T-Birds’ top line once again proving they’re one of the league’s best

It took some time, but Seattle’s top line centered by Mathew Barzal with Ryan Gropp and Keegan Kolesar on his wings is once again proving why it’s considered perhaps the best line in the entire WHL.

They were also one of the best in the league last year, but often found themselves split up when Steve Konowalchuk wanted to spread out the scoring or if one was going through a slump. With one more season of experience under their belt, it’s hard to argue that they’ve established themselves as the toughest line in the league to play against.

The 2016-17 season didn’t exactly start that way, however. As has been well-documented, it took the three a bit of time to re-develop their chemistry, and prior to January it felt like they were rarely on the ice together.

Barzal didn’t play his first game with Seattle until mid-November after being sent back to junior by the New York Islanders. He’d become accustomed to practicing with a different set of linemates and was playing far fewer minutes in the NHL than he does with the T-Birds.

Like Barzal, Kolesar also didn’t return from a supraumbilical hernia until mid-November, but he had even less ice time than Barzal. He was sent back to Seattle by the Columbus Blue Jackets much earlier than Barzal returned, but couldn’t skate for over a month due to the injury.

Gropp’s return was the biggest surprise as he was eligible to play for the New York Rangers’ AHL affiliate and there’s a very slim chance that he expected to be on a line with these two ever again.

All in all, it took some time for these three to not only get comfortable with a system that was both new and old, but also teammates that they knew everything about but had trained themselves not to play with.

Now, with 23 games left in the regular season, it appears they’ve found their groove.

During the month of January, the 20-year old Gropp has played in 12 games and registered 17 points on four goals and 13 assists. In only one of those games was he held scoreless — a 1-0 shutout in Everett where he, as well as many others, could have easily had multi-point games if not for an incredible performance by Silvertips goaltender Carter Hart.

Barzal, 19, missed the first couple games of January for the World Junior Championship, but still has 19 points in 10 games on five goals and 14 helpers. His recent surge places him third in the WHL in points per game with 1.65, trailing only teammates Adam Brooks and Sam Steel of the Regina Pats who are both centers and usually play on different lines. It’s amazing to think that he only ranks no. 92 in the league in points due to only playing in 23 games. If he had played in 41 games as both Brooks and Steel have and maintained the same production, he’d be looking at approximately 68 points at this point in the season.

Kolesar has 18 points in 12 games during the month of January on seven goals and 11 assists. He was the hero Tuesday night versus Kamloops when he showed speed, hands and agility that aren’t usually present in big men by outskating the defense for a breakaway and beating stud goalie Connor Ingram for the overtime game-winner.

Perhaps even more impressive is that the line is a combined plus-54 during the month. To put it simply, other teams just aren’t scoring when they’re on the ice. In fact, it seems rare that the opposition is getting shots or even getting the puck out of their own zone when Seattle’s top three are skating. We knew they could score, but they’ve been absolutely dominant in all aspects of the game over the past month. None of the three have had a minus rating in a game during the month of January and all three have plus ratings for the season despite both Gropp and Kolesar being a minus-eight and minus-three respectively before the month began.

Most importantly, Seattle is 11-1-0-0 and during the month and has been the best team in the league over that span. They’ve primarily played U.S. Division foes, which has allowed them to move past Tri-City into sole possession of second place in the U.S. and now trail Everett by just six points for first. It’s certainly not a criticism of the Western Conference, which is generally considered stronger than the East this year, or the U.S. Division, which has looked better than the B.C. Division.

It’s also worth noting that the injury bug has hit Seattle hard lately with Scott Eansor, Matthew Wedman and Jarret Tyszka all missing significant time as they recover from their respective ailments. Even while missing these three key components for some or most of the month, Seattle hasn’t missed a beat and has in fact been playing better than they have all season. Just imagine how dangerous they can be with everyone in the lineup.

Like last season, the T-Birds catching the ‘Tips in the standings seemed like a near impossibility at the holiday break. Just a month later and Seattle has reeling Everett well within their sights due not only to the outstanding play of their top line, but also a consistent effort up and down the lineup.