Quoting: rpain
I like the idea of splitting up McD/Drai but think JP matches better with McDavid and Yam with Drai.
The statistics, at least in small sample sizes, don't agree with you. McDavid has been better with Yamamoto than with Puljujarvi, while Draisaitl has been better with Puljujarvi.
Without Draisaitl, McDavid + Yamamoto last year had 69.19 xGF% and 76.47 HDCF%
Without Draisaitl, McDavid + Puljujarvi last year had 56.67 xGF% and 56.49 HDCF%
Without McDavid, Draisaitl + Yamamoto last year had 43.87 xGF% and 42.68 HDCF%
Without McDavid, Draisaitl + Puljujarvi last year had 74.73 xGF% and 71.43 HDCF%
I would absolutely run the lines above for a month to test what we've already seen in small samples.
Quoting: rpain
Draisaitl and Puljujarvi are the two with the deadly shots, Hyman and Yam are the two glue/puck retriever types. In this combo McDavid doesn't have a pure shooter on his line to benefit from the open ice that he creates when he draws defenders to him. The second line works because Drai is a dual threat with his shot and passing ability but I don't think this is the most effective use of McDavid.
Are any of the winger "pure shooters"? Last year at 5v5:
Puljujarvi: 0.89 G/60
Hyman: 0.84 G/60
Nugent-Hopkins: 0.57 G/60
Yamamoto: 0.56 G/60
My goal wasn't to give McDavid the best wingers, it was to balance the skills and size. Nuge + Yamamoto is a pretty small set of wingers. With my set-up both centers get one big, physical winger and one "better" goal scorer rather than loading up one line and leaving the other a bit weak.