2. Get out the line blender
One thing Sheldon Keefe has done this season is build chemistry within his lines. His defensive units haven’t changed since Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce returned from offseason injuries. Jonas Siegenthaler and Johnathan Kovacevic have been one of the greatest shutdown pairs in the NHL, but that isn’t helping them score goals, which is what they need. Dougie Hamilton and Brenden Dillon are a pair we’ve advocated to break up for a while.
At forward, Jack Hughes, Ondrej Palat, and Jesper Bratt have been together for more than 400 minutes according to Natural Stat Trick. Nico Hischier has been tied to Timo Meier for more than 400 minutes, with both Stefan Noesen and Dawson Mercer playing 200+ minutes a piece with those lines. Meanwhile, the third line has mostly been Erik Haula, Paul Cotter, and either Mercer or Noesen.
It’s time to change the lines. They worked for a while, but they aren’t working right now. The exact lineup we haven’t exactly figured out, but splitting Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt is definitely the start.
The defense needs a change, too. We’ve already advocated for Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton to be paired together, but it needs to go further than that…