Sometimes you’ll flip the TV to a random NHL game or see a team’s line combinations online and wonder: Why is that guy being used so high in the lineup? Or why is that player in a different position?
It’s not that you think it’s wrong — in many cases, it’s the best option — but it sparks curiosity because it’s something new.
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Just over a week into the 2023-24 season, we’re already seeing countless players in roles that are bigger, notably different or unexpected. They’re new looks. A lot of these are experiments in which teams will be watching closely to see how the player adjusts and whether further changes need to be made.
There are so many players in new roles that I wanted to dive into, but we had to narrow it down to seven because there’s only so much film I could watch on my own (we won’t be doing goalies and we’ll save rookies like Matthew Poitras, Zach Benson, Alex Laferriere, etc., for another article soon). Here’s how some of these skaters are performing in their new roles so far.
Patrik Laine, Columbus Blue Jackets
The experiment:
Shifting from wing to center
The stats: 3 GP, 1G-1A-2P, 16:23 ATOI
How he’s looked so far: Laine’s faced a challenging learning curve at center.
In Columbus’ season opener, he regularly turned the puck over in the middle. Below you’ll see his first shift as an example. Laine turns it over in the offensive zone but then recovers with a fantastic dive to disrupt the Flyers’ breakaway pass, only to turn it over in the neutral zone again just seconds later.
Later in the period, he made a drop pass off the rush to nobody, which resulted in a two-on-one goal for the Flyers.
One of the biggest adjustments to playing center is the extra defensive responsibilities. The center is usually the first forward back in his own end which means defending down low, supporting your defensemen to win battles below the dots, taking away slot passing lanes with your stick and tying up players around the net. It’s incredibly demanding physically. Laine’s stepped up his intensity defensively and has generally been in the right positions, although he doesn’t seem to have the natural defensive IQ and instincts for how to check and clog passing lanes.
Laine’s second game at center was better but still a mixed bag. He made a strong play to draw attention and earn the primary assist on David Jiricek’s first career NHL goal.
Another big night for rookies as David Jiricek gets his first NHL goal 🔥 pic.twitter.com/SwJJq2U5yn
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 15, 2023
But in the third period, he failed to pick up a puck off the wall and was slow to track back and disrupt the slot shot that the Rangers scored on. This is the type of play he’d need to make as a winger anyway, but it’s still not a great sign to see.
Laine’s line was pretty good on Monday night against the Red Wings, but it was mostly his wingers Adam Fantilli and Alex Texier driving play. Individually, Laine was mostly invisible and his ice time dropped to just 14:15. He’s registered just three five-on-five shots and one five-on-five point through three games.
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Laine’s biggest challenge at center is proving he can drive play. He has his signature wicked shot and flashy hands, but he hasn’t been comfortable/effective enough as a puck transporter from the middle (not very involved on the breakout), nor is he distributing the puck to set up his linemates enough.
Right now, Laine has the look of a player who needs somebody else to set him up in scoring areas, rather than a marquee center who can drive a line himself. He also has some growing pains with puck management and defensive play.
Alexis Lafrenière, New York Rangers
The experiment:
Top-six opportunity on his off wing on a line with Artemi Panarin and Filip Chytil
The stats: 3 GP, 1G-0A-1P, 15:58 ATOI
How he’s looked so far: Lafrenière is finally getting the extended top-six look on his off wing that Gerard Gallant, the Rangers’ last coach, never seemed to feel comfortable giving him.
It’s not a surprising “experiment” by any means, but it’s an extremely important look for the Rangers’ future given Lafrenière’s disappointing development since being drafted No. 1 and the untapped upside available if they unlock his potential.
After a disappointing training camp and preseason, Lafrenière came out of the gate with one of his best performances ever as a Ranger in the season opener. It wasn’t just that he scored a rebound goal, he was genuinely driving offense and dishing the puck well all night. Here he is making a slick pass to set up Chytil on the doorstep for a Grade-A chance.
Lafrenière’s confidence was oozing. On the play below, he feathered a cross-seam pass to Panarin, got the puck back and then danced around Owen Power to drive the net hard for a scoring chance.
The Panarin, Chytil and Lafrenière line has been on fire through three games. Lafrenière was decent in the Rangers’ second game, even though he failed to pick up a defensive assignment on one of the goals against.
He was quieter against the Coyotes on Monday night. His line was still strong, but that’s mostly because Panarin and Chytil were playing lights out. Lafrenière, meanwhile, looked a bit slow and mostly invisible until he started making more of an impact on the forecheck in the third period.
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Lafrenière’s had a positive start as the complementary piece on a top-six line that’s been electric. He’s probably deserved another point or two based on how he’s played and needs to make sure he doesn’t let this momentum fade.
Filip Zadina, San Jose Sharks
The experiment:
Top-line role
The stats: 3 GP, 2G-0A-2P, 17:11 ATOI
How he’s looked so far: Zadina made the bold decision to mutually terminate his contract with the Red Wings this summer, which made him forfeit just north of $4.5 million in guaranteed salary over the next two seasons. That landed him in San Jose where he’s capitalized on the top-line chance he’s gotten alongside Tomas Hertl and Anthony Duclair through three games.
With the Red Wings, Zadina struggled mightily to bury chances but he’s looked clinical and confident as a shooter in San Jose. He had a sweet turnaround goal during the first game.
Welcome to San Jose Filip Zadina! 🦈 pic.twitter.com/psyAL0tzc9
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 13, 2023
He followed that up with a long-distance power-play snipe against the Canes on Tuesday night and endeared himself by roughing up Jalen Chatfield after his late hit on Hertl.
This isn’t to say all has been perfect for Zadina. He got his defensive signals crossed on Nicolas Hague’s momentum-swinging goal against Vegas and his line (predictably, along with the whole team) has generally struggled to control play. But the important thing is that we’re seeing sparks of the creativity and decisive finishing that once made Zadina such a promising prospect.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Florida Panthers
The experiment:
Top-pair, all-situations role on the right side
The stats: 3GP, 0G-1A-1P, 26:03 ATOI (third most of all NHL defensemen)
How he’s looked so far: Ekman-Larsson’s top-pair, all-situations role — including quarterbacking PP1 — was necessitated by Aaron Ekblad’s and Brandon Montour’s injuries. OEL’s a key wild-card player for multiple reasons. He’s tasked with not only helping to keep the Panthers’ blue line afloat until Ekblad and Montour get healthy, but he could be a second-pair left-side option even when they return.
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So far, Ekman-Larsson’s been a mixed bag. He started with a strong game against the Wild. He was active in breaking up plays with his stick, occupied smart defensive positions and made neat passes on the breakout, controlling play with Gustav Forsling as a pair all night.
Ekman-Larsson’s looked dodgy in the last two games, however.
He had a sloppy, turnover-prone game against the Jets, which included a pinch where he was really luckily bailed out by Forsling.
There was also a second-period sequence where OEL made an errant breakout pass in the neutral zone. Winnipeg gained possession because of that and established its forecheck. Ekman-Larsson lost his stick on a board battle and momentarily lost Cole Perfetti, who set up a goal.
The Panthers’ most recent game against the Devils highlighted how OEL’s lack of agility and edge work gives him a lot of trouble on defensive zone retrievals and breakouts against speedy forechecks. He was a turnover machine and it resulted in the Panthers getting outchanced 11-2 during OEL’s five-on-five shifts against New Jersey.
Ekman-Larsson hasn’t been a complete liability — he’s aware positionally and has flashed smart plays — but his lack of foot speed hinders his transition and offensive value and he’s not a heavy enough presence to be a stopper who can consistently break up the cycle or create other changes in possession defensively. That’s a concerning combination considering he’s playing a No. 1 defenseman’s role against top lines.
Phil Di Giuseppe, Vancouver Canucks
The experiment:
Top-six winger role
The stats: 3GP, 0G-1A-1P, 14:55 ATOI
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How he’s looked so far: How did an AHL/NHL tweener end up in an opening-night top-six role for a Canucks team with playoff ambitions?
After spending his first season and a half with the organization in the minors, Di Giuseppe was called up down the stretch last season and instantly became a favorite of new head coach Rick Tocchet. Di Giuseppe’s tenacious forechecking, strong, heavy play along the boards and responsible two-way game made him a perfect stylistic fit for Tocchet’s simple, high-intensity north-south playing style. He picked up 12 points in 30 games while mostly playing on Vancouver’s second line with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser.
Data courtesy Natural Stat Trick
Many fans expected Di Giuseppe to get pushed down the lineup this season, but the club doesn’t have many heavy, fast, responsible wingers so Tocchet reunited Di Giuseppe with Miller and Boeser as Vancouver’s first-choice shutdown line. That line had a dream night while matched up head-to-head against Connor McDavid during the season opener, handily controlling possession and outscoring No. 97 3-0 at five-on-five.
Time after time, Di Giuseppe does an excellent job as the first man in on the forecheck. Here’s an example that led to Boeser’s first goal.
Di Giuseppe and his line have struggled the last two games, but the entire team’s been dominated territorially, so it’s hard to know how much stock to put into that.
Connor McMichael, Washington Capitals
The experiment:
Top-six winger role
The stats: 3GP, 1G-0A-1P, 15:29 ATOI
How he’s looked so far: McMichael, the No. 25 pick in 2019, played the entire season with Washington in 2021-22 but went pointless through six games to begin last season. He was demoted to the AHL for the rest of the year, where he had good but not dominant scoring numbers on the Calder Cup-winning Hershey Bears.
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After such a stark setback and not a lot of development runway left, it would have been easy to write McMichael off heading into this season. Since training camp, however, he’s looked like a completely new player. He’s been one of the Capitals’ best forwards, even though his stats might not jump off the page.
McMichael, a natural center, has played the wing. The biggest difference is how assertive and confident he is carrying the puck. McMichael played a safe, cookie-cutter game in previous years, but now when he gets the puck he’s operating fearlessly and with the intent to make a big play. Watch how explosively he sliced through Pittsburgh’s defensive structure before ringing a shot off the post in Game 1.
He attacked the slot and scored in a similar way during Washington’s last game.
Connor McMichael ties the game for the Capitals. Matthew Phillips with the assist.
It's 2-2 half way through the second period. pic.twitter.com/6gEoJWUf6l
— Robert Munnich (@RingOfFireCGY) October 17, 2023
McMichael generated another couple of Grade-A chances during Wednesday’s loss to the Senators, too. Hopefully, he can become one of the genuine bright spots on an aging, declining Caps team that looks like it could be on track for an awful season.
Alex Vlasic, Chicago Blackhawks
The experiment:
Top-pair role
The stats: 4GP, 0G-2A-2P, 19:34 ATOI
How he’s looked so far: The left side of Chicago’s top pair looked like it could be a major issue this season. Instead, Vlasic, 22, has seized the opportunity and is emerging as a standout player next to Seth Jones.
Standing at a hulking 6-foot-6, Vlasic has always had tremendous reach and defensive potential. But the key to his development has been the monumental strides he’s made with the puck since being drafted in the second round in 2019. I remember watching Vlasic during his draft year and he handled the puck like a grenade. He couldn’t execute basic puck plays with consistency, which undermined his defensive value.
Now, he’s skilled enough to feather gorgeous stretch passes like this one that led to Corey Perry’s breakaway goal.
Defensively, he covers a ton of ground because of his wingspan and mobility. It’s allowed him to consistently break plays up, which, coupled with his improved puck touches, has led to a very impressive start for a player who only had 21 NHL games of experience before this season.
Honorable mentions
Evan Rodrigues (Florida) playing top-line and first-unit power-play, Cole Perfetti (Winnipeg) shifting to center, Pavel Zacha (Boston) playing a No. 1 center role, Simon Holmstrom (Islanders) playing top-line role, Lukas Reichel (Chicago) shifting to center, Darren Raddysh (Tampa Bay) playing top-four minutes, Jonathan Drouin (Colorado) playing in the top six, Sean Durzi (Arizona) averaging 25 minutes per game, Nicolas Hague (Vegas) stepping into a top-four role, Alex Newhook (Montreal) playing a top-six role.
(Photos of Patrik Laine and Alexis Lafrenière: Aaron Doster / USA Today, Sarah Stier / Getty Images)