Lineup: New opportunities for Kubalik, Montour, Robertson and others

Welcome back to another edition of Lineing Up. It’s early in the season but already there is controversy and injuries piling up. This means many players are getting new opportunities to progress, and Lining Up will be looking to make some recommendations to help out the fantasy rosters over the coming week. Some are born great, some reach greatness, and some can quarter Florida’s top power play.

Let’s dive in.

Dominik Kubalik

Dominik Kubalik had a moderate start to his career in Chicago. His first two seasons were promising as he produced back-to-back campaigns at a pace of .68 points per game. However, last season saw a slump where he recorded just 31 points for a .40 pace in 78 games. Now, with a change of scenery in a burgeoning Detroit roster, he’s entered his fourth season with eight points in five games and is lining up alongside Dylan Larkin for more than half his time with even strength.

He’s also apparently earned a spot on the powerplay unit with David Perron and Dylan Larkin. Detroit may split time between two units more than other teams, but this unit had a slightly larger share of time available in the last game at 54.5%. Kubalik is currently represented in only 40% of the Yahoo leagues. Get him while he gets this mission and he’s on a hot streak.

Jeff Petry

After a dismal season last year at Montreal that saw Petry pick up just five points in his first 34 games, he began coming under the guidance of new coach Martin St. Louis and finished the season with 11 points in 13 games. Petry then moved to Pittsburgh where his fantasy value became questionable. From the 2017-2018 season through last season, Petry had a 50%PP average compared to the 33.6 he’s seen with Pittsburgh so far. Even with that smaller stake, he was very valuable earlier this season, especially in multi-cat leagues. Petry is currently on one goal and four points in five games along with just over two shots per game and over five hits and blocks. In practice and yesterday’s game against Edmonton, Petry temporarily ousted Rickard Rakell in the top powerplay unit and will have his chance with the stars on the team until Jake Guentzel returns.

Pittsburgh have three games left this week, including a potentially great clash against Vancouver and Seattle. Consider trading it in even if Guentzel comes back.

Brandon Montor

Another defender who finds himself on the power play is Brandon Montour. Florida’s last game on Sunday saw Montour tied with 6:15 power play time with the top unit, replacing an injured Aaron Ekblad and beating Gustav Forsling for first place. Montour has three points in four games so far and as long as he keeps that stake he’s worth a lineup. Florida have three potentially scoring games against Chicago Philadelphia and an Ottawa squad this week, possibly without Anton Forsberg. He’s also only 27% in the Yahoo leagues, so consider rotating him into your lineup.

Cole Perfetti

Cole Perfetti has had a strong start to the season and is currently enjoying a nice little hot streak with five points in his last four games while playing on the back row with Blake Wheeler and Pierre-Luc Dubois. Last season he saw a similar effort in his short 18 games, playing alongside Dubois and Kyle Connor but having more muted results. He scored seven points in those 18 games while playing on that line nearly two-thirds of the time and sadly lost the rest of the season to multiple injuries. So far, a full offseason to recover and start from day one with the team seems to be yielding good results as he’s producing more efficiently.

Perfetti was 10th^th Overall pick in 2020 and is the top prospect within the Winnipeg organization. He scored 15 points in 17 games in the OHL before a brief stint for Team Canada at the WJC, where he scored six points in two games. He has points per game and is comparable to a Nicklas Backstrom-style player. With just 16% in the Yahoo leagues and three games left this week for Winnipeg, pick up Perfetti and ride the hot streak to victory.

Nicholas Robertson

The Toronto rookie forward and younger brother of Dallas star Jason Robertson recently joined John Tavares and William Nylander in the second row. He has spent just over 70% of his time there and has three points in three games so far, including two goals in his first game. Additionally, Robertson has averaged a 15:04 TOI so far, an increase of nearly five minutes from his previous callups with Toronto, and sees 55.5% of his faceoffs in the offensive zone. Both are good indications of a solid commitment and should give him the opportunity to continue producing. Toronto has three games left on its road trip this week, including back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday. Keep an eye on Robertson, maybe as a pick for those two late week games.

Thank you for reading.