NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Tuesday, Dec 18, 2018
11 games on Dec 18, 2018 produced 11 notable changes: 4 power-play changes (1 up, 3 down), 2 line moves (1 promotions, 1 demotions), 3 big ice-time swings and 2 big games. The biggest: Neal Pionk moved onto the top power-play unit with Kreider, Zuccarello and Hayes, +2:56 of PP time (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Neal Pionk moved onto the top power-play unit with Kreider, Zuccarello and Hayes, +2:56 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · NYRPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Adam Pelech moved up to D1 with Pulock (2 straight games).
Line promotion · NYIPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Nikita Scherbak played only 3:39 (−7:52 vs his recent average), an early exit (2 straight games).
TOI drop · LAKGame reportTeam lines
James van Riemsdyk dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · PHIGame reportTeam lines
Tony DeAngelo dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · NYRGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Neal Pionk moved onto the top power-play unit with Kreider, Zuccarello and Hayes, +2:56 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Tony DeAngelo dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Adam Pelech moved up to D1 with Pulock (2 straight games).
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Adam Pelech played 20:11 (+6:30 vs his recent average).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Nikita Scherbak played only 3:39 (−7:52 vs his recent average), an early exit (2 straight games).
TOI dropGame reportTeam lines
Drew Doughty played 29:15 (+6:07 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Brendan Leipsic dropped to L4 from L3 with Thompson and Scherbak (2 straight games).
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
James van Riemsdyk dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
John Hayden dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Martin Jones stopped all 26 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Ben Bishop stopped all 21 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
How Line Watch works
- •Deployment is rebuilt from the official shift charts: the forward trio and defense pair a player shared the most 5-on-5 time with, and the power-play unit he spent most of the man advantage on.
- •Each game is compared with the player's previous five games (at least three), so a change means a change from his own recent role.
- •Changes that last only one game, come out of blowouts or move by a few seconds are filtered out. What remains is ranked by fantasy impact: first-unit power play and top-line moves first.
159 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 9 passed.
FAQ
What is Line Watch?
Line Watch flags fantasy-relevant role changes from the NHL shift charts: players moving onto or off the first power-play unit, forwards and defensemen moving up or down the lineup, new defense partners, and big swings in ice time. Each night gets its own dated digest.
How is a line change detected?
After every game we rebuild each team's lines, pairs and power-play units from who was on the ice together, then compare every player with his own previous five games. A change only counts once the team has three games of history to compare against.
Why are some line changes left out?
Coaches shuffle lines constantly, so a one-game move is usually noise. Power-play and line moves must hold for at least two straight games (three after a blowout decided by 4+ goals). Ice-time swings must be at least three minutes, not come from a blowout, and either repeat or reach five minutes.
Where do goalie and injury alerts come from?
Goalie flips come from our starting-goalie snapshots, taken every 15 minutes: a different goalie listed, or a confirmed starter going back to expected. Injury notes come from the public injury report, matched to NHL players and limited to regular-lineup players.
Can I get these alerts by email?
Yes. Create a free account and follow as many players as you like from their player pages; you get one morning email with their changes. If you connect Yahoo, your roster's changes are included too. Every email links back to these free pages and has an unsubscribe link.