The idea of chemistry existing between two (or even three) hockey players is an interesting one, as it certainly makes sense from a theoretical standpoint, and can be quantified to a certain degree by looking at With Or Without You (WOWY) statistics.

Chemistry between linemates or defensive partners is often cited as a valid reason to keep certain lines and pairings together, as the belief is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts — these players get better results when playing together than they could get on their own, and it’s beneficial to keep them together.

Some prominent examples include the Brad Marchand – Patrice Bergeron duo in Boston, the Triplets line (Nikita Kucherov – Tyler Johnson – Ondrej Palat) in Tampa Bay during the playoffs, and even the Ryan Suter – Jared Spurgeon pairing in Minnesota.

One duo that probably isn’t talked about enough, however, is the odd pairing of Brian Campbell and Aaron Ekblad. Despite vastly different ages, the two have been one of the best pairings in the NHL over the past couple of seasons, running the show at even strength and controlling play almost every time they step on the ice.

They’ve spent a considerable amount of time apart from each other this season, but in the 300 minutes that they played together, the numbers are astounding.

CF% SCF% GF% 59.0% 57.1% 61.5%

For a 19-year-old playing in only his second NHL season and a 36-year-old who should be massively in decline, the performance is quite impressive. Only two other pairings who have played at least 300 minutes together have a higher Corsi For percentage, and only seven have a higher Goals For percentage.

Despite their impressive numbers, they currently aren’t paired together. This is because the rest of Florida’s blue line struggled holding their own apart from Ekblad and Campbell. Despite the strong numbers from the top pairing, the rest of the defense only managed a dismal 44.7 percent Corsi For percentage.

Splitting up Ekblad and Campbell was really the only way to go, especially since injuries took Dmitry Kulikov out of the picture for a while. The duo has been hurting while they’ve been apart, and aren’t quite moving the possession needle like they were while together.

Skater CF% FF% Brian Campbell 48.5% 46.9% Aaron Ekblad 46.5% 49.9%

The change has helped the team, however, and the overall Corsi For percentage for the Panthers has jumped from 47.3 percent to 49.1 percent (and that number is even higher since the return of Kulikov).

The main takeaway here, however, isn’t that the pairings change led to improved numbers for the team; that’s been covered here and here.

There are two key impressions we should be left with here, the first being that Campbell continues to be one of the best puck-moving defensemen in the entire league, capable of driving play at an elite level despite his age. His skating ability, hockey sense and passing ability make up for his defensive flaws, and he continues to be one of the league’s most underrated blue liners.

The second takeaway is that Ekblad is starting to look like he’s going to be scary good. Though his Corsi numbers have taken a dip away from Campbell, his Fenwick numbers (which take into account shot blocking as a skill) are still the highest on the team. He’s 19 years old, is already playing a top pairing role on a playoff team and leading that team in some possession metrics as well as points produced per 60 minutes of ice time.

There have been 30 defenseman over the past decade who have stepped into the NHL at the age of 19 and played a full season with their teams. Ekblad ranks first in relative Corsi For percentage and relative Fenwick For percentage, ahead of players such as Victor Hedman, Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson.

Campbell’s contract is up at the end of the season, and though he might re-sign with the Panthers, he might also take his talents elsewhere. All signs point to Ekblad being able to pick up the slack, especially since he’s only going to continue to develop.

As for the rest of the team’s defense… fans will have to wait and see.

(All statistics taken from war-on-ice.com and are 5 v 5 score adjusted unless mentioned otherwise).