Midseason Grades for Each Line on the Pittsburgh Penguins

It has been a topsy-turvy season up front so far for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

New coach Mike Johnston has done more than his fair share of line juggling—partly to find the best complements for his two superstars, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, but mostly due to the explosion of injuries and illnesses that have rocked the Pittsburgh dressing room in the first half of 2014-15.

As a reminder, here's how the Penguins' forward lines were deployed for their opening-night win over the Anaheim Ducks:

Chris Kunitz	Sidney Crosby	Patric Hornqvist
Evgeni Malkin	Brandon Sutter	Pascal Dupuis
Nick Spaling	Zach Sill	Craig Adams
Blake Comeau	Marcel Goc	Steve Downie

Though the Penguins are getting healthier, Patric Hornqvist, Pascal Dupuis and Blake Comeau remain sidelined. They've been replaced by David Perron, Beau Bennett and brand-new acquisition Mark Arcobello.

As Johnston begins to turn his focus toward preparing his team for the playoffs, he's bound to keep tinkering with combinations and adjusting to suit game situations, as he did during Friday's loss to the New York Islanders. 

Based on the combinations presented by Sam Kasan of the Penguins' official website, here's how well the lines are clicking heading into Sunday's game against the New York Rangers .

Line 1: Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-David Perron

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Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby are longtime partners in crime whose chemistry was strong enough to help earn Kunitz an invitation to be part of Team Canada with Crosby at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

David Perron's addition to the first line has looked good and will improve as he settles in. He scored twice at even strength during Tuesday's 7-2 win over the Minnesota Wild and added a power-play marker on Friday against the New York Islanders, when he was on the ice for all three Pittsburgh goals.

Newcomer Patric Hornqvist was effective with Crosby during the first month of the season, but his production started to taper off about a month before his late-December foot injury. If Perron continues his strong play, Hornqvist may have a tough time reclaiming his spot when he returns.

Expectations for Crosby are as high as they are for any player in the league. With improved offense since Perron joined the team, Crosby has now climbed back to a tie for second place in the NHL scoring race, level with Evgeni Malkin and just two points behind league leader Jakub Voracek.

On balance, the first line has been very good at times and is showing improvement. There's still room for more consistency and stronger defensive play in the second half of the season.

Grade: A-

Line 2: Nick Spaling-Evgeni Malkin-Beau Bennett

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For his 50 points in 43 games, Evgeni Malkin deserves an "A+" on his own for an MVP-caliber first half to his 2014-15 season.

Credit also goes to Nick Spaling, who has been punching above his weight class during Pittsburgh's injury woes. Originally pencilled in as a third-liner, Spaling has not only stayed healthy, but he's eighth in team scoring and could eclipse his previous high of 32 points with the Nashville Predators last season. 

Beau Bennett's a little tougher to assess. The inconsistent and oft-injured winger started off well with three points in two games upon his latest return to action on New Year's Eve. He has cooled off since then with just a single goal to show for his efforts in his last five games despite continued production from Malkin and Spaling.

Bennett will need to stay healthy and make better use of his ice time if he hopes to hang onto his spot when Patric Hornqvist is ready to return to action. He drags down the grade of his group.

Grade: B

Line 3: Marcel Goc-Brandon Sutter-Steve Downie

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Now in his seventh NHL season, it seems that Brandon Sutter has settled into an NHL role as a jack-of-all-trades: good at everything but not excellent in any specific aspect of the game.

He's versatile enough to move up and down the lineup and to play center or wing. He'll get you some points and will do a serviceable job in a checking role, but the 25-year-old is not going to knock your socks off.

Sutter did a decent job of filling in where necessary while the Penguins were short-handed. He looks like he'll be able to step up his game a bit now that he's back in his comfortable third-line center role with Marcel Goc and Steve Downie.

Downie has exceeded expectations since signing a bargain $1,000,000 free-agent contract over the summer, playing his agitating role to perfection and chipping in with timely scoring when needed. Goc remains a utility player who can slot in as a third-line wing or help out and win some draws as a fourth-line center.

As part of the group that helped get Pittsburgh through their rough stretch of injuries and illnesses, Goc has earned some loyalty from general manager Jim Rutherford.

"We can still make moves, but any future moves we make, we would have to take somebody out of our lineup, and I like what the guys have done to this point," Rutherford told Wes Crosby of NHL.com when he acquired Perron in early January. "Everybody, in different ways, has contributed to where we are."

That includes Goc. Some consistent time with Sutter and Downie could create a line that's less than fun for other teams to play against.

Grade: C+

Line 4: Zach Sill/Andrew Ebbett-Mark Arcobello-Craig Adams

Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press

The fourth line is currently in flux after the waiver-wive pickup of Mark Arcobello, who was claimed from the Nashville Predators on Jan. 14. He was a teammate of David Perron's in Edmonton earlier in the season.

After the Arcobello move, the Penguins placed utility forward Andrew Ebbett on waivers on Jan. 15. He cleared but has stayed with the team as an extra forward for the time being.

Mike Johnston did plenty of line juggling in Arcobello's Penguins debut against the New York Islanders on Friday and didn't use his fourth line much: Both Arcobello and Craig Adams saw less than 10 minutes of ice time.

Adams and Sill have been shuffled down from their third-line roles at the beginning of the season. They seem like the most likely candidates for replacement if Rutherford makes more moves.

For now, it remains to be seen whether this new combination can provide the grit and energy that the Penguins will need as the team heads into the stretch run.

 Grade: Incomplete. For now, C-

All stats courtesy of NHL.com.