Sharks vs. Capitals Lines: Kevin Labanc to make NHL debut

It looks like Kevin Labanc will make his NHL debut tonight in Washington D.C. with his dad in the arena. The rookie skated with Logan Couture and Joonas Donskoi on the second line this morning.

Marcus and I talked on the podcast yesterday about where Labanc would slot into the Sharks lineup and neither of us had a great feel for where he would end up. His versatility makes him a candidate to play on any of the four lines and his speed should fit well with Donskoi and Couture.

Here are how the lines looked for the Sharks this morning according to Pashelka:

Joe Pavelski — Joe Thornton — Joel Ward

Joonas Donskoi — Logan Couture — Kevin Labanc

Patrick Marleau — Tomas Hertl — Mikkel Boedker

Melker Karlsson — Chris Tierney — Tommy Wingels

Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Justin Braun

Brent Burns — Paul Martin

Brenden Dillon — David Schlemko

I would play Matt Nieto over Wingels on the fourth line, but these are pretty darn solid. Getting to play Karlsson and Tierney on the fourth line is a nice luxury and I like putting Boedker on the third line to help spark some scoring.

We’ll see how long these lines stick together once the game actually begins, but I’m excited to see how Labanc performs.