Roster-wise, Drake Batherson and Mathieu Joseph both find themselves in unfamiliar territory.
When the NHL season was getting underway, not even the biggest Mathieu Joseph fans thought we'd be here. Joseph was seen by most fans as an expensive, underachieving, third line guy and a viable salary dump option.
At the time, the Senators were apparently trying to re-sign RFA Shane Pinto. Pinto's 41-game suspension for a gambling rules violation and Thomas Chabot's $8 million being parked on LTIR took care of that problem quickly.
And it's a good thing too. Joseph would get some votes as Ottawa's best all-around, two-way player this season – and he's now getting consistently getting top-six minutes as a reward. Joseph has 13 points in 15 games and is nicely poised to continue his success, riding shotgun again Friday night with Tim Stutzle and Claude Giroux.
Meanwhile, Drake Batherson - a perennial top-six guy – has settled into third-line status. One of Batherson's linemates (Dominik Kubalik) has just 5 points in 15 games and the other (Roby Jarventie) has played just six career games in the NHL.
While he'd never say it, it's absolutely not where Batherson wants to be playing right now.
Stutzle, Brady Tkachuk, Giroux and Josh Norris aren't going anywhere, all locked into top-six roles. If Batherson is to return to that status, he'll have to start outplaying Joseph and newcomer Vladimir Tarasenko. Right now, with 10 points, he's three behind both of them.
But as long as Joseph and Tarasenko can maintain decent offensive numbers, head coach D.J. Smith will continue to favour them, five-on-five. Because on the defensive side of the puck, Batherson has been third best in that discussion too. Frankly, he's been a distant third.
Here are Friday's probable lines, based on the morning skate.
Forwards
Tkachuk-Norris-Tarasenko
Joseph-Stützle-Giroux
Kubalik-Jarventie-Batherson
Highmore-Chartier-Kelly
Defence
Sanderson-Zub
Chychrun-JBD
Brannstrom-Hamonic
Goalie
Forsberg
Sogaard