Brassard Stepping Up to Play On the Top Line

Ken Hitchcock’s mastery is at work again with his top line in Columbus now set to kick off the season with Rick Nash, Derick Brassard, and Kristian Huselius. Brassard was hindered by season ending shoulder surgery after putting up 25 points in 31 games. Without a clear cut number one center in Columbus, Hitch is looking at Brassard to take on the challenge of leading the Jackets up the middle against some of the NHL’s top defensive units and other elite centers – and set up Nash. Nash and Huselius worked together last season and showed good chemistry at times on the powerplay and top unit. This year, Huselius is expected to return to his Calgary Flames’ form and be a legitimate scoring threat opposite of Nash.

The Jackets’ top line put up huge numbers during their preseason home victory against the Minnesota Wild on Monday. Brassard had a goal and two assists, Nash had a goal and an assist, and Huselius had two assists. Keep an eye on these three for the remainder of the preseason and adjust Brassard and Huselius on your fantasy player rankings accordingly.

Be sure to check back with DailyFaceoff.com throughout the NHL season as we will have up to date and accurate lineups for all 30 NHL teams including powerplay units. We will also let you know who’s starting in net for both teams in every game this regular season in our Between the Posts section.