Ranking the Top 15 Best Forward Lines Early in the 2022-23 NHL Season

Finding the right line combination can sometimes be a challenge for NHL head coaches. It is not always as simple as just putting two or three great players together and sitting back as they pile up goals. Players need to play off each other's strengths, make up for their weaknesses and just have that chemistry together to make it all work.

When a team finds that right combination, it can be magic and help carry an offense.

Here we are going to take a look at 15 of the best line combinations so far during the 2022-23 season. We are looking for trios that have spent a reasonable amount of time together (cutoff is 25 minutes of even-strength play) and provided a strong balance of goal scoring and goal prevention, as well as an ability to drive possession and carry play.

There are some lines that you might expect, and maybe some surprises.

This is also only factoring in what we have seen this season, so if you notice some superstars and their lines missing, or see some surprising names, there's plenty of time for things to turn around for those players.

The Montreal Canadiens might be in for a long rebuilding season, but they do have some major building blocks, and two of them play on this line in Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki.

They both got off to terrible starts a year ago under former head coach Dominique Ducharme, but they have been let loose by Martin St. Louis, and the Canadiens are reaping the benefits of that change.

Since St. Louis took over behind the bench, Caufield and Suzuki have played like franchise cornerstones. They have also helped bring out the best in Sean Monahan after some really down years in Calgary.

Overall, this trio has been the biggest bright spot for the Canadiens so far. In nearly 40 minutes of even-strength ice-time with this trio on the ice, the Canadiens are outscoring teams by a 5-3 margin and playing exactly the way St. Louis wants his team to play: with freedom, using their skill and instincts and producing a lot of offense.

The Canadiens are still a few years away from contending, but with Caufield, Suzuki and No. 1 overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky on the roster, there is a clear core in place that might be the start of something.

This might be the line on this list you look at and say, "Well, I certainly did not expect to see these guys here," but they have been a truly effective line so far for the Kings.

In more than 30 minutes of even-strength play, they have been the Kings' best possession line and are outscoring teams by a 4-1 margin. It is a very encouraging development because the Kings' top six with Anze Kopitar, Kevin Fiala, Phillip Danault, Adrian Kempe, Trevor Moore and Viktor Arvidsson is very strong and should be the foundation of a sleeper contender in the Western Conference.

The development of a third line, and Byfield in particular, is what might help push them over the edge.

So far, this line has been remarkably effective, but an injury to Iafallo could see the Kings turn to Arthur Kaliyev in this spot. Byfield has had some struggles offensively and has not yet broken out, but if he does, the Kings are going to be capable of doing some major damage in the Western Conference.

The Wild are off to a pretty lousy start as a team, mainly because their goalies are not stopping anything, but their top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman still looks great.

Kaprizov and Zuccarello have been a magnificent match from day one and have helped transform a historically boring and dull offensive team into one of the league's most entertaining. You do not often see one or two players completely change a team's identity that much, which speaks volumes to just how good this duo is.

This trio is on the verge of going off soon given their underlying numbers in shot attempts and scoring chances. Through their first five games, this trio has a 63 percent share of the shot attempts, scoring chances and expected goals when they are on the ice. They have also combined for three goals in 39 minutes and have been the Wild's best defensive line in terms of suppressing shot attempts and scoring chances (just 1.80 expected goals against per 60 minutes).

The Wild's salary-cap issues mean they are going to need this trio to help carry the offense, and they are perfectly capable of doing so.

This line is a sleeping giant right now that is ready to run wild on the league.

Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are two of the best players in the league, and they have been embarrassing opposing defenses together for years now. With Gabriel Landeskog sidelined, Arturri Lehkonen has been getting a run with this duo and they are controlling the pace of games as well as any other line in the league.

This trio has not produced a ton of goals just yet during 5-on-5 play (MacKinnon and Rantanen have done a lot of damage on the power play), but every underlying metric suggests a group that is on the verge of going off at any moment. They are controlling more than 60 percent of the shot attempts and scoring chances and are also averaging more than three expected goals per 60 minutes.

The ice is heavily tilted in their favor, and the chances are coming in waves. It is just a matter of when, and not if, it starts turning into goals. When they do, the defending Stanley Cup champs are going to be a nightmare to slow down.

The Penguins kept the band together this offseason by re-signing all of their major free agents, including Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust. And it was the right decision. Even with their age and the lack of playoff success the past few years, they are all still outstanding players, and the Pens weren't going to find upgrades in free agency or the trade market for better prices.

Malkin and Rust are back on a line together this season with Jason Zucker, and it has been a very productive trio.

At this point, it should be expected that Malkin and Rust are going to be productive, but Zucker is the intriguing one here. Injuries have really limited his effectiveness in Pittsburgh, and there seemed to be a push to dump his contract this offseason. The Penguins did not go that route and hoped for a bounce-back. So far, he has given them that and seems to have found a home with Malkin and Rust.

In 56 minutes of even-strength ice time, this group is averaging more than five goals per 60 minutes with a 72 percent share of the expected goals. They are generating chances and getting the results.

Even though there has been some concern about Malkin's decline at 5-on-5, his goal scoring has remained as good as ever. What dropped last season were his assist numbers, and that was largely due to having unproductive linemates. Rust and Zucker should help fix that, and so far they have.

The Senators now have one of the league's best top sixes, and this is half of it.

All three players here are signed long-term to contracts that could end up being bargains if the players reach their potential, as they seem to be on track to do.

As former top-five picks, there should be an expectation for Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stutzle to become franchise players, and they seem to be on their way. Given Tkachuk's ability to push possession and generate shots, he could be become a 35-40-goal guy (just like his brother) if he gets a little shooting luck at some point in his career. Based on what we have seen so far this season, it might happen sooner rather than later.

As a group, they have already combined for five goals in 70 minutes and have more than 65 percent of the expected goals and scoring chances.

You have to give the Ottawa Senators a lot of credit for making a serious effort to get better this offseason with a couple of blockbuster moves, signing veteran forward Claude Giroux in unrestricted free agency and stealing Alex DeBrincat from the Chicago Blackhawks.

DeBrincat is one of the league's best goal-scorers, and combined with Giroux he adds some legitimate talent to an already promising young core in Ottawa. Part of that young core is Josh Norris—a key part of the Erik Karlsson trade from a few years ago—who signed a massive long-term contract extension this offseason.

All of these moves have given the Senators one of the best top sixes in the league, and this newly formed line has gotten off to a great start. DeBrincat has not yet found his goal-scoring stride, but Ottawa is outscoring teams by a 4-1 margin with these three on the ice, in addition to a commanding shot attempt (56 percent) and scoring chance edge (65 percent).

Norris was recently injured, which definitely hurts in the short term, but Senators fans have to love what they have seen from these three together. It helps bring some legitimacy to a team that badly needs it.

The Florida Panthers made one of the biggest trades of the offseason when they acquired Matthew Tkachuk from the Calgary Flames, and he is already making a big impact with his new club.

And he is doing so with a former teammate from Calgary in Sam Bennett.

They spent a decent among of time together as members of the Flames and found some success, so it should not be a surprise to see them excelling already with the Panthers. Tkachuk is one of the best players in the league and should be able to play well with anybody, while Bennett started to realize his potential with the fresh start he got in Florida.

Rudolfs Balcers is the surprising member of this group because he does not have much of a track record being a top-line winger. But with Anthony Duclair sidelined, he is taking advantage.

As of Tuesday, they have already combined for five goals in 55 minutes together with a 60 percent shot attempt share and have been the Panthers' top offensive line.

The Hurricanes are one of the teams that have two different lines making this list, and the trio of Teuvo Teravainen, Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis has been almost as good as the top line.

It is almost an embarrassment of riches to have this much young forward talent on a single team.

Aho is Carolina's top overall player, while Teravainen is one of the league's most underrated wingers with his ability to impact the game all over the ice. Add Jarvis, a 20-year-old who has already scored 19 goals in 73 NHL games, to that list and you have the potential for brilliance here.

Following Monday's win in Vancouver, they have a 5-0 goals edge when on the ice together while also smothering teams on the shot and scoring chance charts. They are above 61 percent in terms of shot attempt, scoring chance and expected goals share.

Carolina has one of the best, and deepest, forward groups in the league, and the scary thing is they still have a Max Pacioretty return looming at some point later this season and for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The New York Rangers have some questions when it comes to their secondary scoring depth, but there should be no problems with their top two lines.

Artemi Panarin is driving one of those lines along with Alexis Lafreniere and big free-agent signing Vincent Trocheck.

Panarin is one of the league's best offensive players, while Trocheck was brought in to help upgrade the center position over Ryan Strome. Putting those two together has been very productive, and the hope is that they can help Lafreniere, a recent No. 1 overall pick, reach his potential. If he does, the Rangers have a chance to take a massive leap forward and become bona fide Stanley Cup contenders.

They are tilting the ice in a significant way territorially (56 percent shot attempt share), while the Rangers have already scored five goals in 66 minutes of 5-on-5 play with all three of them on the ice together. They have allowed too many goals defensively, but that has more to do with Igor Shesterkin getting off to a slower-than-expected start than anything this line is or is not doing.

Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are the foundation of Toronto's offense, and they form one of the league's best duos.

While neither has yet to fully find their goal-scoring touch this season, their line is still humming along and producing a lot of offense and chances. The puck is just not yet going in the net off their sticks.

That will not last long.

Entering play Monday, the Maple Leafs had scored four goals in 60 minutes with this trio on the ice during even-strength play while having a better than 60 percent shot attempt share and a 66 percent expected goal share. They are also averaging more than 4.5 expected goals per 60 minutes.

In terms of tilting the ice and creating chances, they have been one of the best lines in the league. As long as Matthews and Marner keep creating chances at those rates, the puck is eventually going to start finding the back of the net for them. They are too talented for that to not happen.

Matthews has become the top goal scorer in the league, and you have the potential for magic when you match him with a playmaker like Marner. The process is there. The results are going to follow.

After spending a year playing overseas, David Krejci returned to Boston for the 2022-23 season and is playing like he never went away.

He also finally has something he never really had during his prime years in Boston: Top-line wingers.

He has been playing between Taylor Hall and David Pastrnak so far, and together they have been the Bruins' best line and helped drive the team's fast start. They have only played about 30 minutes together and only combined for two goals when all three are on the ice together, but they have been lights-out defensively and controlled the pace of play.

They are averaging 5.19 expected goals per 60 minutes and have an eye-opening 77 percent expected goals share when on the ice. That is about as dominant as you can get. It is only a matter of time until players like Pastrnak and Hall start turning that into even more goals.

Krejci's return is significant for Boston as it gives them their 1-2 punch down the middle with him and Patrice Bergeron, while Pastrnak continues to play his way toward a massive contract.

This line sticking together also gives the Bruins the potential to have two dominant scoring groups whenever Brad Marchand returns and takes his inevitable spot next to Patrice Bergeron.

Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel have been one of the league's best duos for about the past five years now, and with Rickard Rakell added to this mix, they have another dynamic winger to team up with them.

Guentzel has been sidelined for the Penguins' past two games with an injury (Danton Heinen has replaced him and played well), but this trio has still spent significant time together this season and played some fantastic hockey. They already have five goals together in 47 minutes of hockey and seem to have an instant chemistry.

Crosby, even at age 35, is still one of the league's best players, and Guentzel is as good of an all-around winger as you are going to find. Rakell has been a perfect complement to them with his skill and size, and he seems to be rejuvenating his career after slumping a bit in Anaheim for a couple of years.

The Dallas Stars have some flaws lower down their lineup, but this line is one of the best in the league. They dominated together a year ago and have picked right back up where they left off.

Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz are two outstanding young talents, while Pavelski is an ageless wonder continuing to score and produce at an elite rate.

This line carries a lot of Dallas' offense, and they can be impossible to stop when all three of them are clicking together.

They have spent more than 65 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time together this season, are outscoring teams 5-0 during that time and have a commanding possession edge in terms of shots and shot attempts.

This group, combined with Jake Oettinger in net, will give the Stars a fighting chance every night against any team.

Now if they can just find a couple of secondary lines, they might really be on to something as a team.

This line has the potential to be one of the best in the league all season, and perhaps even downright dominant. All three players are young and excel at driving possession and generating shots. Svechnikov has already been a 30-goal scorer in the league, while Kotkaniemi and Necas both have that potential.

What makes this line such a potential game-changer is that all three have posted outstanding underlying numbers throughout their careers with relatively low shooting percentages. If one or two of them gets some better shooting luck, they could be monsters offensively.

That is starting to happen a little this season, with Svechnikov and Necas both shooting over 25 percent.

Entering play on Monday night in Vancouver, this trio was outscoring teams by a 4-0 margin during 5-on-5 play and controlling a mind-blowing 67.8 percent of the total shot attempts when on the ice. Pure domination.

Data is via Natural Stat Trick.