makes little sense to subject him to the extra responsibility in year one.

Sergey Kalinin is a capable center who could be interchangeable with Zacha on the left side; this would allow Pavel to focus on his creativity and offensive output. Once he gains some experience and confidence, then he serves as a permanent center.

Rolling the dice here with the defensive pairings. It’s difficult to gauge with the way training camp pairings have looked, but Greene – Severson was the intended top pairing when Adam Larsson was traded, so why would that change now? and how could Ben Lovejoy possibly be an upgrade?

That leaves preseason standout Yohann Auvitu to play alongside Lovejoy on the second pairing. The third pairing could change once Jon Merill returns from injury. Kyle Quincey has an ability to play the right side, and would likely be ready to slide across if Steve Santini struggles early in his rookie season. I wouldn’t be shocked though if Santini challenges Lovejoy for top four minutes.

Philadelphia Flyers

Brayden Schenn – Claude Giroux – Wayne Simmonds
Michael Raffl – Sean Couturier – Jakub Voracek
P.E. Bellemare – Travis Konecny – Dale Weise
Roman Lyubimov – Nick Cousins – Boyd Gordon
xs: Matt Read, Chris VandeVelde

Michael Del Zotto – Mark Streit
Shayne Gostisbehere – Radko Gudas
Ivan Provorov – Nick Schultz
xs: Andrew MacDonald

Steve Mason – Michal Neuvirth

*Disregarding the three-game suspension for Brayden Schenn, Scott Laughton is expected to miss 3-4 weeks, Brandon Manning is considered week-to-week

The 23-man roster is virtually set here, with a few final decisions to be made. It looks as though Travis Konecny has at least earned the right to begin the year in Philadelphia. The Flyers can stick him between a pair of gritty forwards that can help protect the rookie and perhaps keep him out of vulnerable areas.

Among the surprises, Roman Lyubimov may stand out to some. He was signed out of the KHL and is making those final decisions extremely difficult. His drive, compete, and intensity is exactly what the Flyers bottom-six forward group needs, so expect him to stick around.

Next: Atlantic Division Line Projections

While we provided projected defensive pairings. This a group that should see a lot of movement throughout the season experimenting with different duos. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Gostisbehere and Provorov earning more and more ice-time while taking away from 38-year-old veteran Mark Streit, who has logged considerable minutes in recent years.

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