Best line in the NHL?

[yave1964]

  For several years now the NHL has been turning into two man pairs with guys like Tom Wilson and his ilk thrown as the third wheel to provide grit and because they can score a bit but it has started to shift again to where more and more teams are playing one top line, a trio of stars or near stars who play 20 minutes a night taking as many offensive zone faceoffs as possible and dominating a game. The question is, who has the best line in the game? To me the candidates are:

 

  BERGERON/MARCHAND/PASTRNAK  These three are simply insane together, they dominate at both ends of the ice, playing 200 foot hockey, Bergeron may be the best faceoff man in the game Pastrnak may have the most wicked shot and Marchand is an opportunistic pest of a 40 goal scorer who can lick any opponent (groan). 

 

 MACKINNON/LANDESKOG/RANTANEN MacKinnon is probably one of the top five players in the game today, yet he never gets notice. Rantanen looks like Laine most nights and Landeskog after regressing for several years has put it all together. A scary trio.

 

JOHANSEN.FORSBERG/ARVIDSSON Nashville is known for their defense but this trio lead the NHL with a 67 percent goal differential five on five, in other words when they are on the ice they literally outscore their opponent two to one. They are known for their defense and Rinne but these three spread terror against whoever they play.

 

SMITH/KARLSSON/MARCHESSAULT The trio play a selfless style of checking and opportunistic offense to wear down opponents. 

 

BENN/RADULOV/SEGUIN  The heart and soul of the Stars team as they go so go the Stars-period. Oftenbroken up then put back together because they are just so dominating when playing together.

 

SCHEIFELE/WHEELER/CONNOR The Jets are still mixing and matching a bit trying to get the most out of their potent offense but this trio was a beast last year. Take Connor out and put Laine in? Yeah they can do that too.

 

  I left out OVIE/KUZNETSOV/WILSON because Wilson is a clear third wheel and I tried to list teams that had three stars or near stars on the top line. I also left the Penguin top two lines out as CROSBY and MALKIN tend to mix and match between Kessel, Hornqvist, Hagelin and others. I also left McDavid out as Draisatl has now taken over his own line and McDavid, as good as he is is playing with inferior talent. 

 

  So there it is. Who has the top line in Hockey?

[yave1964]

I went with the Marchand line over the MacKinnon line but wow was it a tough choice. It may have been a bit of an East Coast bias on my part as I see the Bruins quite a lot and hardly see Colorado but MacKinnon truly has turned into a true superstar.

[JR Ewing]

32 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

   I also left McDavid out as Draisatl has now taken over his own line and McDavid, as good as he is is playing with inferior talent. 

 

  So there it is. Who has the top line in Hockey?

 

I don't think 93/97 belong on a list of the best lines in hockey because their RW has been a career tweener (Rattie), and I think you need to have 3 good players to make this list. This line only has two. Anyway, he and Nugent-Hopkins together are definitely better than Connor was with Draisaitl.

 

97/29

GF/60 - 3.62

GA/60 - 2.32

GF% - 61%

 

93/97

GF/60 - 5.18

GA/60 - 2.27

GF% - 70%

 

McDavid's share of (GF%) went down playing with Leon and increased when away from him. The opposite has held true when playing with Nugent-Hopkins. They're extremely dangerous together, and compliment each other nicely.

 

[JR Ewing]

I went with the line in Boston as well. They literally have just about everything you could want out of a line:

 

-A skilled player who is (love him or hate him) the epitome of difficult to play against. Obnoxious but can back it up.

-An elite two-way centre who is an actual faceoff machine. Plays hockey the right way.

-A dangerous young sniper who is pitiless in his ability to pounce on any mistake or hole in the defense. Skilled opportunist.

 

They're a possession juggernaut which score 60% of the goals while they're on the ice, and has put up 230 more scoring chances than they've surrendered from 2017 thru to yesterday. Great line.

 

 

[mojo1917]

I voted for the Avs, speed kills. 

I don't care that they're middling defensively .

There is not one guy in the NHL not named McDavid that can skate with MacKinnon., Landedskog has always been the best player on a ****** team and now we're seeing what he can do when he has some talent around him. Rantanen killed the Flyers, he is a very good player....Watching this group eviscerate most of the top lines in the East over the last 2 weeks has been eye opening.  

They're so fast, any opponent's possession error from as deep as the slot can be an odd-man against in a blink with these guys.

 

Plus I hate all Boston sports teams so screw the broons trio. I read they like to kick puppies, especially Pasternak 

 

 

[JR Ewing]

12 minutes ago, mojo1917 said:

They're so fast, any opponent's possession error from as deep as the slot can be an odd-man against in a blink with these guys.
 

 

To rip off Satchel Paige, they're so fast they can turn off the light and be in bed before the room gets dark.

 

There ARE issues with them, I think. They're scoring at an unsustainable rate, and bleed chances against. Still, they're terrific.

 

 

[sweetshot]

 I remember MacKinnon as an 18 year-old and how good he looked against the Wild in the 2014 playoffs. I thought then he would be the next big star in the league. He got dinged up some the next couple of seasons and then had a so-so year on a terrible team. But man, he  sure found his game last year and looks great so far this season. And being on a line with Landeskog and Rantanen sure can't hurt.

 

But I went with the Boston trio. Marchand reminds me of Kenny "The Rat" Linesman(a simple but fantastic and fitting moniker).  You hate him when he's on the opposing team, but would love him on your side.