NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Saturday, Dec 29, 2018
15 games on Dec 29, 2018 produced 26 notable changes: 11 power-play changes (6 up, 5 down), 6 line moves (4 promotions, 2 demotions), 4 big ice-time swings and 5 big games. The biggest: Pavel Zacha moved onto the top power-play unit with Boyle, Zajac and Palmieri, +2:42 of PP time (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Pavel Zacha moved onto the top power-play unit with Boyle, Zajac and Palmieri, +2:42 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · NJDGame reportTeam lines
Brayden McNabb moved onto the top power-play unit with Engelland, Eakin and Carpenter, +0:52 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · VGKPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Cody Eakin moved onto the top power-play unit with Engelland, McNabb and Carpenter.
PP1 promotion · VGKGame reportTeam lines
Deryk Engelland moved onto the top power-play unit with McNabb, Eakin and Carpenter, +0:45 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · VGKGame reportTeam lines
Ryan Carpenter moved onto the top power-play unit with Engelland, McNabb and Eakin, +0:42 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · VGKGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Pavel Zacha moved onto the top power-play unit with Boyle, Zajac and Palmieri, +2:42 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 37 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Brayden McNabb moved onto the top power-play unit with Engelland, Eakin and Carpenter, +0:52 of PP time.
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Cody Eakin moved onto the top power-play unit with Engelland, McNabb and Carpenter.
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Deryk Engelland moved onto the top power-play unit with McNabb, Eakin and Carpenter, +0:45 of PP time.
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Ryan Carpenter moved onto the top power-play unit with Engelland, McNabb and Eakin, +0:42 of PP time.
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Tomas Nosek moved onto the top power-play unit with Engelland, McNabb and Eakin, +0:47 of PP time.
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Alex Tuch dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jonathan Marchessault dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Reilly Smith dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Shea Theodore dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
William Karlsson dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Matt Benning moved up to D2 with Jones (2 straight games).
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Matt Benning played 23:36 (+6:16 vs his recent average).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
John Carlson moved up to D1 with Kempny.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Michal Kempny moved up to D1 with Carlson.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Madison Bowey moved up to D2 with Orlov.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Robin Lehner stopped all 36 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Mathew Barzal scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 5 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Maxime Lajoie played 23:25 (+5:37 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Evgenii Dadonov played 22:31 (+4:56 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Dan Hamhuis dropped to D3 from D2 with Bitetto (2 straight games).
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Mika Zibanejad had 4 points (0 G, 4 A, 1 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Erik Karlsson had 4 points (1 G, 3 A, 4 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Erik Karlsson dropped to D3 from D2 with Dillon.
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Dustin Byfuglien played only 19:56 (−5:35 vs his recent average).
TOI dropGame reportTeam lines
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.
208 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 21 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.