Line combinations are a funny thing.

NHL teams usually change them like underwear: daily and without much debate. They do it because of injuries or to change the chemistry or to reward or punish players. They flip wingers at home or the road or just whenever they feel like it.

They’re just wingers.

What’s interesting about this season’s Maple Leafs team and Mike Babcock’s approach is that is has been the opposite. It’s been stasis, for more than one-third of a season.

Part of that is no one up front has been hurt. But another part of it is Babcock has very specific roles in mind for all of his lines and doesn’t feel fully comfortable changing what he came up with early on as a result.

Here’s what the man with his own sock said back on Nov. 10 about the situation:

“The combinations have stayed together longer probably this year than I’ve ever had before,” Babcock said. “Just because I think guys are suited for certain spots better. And we don’t have enough other pieces to interchange with them.”

That was five weeks ago. Very little has changed.

More on that in a moment. First charts.

Here are the 10 most used line combinations (at even strength) in the NHL this season, thanks to Corsica.Hockey:

You’ll note the Leafs are the only team with two lines in the top 10, which is remarkable given they’ve played fewer games than most teams. They also have a third combination (Komarov-Kadri-Brown) in the top 30.

Anaheim and Vancouver also have three lines that make the top 30, but in those cases, it’s because they have longstanding top-line duos where a different right winger has swapped in and out (Perry-Getzlaf with Ritchie/Rakell and Sedin-Sedin with Eriksson/Sutter). If you look at all top nine forwards, the Leafs have the most cohesive group in the league.

(Someone smarter than me can probably run a deeper analysis and put a number on that, but generally speaking, the Leafs are going to be pretty high in any cohesion analysis.)

Here’s something I’ve wondered while watching the Leafs possession numbers – ~51 per cent in their last 16 games after sitting among the league leaders at the start of the season – and record – only three wins in their last 11 games – sag a little bit of late: Is there a better fit somewhere? Can we Frankenstein together some different combinations based on the data we have to build better lines?

It’s easier than it sounds.

The Leafs have used only nine line combinations in more than 10 even strength minutes this season. One of those includes Milan Michalek, now a Toronto Marlie, and another includes Peter Holland, now an Arizona Coyote, so we’ll toss them out. We’re down to seven lines with any data.

Of those, the best possession line Babcock has built is Komarov-Kadri-Soshnikov, who sit at 59 per cent (score adjusted) in limited minutes.

Hyman-Matthews-Nylander are right behind them at 57 per cent, and then JVR-Bozak-Marner are at 51 (but higher in expected goals, if that’s your thing).

The other four Leafs line combinations are below 50 per cent possession lines:

Let’s include the caveat right here that we’re dealing with small sample sizes, especially when we’re talking about under 75 minutes of play. Komarov-Kadri-Soshnikov has only been a trio for three or four games; it could well be they were against weaker teams.

That said, some of what’s here makes intuitive sense. Tossing Nylander on a shutdown line, which is what Kadri’s unit has been all year, isn’t working. Neither is the fourth line with Martin and Smith, although with Holland gone there aren’t a ton of options other than finally putting Josh Leivo into the lineup. (Why not, by the way.)

If you drill down a bit further and look at duos among the Leafs forwards, some patterns emerge:

Matthews lifts everyone up but has been his best with Nylander. (Charts like this are always Matthews pulling up the results of the entire roster.) JVR and Bozak are better together than apart. And Brown has had good results with Bozak, going back to last season, for whatever reason.

For the most part, what Babcock’s doing makes sense. But I think as the season wears on, he should be less reluctant to play Matthews in tougher minutes – regardless of where his faceoff skills are at – and move JVR-Bozak into that more sheltered, offensive zone heavy role.

The trouble is, what do you do with the lines? If you want to keep Nylander with Matthews, and improve the fourth line, something like this might be your only option:

Shutdown: Soshnikov – Kadri – Marner

Second: Hyman – Matthews – Nylander

Sheltered: JVR – Bozak – Brown

Fourth: Martin – Komarov – Leivo/Smith

Soshnikov likes to shoot the puck and has had good results with Kadri going back to last year. Marner gives that line some more offensive potential. They’re small, sure, but fast and dangerous and good with the puck. Dropping Komarov down helps balance the fourth line, as he can play centre and win draws at nearly a 50-50 rate. Smith has had more success as a winger anyway, dating back to when he was in Chicago on a shutdown unit with Marcus Kruger.

There aren’t a lot of perfect options though, not with the Leafs current cast. Babcock has a weird mix of rookies, grinders and veterans who aren’t terrific defensively so he doesn’t trust a lot of his personnel to lock a game down. (Which is perhaps why they haven’t locked down third periods well.) But building a different shutdown line isn’t easy. Neither is making any fourth line that features Martin and Smith a threat.

Help will be on the way from the Marlies in time for next season, what with Brendan Leipsic and Kasperi Kapanen both in the top 10 in AHL scoring. Who knows what veterans are moved between now and then, however.

At the moment, they’re making do with what they have, and there’s a lot of logic in the decisions being made. Babcock is going for both balance and function. The only problem is the results – especially lately – have been mixed.

Let’s hear your thoughts on what the Leafs should do with their lines in the comments.