It has not been smooth sailing for the Carolina Hurricanes since they acquired both Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall.

Since the blockbuster trade, the team is 3-5-1, having not only battled through an illness that swept through the locker room, but also inconsistent play 

Carolina is averaging just 2.44 goals per game, are giving up 3.00 per game and have been shut out twice in that span.

In face of those struggles, coach Rod Brind'Amour has gone to the chalkboard as of late and has put forth quite a few different line combinations.

While I understand the premise — the team is struggling, so something has to change — it hasn't really paid dividends for the team and especially not for Rantanen.

Since joining the Hurricanes, Rantanen has played on six different line combinations with a variety of different linemates (Sebastian Aho, Jackson Blake, Andrei Svechnikov, Jack Roslovic, Seth Jarvis and Jesperi Kotkaniemi).

Here's the breakdown of his 5v5 time on ice spent with each line combination:

Rantanen-Aho-Blake: 55:39
Jarvis-Aho-Rantanen: 17:25
Rantanen-Roslovic-Blake: 13:09
Rantanen-Roslovic-Svechnikov: 9:06
Ratnanen-Aho-Svechnikov: 4:49
Rantanen-Kotkaniemi-Svechnikov: 2:34

It's hard enough adjusting to a completely new system and I'm sure adding in a rotating cast of linemates doesn't ease that burden any more either.

I understand that Brind'Amour is trying to see if there's any natural chemistry for Rantanen somewhere else in the lineup, but at the end of the day, it's probably best to just let your top players work it out.

Rantanen is a top-line talent, so put him with your other top players.

Even with the rotating cast, Rantanen has still looked good despite only having one goal and three points across his eight games in Carolina.

The Finn has a 68.18 CF%, 63.91 xGF% and 62.22 HDCF%, all of which lead the team for each category.

 I think it's only a matter of time before things start to click for him, but that success is more likely to come if he just plays with the team's most talented players.

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