The Line Lab
Which trios actually work when they're on the ice together. We compare what a line shouldproduce given who's on it against what it actually produces — the difference is chemistry. Every unit below really played together at 5-on-5; nothing is hypothetical.
How to read this
Nothing here is invented: every line and pair below actually played together at 5-on-5, with real minutes attached. For each unit we show its observed — the slice of scoring chances it controlled while on the ice, where 50% means break-even.
The interesting part is the split. We first compute an : what those players should produce together if a line were just the sum of its parts. Whatever the real unit does beyond that is the — the closest a spreadsheet gets to measuring whether three players actually fit. Small-minute units are noisy, so read a big bonus on 30 minutes as a hypothesis, not a verdict — and remember this is a model estimate, not the coach's lineup card.
- BASE
- what the unit “should” produce — its members' individual profiles, added up
- CHEM
- observed share minus base: the whole vs. the sum of the parts
- PROJ
- base + chem — the model's expectation if the unit stays together
- TICK
- the hairline on each bar marks 50% — the break-even line
- Lines recovered from MoneyPuck lines.csv (5on5, observed deployment); chemistry = observed xG% minus additive archetype base. Model-estimated.
- 01Mika Zibanejad – J.T. Miller – Gabe PerreaultTogether this unit controls play outright — 60% of expected goals, 10 points better than these players' profiles predict. Real chemistry.177 min together 50 +10 → proj 6060.0%· obs.
- 02Vincent Trocheck – Alexis Lafrenire – Will CuylleTogether this unit controls play outright — 55% of expected goals, 9 points better than these players' profiles predict. Real chemistry.83 min together 46 +9 → proj 5555.0%· obs.
- 03Conor Sheary – Tye Kartye – Noah LabaTogether this unit gets buried territorially — 43% of expected goals, about what the talent on it predicts.91 min together 43 0 → proj 4343.0%· obs.
- 01Vladislav Gavrikov – Adam FoxTogether this unit controls play outright — 58% of expected goals, 26 points better than these players' profiles predict. Real chemistry.873 min together 32 +26 → proj 5858.0%· obs.
- 02Will Borgen – Matthew RobertsonTogether this unit plays about even — 49% of expected goals, 22 points better than these players' profiles predict. Real chemistry.438 min together 27 +22 → proj 4949.0%· obs.
- 03Urho Vaakanainen – Braden SchneiderTogether this unit plays about even — 48% of expected goals, 22 points better than these players' profiles predict. Real chemistry.189 min together 26 +22 → proj 4848.0%· obs.