A good fourth line is a bit of paradox in the NHL. The moment a “4th line” becomes very effective, are they really a 4th line anymore?
Putting logical conundrums aside, the Philadelphia Flyers 4th line got quite a bit of attention down the stretch and into the playoffs. The line of Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Chris VandeVelde, and Ryan White was one of the bedrocks of coach Dave Hakstol’s lineup this season. Nearly every line saw constant shuffling except this trio.
Hakstol liked this group so much, at times it was the Flyers de facto 3rd line. That probably was not a very good idea.