After one of the worst losses in recent memory, it should come as no surprise that Los Angeles Kings are looking to shake things up a bit.
On practice Wednesday, it's being reported that the Kings are looking to shuffle their lines as the reintegrate Viktor Arvidsson.
It appears that Arvidsson will return to the second line with Phil Danault and Trevor Moore.
Kevin Fiala is up on the top line with Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield and Adrian Kempe is with Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Laferriere.
I wouldn't call these wholesale changes necessarily, but it will have an impact on the lineup.
Byfield-Kopitar-Fiala:
This is the most interesting line to me. The Kings tried Fiala and Kopitar together last year with minimal success.
Both are puck dominant players who want to control play which created problems in their first stint together.
Fiala's free roaming, at times undisciplined, play style also created problems for that line.
However, it's a new season and maybe Byfield on the other side is the foil that can make this line work.
It's also possible that this is the Kings acknowledging that Kopitar can't carry a line the way he used to.
He's struggled recently, underpinned by his -6 performance in Buffalo on Tuesday. If this can lighten the load on him, it could be a win for everyone.
My big question for this line is, where does the finish come from? All three players are natural playmakers and none of them are known for being shooters.
Byfield's improved in this area but shouldn't be relied upon to be the main finisher. Kopitar and Fiala are both former 30 goal scorers, but again, neither are natural shooters.
Maybe if Kopitar is willing to give up the play driver role a little he can become more of a finisher, the ability is there, but I wouldn't be confident in that happening.
There's a lot of potential upside in this line, but only if Fiala and Kopitar develop the chemistry they couldn't develop last season.
Moore-Danault-Arvidsson:
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That seems to be Jim Hiller's thought process in reuniting the "nice line" after Arvidsson's return.
We know the success this line can have. They're analytics darlings and can play against any teams top line.
Given Moore's improvements as a shooter this season, this line could potentially find another level.
The big question is Arvidsson. He's been a consistent producer since coming to Los Angeles, but is coming off his second back surgery in two years.
They're asking a lot of him to slot back into a top-six role after missing five months of hockey, but if he can hit the ground running, the Kings are in a great spot.
Laferriere-Dubois-Kempe:
Dubois has looked much better in Hiller's first two games and is getting rewarded with an star winger.
This isn't the first time we've seen these three together, and in their brief stint they found success.
This gives the Kings a line that can truly flip the third line matchup.
According to the numbers, Dubois created plenty of chances that aren't being finished by linemates. With Kempe on his wing, that won't be a problem.
Hiller mentioned wanting to challenge Dubois more and give him a bigger role and this keeps in line with that sentiment.
Assuming this isn't a classic Todd McLellan, change the lines for a game and a half then back to business as usual, this will be a big opportunity for Dubois.
He needs to shine with Kempe on his line. It gives him an elite finisher and someone with elite speed, something his line has lacked in the past.
If Dubois can replicate his play from the last two games, the Kings could be onto something here.
They could finally have the fantastic forward depth we were all promised.
The Test Comes on Thursday:
If Hiller isn't faking us out with these lines, and Arvidsson is ready to go, the first test for these lines comes on Thursday against the New Jersey Devils.
The Kings need to bounce-back after their terrible performance on Tuesday and show they're the team that beat Edmonton 4-0, not the team that got hammered 7-0.
There are still plenty of question marks with these lines, particularly on the first and third lines, but there's plenty of room for optimism.