09/25 First-Line Forwards Under 30% Owned: Marchment, Lehkonen, Doan

Published 25 September 2026, 2:13 pm ET

The first line gets the most even-strength ice time on a club, the best linemates, and usually a seat on the power play. As of September 25, 26 forwards on a projected first line across 21 clubs are on 30% of ESPN rosters or fewer, and 21 of them are under 10%.

Below: every one of them with last season's numbers and the 2026-27 projections from five outside lists beside ours. The board sorts on any column, filters by ownership and position, and switches between last season, a single projection source and the average of all of them. Tap a row for linemates, power-play unit and each list's full line.

Owned at most30%

Position

26 of 26 players · ESPN ownership 2026-09-25

Show

Player	Own%	G	A	P ▼	PPP	SOG	HIT	BLK
Mason MarchmentSJS LW · PP2	12.2	24	32	56	11	154	105	35
Artturi LehkonenCOL LW · PP2	17.1	27	28	55	7	171	57	44
Josh DoanBUF RW · PP1	17.2	25	30	55	16	176	83	34
Kyle PalmieriNYI RW · PP1	8.2	26	29	55	17	195	69	42
Frank NazarCHI C · PP2	20.1	23	32	55	14	173	50	56
Jordan EberleSEA RW · PP1	28.2	24	31	55	15	164	48	43
Roman KantserovCHI LW · PP1	9.3	26	27	53	15	196	56	30
Cole PerfettiWPG RW · PP1	4.8	21	32	53	13	173	68	44
Matvei GridinCGY LW · PP1	2.0	18	32	50	17	168	34	59
Gabe PerreaultNYR LW · PP2	5.9	21	28	48	11	137	48	38
Christian DvorakPHI C	3.5	17	29	46	6	138	42	65
Morgan FrostCGY C · PP1	5.9	19	26	45	17	148	65	50
Simon HolmstromNYI LW · PP2	2.0	19	24	44	6	113	22	54
Jack RoslovicTOR RW · PP1	6.9	20	21	42	6	151	40	31
Andre BurakovskyOTT LW · PP2	0.2	13	25	38	11	107	23	34
Linus KarlssonVAN RW · PP2	1.0	17	21	38	7	133	94	29
Emmitt FinnieDET LW · PP2	2.8	16	21	38	9	133	137	44
Vasily PodkolzinEDM LW · PP2	9.2	17	20	37	3	140	244	57
Danila YurovMIN C · PP2	1.0	16	21	37	4	107	78	54
Maxim ShabanovMIN RW · PP1	1.0	13	23	36	9	113	56	34
Ilya MikheyevTBL RW	1.6	18	18	36	0	133	35	26
Nick RobertsonPIT LW	0.8	17	18	36	5	144	82	42
Peyton KrebsBUF LW	2.1	11	23	35	2	92	174	38
Nikita KlepovANA LW · PP2	0.4	13	21	33	7	189	61	36
Justin HryckowianDAL LW · PP2	0.8	14	18	33	4	97	137	48
Alexander KerfootNSH RW	0.1	12	17	29	3	84	67	68

Each list's per-game rate times 84, averaged over the lists that published that stat. Tap a player for linemates and every list.

The 8 with the most projected upside

Ranked by the average of every list's points per 84 games.

1. Mason Marchment, SJS LW (12.2% owned)

Marchment is on the SJS first line with Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini, and on the second power-play unit. Last season: 19 goals and 26 assists for 45 points in 68 games (0.66 a game) for CBJ, at 17.4 minutes a night, 7 of the points on the power play. Per 84 games, the projections run from 52 points (LineupExperts) to 58 (DtZ) across 6 lists. Ours is 55, against a 56-point pace last season.

2. Artturi Lehkonen, COL LW (17.1% owned)

Lehkonen is on the COL first line with Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas, and on the second power-play unit. Last season: 21 goals and 27 assists for 48 points in 70 games (0.69 a game), at 18.5 minutes a night, 2 of the points on the power play. Per 84 games, the projections run from 54 points (Apples & Gino's) to 59 (Kodo) across 6 lists. Ours is 59, against a 58-point pace last season.

3. Josh Doan, BUF RW (17.2% owned)

Doan is on the BUF first line with Tage Thompson and Peyton Krebs, and on the first power-play unit. Last season: 25 goals and 27 assists for 52 points in 82 games (0.63 a game), at 15.9 minutes a night, 17 of the points on the power play. Per 84 games, the projections run from 52 points (Daily Faceoff) to 60 (LineupExperts) across 6 lists. Ours is 53, against a 53-point pace last season.

4. Kyle Palmieri, NYI RW (8.2% owned)

Palmieri is on the NYI first line with Bo Horvat and Simon Holmstrom, and on the first power-play unit. Last season: 6 goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 25 games (0.72 a game), at 18.9 minutes a night, 5 of the points on the power play. Per 84 games, the projections run from 48 points (Apples & Gino's) to 61 (Daily Faceoff) across 6 lists. Ours is 54, against a 60-point pace last season.

5. Frank Nazar, CHI C (20.1% owned)

Nazar is on the CHI first line with Patrick Kane and Roman Kantserov, and on the second power-play unit. Last season: 15 goals and 26 assists for 41 points in 66 games (0.62 a game), at 18.3 minutes a night, 12 of the points on the power play. Per 84 games, the projections run from 49 points (Scott Cullen) to 60 (Kodo) across 6 lists. Ours is 60, against a 52-point pace last season.

6. Jordan Eberle, SEA RW (28.2% owned)

Eberle is on the SEA first line with Jared McCann and Matty Beniers, and on the first power-play unit. Last season: 26 goals and 29 assists for 55 points in 80 games (0.69 a game), at 18.5 minutes a night, 16 of the points on the power play. Per 84 games, the projections run from 52 points (LineupExperts) to 57 (Apples & Gino's) across 6 lists. Ours is 56, against a 58-point pace last season.

7. Roman Kantserov, CHI LW (9.3% owned)

Kantserov is on the CHI first line with Patrick Kane and Frank Nazar, and on the first power-play unit. No NHL games last season, so the case rests on the depth chart and the projections. Per 84 games, the projections run from 42 points (Apples & Gino's) to 64 (DtZ) across 6 lists.

8. Cole Perfetti, WPG RW (4.8% owned)

Perfetti is on the WPG first line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, and on the first power-play unit. Last season: 12 goals and 20 assists for 32 points in 68 games (0.47 a game), at 15.6 minutes a night, 6 of the points on the power play. Per 84 games, the projections run from 49 points (DtZ) to 59 (LineupExperts) across 6 lists. Ours is 51, against a 40-point pace last season.

New clubs, new roles

These players changed teams since last season, so last year's line was built in a different lineup: Maxim Shabanov (NYI to MIN), Alexander Kerfoot (UTA to NSH), Andre Burakovsky (CHI to OTT), Nick Robertson (TOR to PIT), Mason Marchment (CBJ to SJS), Ilya Mikheyev (CHI to TBL) and Jack Roslovic (EDM to TOR).

No NHL track record

Nikita Klepov (ANA) and Roman Kantserov (CHI) have a first-line seat and no NHL games last season. The projections are the only numbers, and the spread between them is widest here.

How to read the numbers

First lines are the site's projected depth chart, updated from practice reports and beat writers through camp. Ownership is ESPN's, read September 25. Each outside list publishes its totals over a different number of games, so the board shows totals as published with the games beside them, and every comparison in this article is per 84 games: the list's own points per game times the 84-game schedule.

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