The Carolina Hurricanes have once again shaken up their forward lines.
At Friday's practice, head coach Rod Brind'Amour had Sebastian Aho skating with Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis (T-A-J); Jesperi Kotkaniemi skating with Andrei Svechnikov and Martin Necas (S-K-N); Jordan Staal is once again back with Jordan Martinook and Jesper Fast (M-S-F); and Jack Drury is between Michael Bunting and Stefan Noesen (B-D-N).
"We haven't had the whole group until the last little bit," said Rod Brind'Amour. "Now it's just about trying to find the right mix. We've got good options. So it might take a little while to find the chemistry we need, but we've got a lot of good options."
These lines are the same ones that Brind'Amour opted for in the third period of Wednesday's game against the Philadelphia Flyers, and those top three lines were also the most common line combinations last season.
Last year, M-S-F played 739 5v5 minutes together, T-A-J played 314 minutes together and S-K-N played 231 minutes together.
All three lines had a 57% or higher expected goals percentage and a 55.6% or higher actual goals percentage.
They were reliable then and perhaps the thinking is that they will be reliable now.
In terms of the new top-six, Brind'Amour had yet to really go to these new combinations this season despite their prior success.
T-A-J have only played 32 minutes together this year and S-K-N appeared together for the first time in the third period on Wednesday.
In their limited minutes, the two lines have been strong with the T-A-J having a 76.1% CF and the S-K-N line having a 68.18% CF.\
In the bottom six, obviously the Staal line is a staple of the team, being one of the most consistent lines in the entire league and they simply just dominate play at even strength.
They control a 71.9% CF and have been on the ice for four goals for and just one against.
They also shutdown the other team's top players so even if they aren't scoring, they're preventing chances better than almost anyone else in the NHL.
And finally, the B-D-N line is kind of everyone else. They've yet to find solid footing this year and have only played together for 16 minutes this season, but the line has the bearings to be a solid forechecking and grind line.
These will most likely be the line combinations we see on Saturday and only time will tell if these could be the ones the team sticks with.
"I'd love to get some stability," Brind'Amour said. "Everyone would. ... You want to get some consistency with the group."
*All stats courtesy of naturalstattrick.com and moneypuck.com.
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