Rating the best of the forward lines
One of the drawbacks for the Florida Panthers this season was a lack of depth scoring in their forward corps, a top-heavy group with four 65-point scorers, but missing enough consistency to provide stable wingers for Vincent Trocheck.
On the season, Trocheck started a game with more than 20 different line combinations during the 82-game season. He played with just one line for more than two total hours. Teammate Aleksander Barkov, meanwhile, had the luxury of playing with two separate lines for at least six hours.
Here’s a quick overview of Florida’s three most-used lines this season. All numbers are at 5-on-5 and via Natural Stat Trick.
1. Evgenii Dadonov – Aleksander Barkov – Nick Bjugstad: 6:10:39
The good: This line did so many good things this season, but the biggest plus might have been what they did for the rest of the Panthers lineup. When coach Bob Boughner split up Barkov and Jonathan Huberdeau around the All-Star break, it deepened the Florida forwards and allowed Bjugstad to take ownership of a top-line role.
Bjugstad — no doubt with lots of help from Dadonov and Barkov — responded by posting a career season with 19 goals (18 at evenstrength) and 30 assists.
They were best at creating (and preventing scoring chances). When Dadonov, Barkov and Bjugstad were on the ice, the Panthers had an absurd 59.1 percent of scoring chances and 57.1 percent of high-danger chances. Those would be impressive by themselves, but then you factor in where they started their shifts. Only 44.2 percent of their faceoffs came in the offensive zone, a result of Barkov’s above-average faceoff abilities and elite defensive skills.
They were also on the ice for 55.7 percent of shot attempts, 55.8 percent of shots on goal and 62.2 percent of goals for. Now think about the defensive pairing they played with most of the time and it again becomes apparent how good this line was. They played the majority of time with Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad, whose possession numbers were below-average pretty much across the board.
This line also drew 18 more penalties than it committed. They were a big reason behind Florida’s second-half resurgence, deepening the lineup and scoring goals off the rush.
The bad: There is not a whole lot to nitpick about this line, but there are a couple smaller items. This line was so good that Boughner relied on them to play heavy minutes almost every night, potentially contributing to the lull in Barkov’s game late in the season.
Bjugstad was also one of the Panthers’ best offensive players at 5-on-5 this season, but probably could have been even better putting the puck in the net. He led Florida in shot attempts, shots on goal, scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances despite ranking eighth on the team in total ice time at 5-on-5.
2. Jonathan Huberdeau – Aleksander Barkov – Evgenii Dadonov: 6:05:00
The good: While the Dadonov-Barkov-Bjugstad line starred in the second half of the season, it was this one that the Panthers truly envisioned dominating the league. Florida signed Dadonov in the summer to replace Jaromir Jagr on the right of Huberdeau and Barkov.
At one point in October, this line scored eight 5-on-5 goals across a four-game span, including a four-goal outburst against Tampa Bay on Oct. 30. It was the first time three Panthers combined for 10 points in a loss.
In addition to being one of (if not the) best offensive lines for the Panthers, it was the most successful defensive one, as well. No Florida line allowed fewer shot attempts per 60 minutes or shots on goal per 60 minutes than Huberdeau, Barkov and Dadonov. All of their possession numbers hovered around 55 percent.
The bad: Because three of Florida’s best four forwards were on one line, it left Vincent Trocheck all alone on the second line. He rotated through a cast of wingers that included players such as Dryden Hunt, Radim Vrbata, Connor Brickley, Jamie McGinn and Henrik Haapala as Boughner searched for the right fit for the Panthers’ leading goal-scorer.
Because the top line was so good and the second one was not, it became easier for teams to match up against Huberdeau, Barkov and Dadonov, especially on the road.
3. Micheal Haley – Derek MacKenzie – Colton Sceviour: 5:11:40
The good: The Panthers’ fourth line didn’t average a lot of ice time per game, but they were the most steady line combination this season, starting 54 games together.
Boughner didn’t ask Haley, MacKenzie and Sceviour to contribute heavily on offense, but they held their own in the defensive zone. They were only behind Huberdeau-BarkovDadonov in terms of both suppressing shot attempts and limiting shots on goal. Part of the reason Boughner preferred this line’s construction was because they were sound and responsible in his systems, making up for their shortcomings in the offensive zone.
The Panthers also owned 51.0 percent of shots on goal when Haley, MacKenzie and Sceviour were on the ice.
The bad: The rest of this line’s possession numbers were subpar, with 48.7 percent of shot attempts, 44.4 percent of goals and 44.9 percent of scoring chances, despite favorable zone starts. They took 60.5 percent of draws in the offensive zone.
Their inclusion in the lineup also, at times, blocked younger, more skilled players from entering the fray.
This line also had the worst penalty differential on the team, taking nine more penalties than they drew.