Lines Juggled: Kid Line 2.0 Introduced

Kid Line 2.0 . ZiKid Line. Mika and the Post-hype Sleepers.

You can call Ottawa’s newly assembled Mike Hoffman-Mika Zibanejad-Mark Stone line whatever you want, but you can rest assured that most Senators fans will have their eyes on how many minutes this line will play tonight.

I’ve been pining for these three players to play together for some time now, but when Curtis Lazar experienced some undisclosed injury that necessitated him being shut down for precautionary reasons, it gave Mika this wonderful opportunity to play with two players who, I think, suit his game.

For the first 17 games of the season, Zibanejad has struggled to replicate last season’s success at 5v5.

Not only are his goals and points per 60 minutes of 5v5 ice time down, his possession rates have also dipped this season and his shots per game rate has dropped from 2.2 per game last season to 1.4 this season.

As I’ve explained before, I believe part of the reason for Zibanejad’s struggles lies in being played with wingers who have historically shown themselves to be average puck possession players. Part of Ottawa’s problem is lies in the fact that Paul MacLean simply has not entrusted the likes of Hoffman and Stone to have an extended period of time playing top six minutes. They have played in a limited capacity here or there, but they have never been used consistently over an extended period of time with any center not named Curtis Lazar.

Thanks the success of the Hoffman-Lazar-Stone line that has combined for seven goals thus far, MacLean’s been afraid to split them up. It would be fine if MacLean was going to allocate more ice time and play them ahead of some of their underachieving veterans, but so far, that simply has not happened.

Instead of breaking up the successful trio to play Hoffman and Stone with Zibanejad and help get the struggling Swede’s game around (and continuing to shelter the 19-year old Lazar in the process), MacLean has elected to break up 2013-14’s successful line of Clarke MacArthur, Kyle Turris and Bobby Ryan.

On one hand, I get it. MacLean wants to keep these guys apart because he believes splitting them apart will balance the scoring and make it more difficult for the opposition to match lines and get preferred matchups. In theory, it makes sense, proportionate to his ice time, Bobby Ryan can be a hell of productive player. The problem lies in the fact he has not gelled with Zibanejad or made him a better player.  In removing him from the team’s top line where he can piggyback the possession driving capabilities of MacArthur and Turris, he will not help Zibanejad drive possession and with it, he won’t capitalize on the shots that line generates like he can when he plays on the team’s first line.

When Ryan hasn’t played the right wing on a line with Zibanejad, the honour has been bestowed upon Alex Chiasson. While Chiasson’s four goals and nine points in 14 games looks impressive, two-thirds of those points have come on the power play. At even strength, his lines have struggled mightily from a possession standpoint. According to HockeyAnalysis.com, Chiasson has a 5v5 CF% of 42.0 on the season, but for whatever reason, MacLean keeps using him regularly in a top six capacity.

In the meantime, MacLean has had two of the team’s most productive and best possession driving forwards in Stone and Hoffman at his disposal. Tonight, they’ll finally get their chance to play with Zibanejad but judging by the rest of the lines in practice today (MacArthur-Turris-Chiasson, Greening-Legwand-Ryan, Michalek-Smith-Neil), they may not get the kind of minutes that many of us were hoping for.

If you’re like me and are hoping for an extended viewing of this trio, pray for a goal from that line tonight.

Because if the Senators lose and this line doesn’t get ample opportunity, the interwebs won’t be a hell of a lot of fun for the next 48 to 72 hours.