How well is the Leafs' first line doing?

The line of Kulemin, Kessel and Bozak have been together for 22 games which is about a quarter of a season. This has been their production during that period:

	G	A	Pts	+/-
Kessel	11	10	21	+1
Kulemin	7	10	17	+6
Bozak	5	11	16	+3

The trio is scoring at a rate of 2.45 points per game.  That would compare quite favourably with some of the better lines in the NHL. The Sharks' top line of Thorton, Heatley and Marleau are scoring at the pace of 3.19 points per game.  The Lightning's top line of Stamkos, St. Louis and Downie are scoring at a rate of 2.93 points per game. Anaheim's best line of Geflatz, Perry and Ryan are producing at the rate of 2.63 points per game. The Kings' best line is made up of Kopitar, Brown and Smyth and they are scoring 2.28 points per game.  The Penguins' number one line is Crosby, Guerin and Kunitz and they are producing just 2.19 points per game.

So if the Leafs' top line had played together for entire season their production would have translated into the following stats:

	G	A	Pts	+/-
Kessel	41	37	78	+4
Kulemin	26	37	63	+22
Bozak	18	41	59	+22

That's pretty good.  Remember Bozak is a 24 year old rookie.  Kulemin is only in his second year in the league and just 22 year old.  Kessel has the most experience and at just 23 is on the verge of having back-to-back 30 goals seasons. Now Brian Burke and Ron Wilson need to figure out who will be their number two line and we will be in pretty good shape,  The trio of Grabovski, Stalberg and Caputi have shown some promise but their production is quite their yet.  However, they are showing the same type of chemistry that we saw when the first line was first united.  So time will tell if we have the makings of a competent and skilled group of top six forwards.