Building the second line was the most difficult task in the “Building the Prototypical Team” series because the definition of prototypical second liner is the vaguest. A player like Alexander Semin, supremely talented yet inconsistent and immature in his own end, could be considered a second line player. Yet so could those at the other end of the spectrum, players who excel defensively yet don’t have a ton of offensive upside, like John Madden. Then of course there are players like Brendan Morrow, who is sound is every facet of the game but doesn’t quite have the offensive upside to be a prototypical first liner.

With so many different skills sets and hence so many different players out there who could reasonably be called “prototypical” second liners, the definition has to go beyond just raw hockey skill to include players whose characteristics add more to the team than just the sum of their hockey-playing parts.

First among these is attitude. While second line players aren’t normally referred to as “character guys”, the ideal second line player is going carry himself like one. After all, teams get frustrated enough carrying primadonna types like Jaromir Jagr and Alexei Yashin even when they’re racking up the points. No coach or general manager is going to tolerate it for 20 goals and 50 points.

Second is versatility, both positionally and in terms of roles on the team. A second liner is likely to have to be shifted around in certain game situations or because of injuries and it thus it helps to have a player who can play more than one forward position. By the same token, a second line player would ideally be able to help out both on the powerplay and penalty kill when necessary.

Third is intangibles. If a player who has second line talent can excel in one area such as hitting, creating traffic in front of the net or leadership, they are providing a valuable service to their team as well as separating themselves from the pack when it comes to players with a second-line skill set.

With all that said, your prototypical second line player is:

Antoine Vermette (Ottawa Senators)

Vermette broke out offensively in 2007-08, posting 24 goals and 28 assists, bringing his offensive output closer to his level of his defensive responsibility and work ethic. The fact that Vermette can play all three forward positions well, has enough skill to be a part of a second powerplay unit and enough defensive acumen to kill penalties makes him the ultimate utility player – and the prototypical second liner.

Vermette’s inclusion means that while one of the three forward spots is taken up, any position is still up for grabs.

Second Line Left Wing: Chris Higgins (Montreal Canadiens)

Much like Vermette, Higgins is capable of playing all three forward positions but since his 2007-08 faceoff percentage was 35.5 to Vermette’s 56.7, Higgins probably belongs on the wing in this lineup. Higgins has shown that he can contribute offensively with three straight twenty goal campaigns and a career-best 52 points this past season. He’s no slouch in his own end either, where his 65 blocked shots were ninth among NHL forwards and his 50 takeaways were good enough to lead his team.

Second Line Center: Chris Drury (New York Rangers)

Apologies to any Blueshirt fans, but Drury (who made over seven million dollars this year) just isn’t an ideal top line center. Although he scored 67 goals over his final two years in Buffalo, Drury’s 2007-08 was closer to what his expected output should be: 25 goals and 60-70 points. A solid offensive player, Drury also has a penchant for coming up big in the playoffs, has won everywhere he’s been and is a solid leader. Like the hypothetical perfect second line player outlined at the beginning of this post, Drury doesn’t have as much offensive talent as an ideal first line player but still has the intangibles that can make him just as valuable to a contending team.

Drury’s inclusion pushes Vermette over to the right side, making the prototypical second line Chris Higgins, Chris Drury and Antoine Vermette.

Brendan Morrow and Erik Cole were all considered for this line but dismissed because they aren’t really prototypical second line players so much as guys who were be borderline first liners and would thus be ideal second liners. Other considered include Andrew Brunette, Saku Koivu, Ryan Malone and Jarret Stoll.