His most used deployment 5vs5 last year was 19.3% of the time with Hagelin and Malkin. Next closest after that was 15.6% of the time with Guentzel and Sheahan after that most all other line combinations see him with either one of Malkin or Crosby with very occasional deployment on the third line with Brassard and Sheary.
I understand your trying to speak to the strength of having a guy like Neal on the third line but Kessel isn’t the best comparison for that narrative IMO.
That said I do think you could see Neal play some shifts alongside Bennett/Janko on the third line to help spark bottom 6 scoring but I don’t think he will be a mainstay on the third line.
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