NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Saturday, Dec 28, 2019
9 games on Dec 28, 2019 produced 12 notable changes: 4 power-play changes (2 up, 2 down), 3 line moves (3 promotions, 0 demotions), 1 big ice-time swing and 4 big games. The biggest: Ryan Strome moved onto the top power-play unit with Kreider, Zibanejad and DeAngelo (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Ryan Strome moved onto the top power-play unit with Kreider, Zibanejad and DeAngelo (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · NYRPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Tyler Toffoli moved onto the top power-play unit with Kopitar, Doughty and Kempe, +2:16 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · LAKPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Kaapo Kakko dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · NYRGame reportTeam lines
Samuel Girard dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · COLGame reportTeam lines
Andreas Athanasiou played 21:54 (+6:28 vs his recent average) (3 straight games).
TOI spike · DETGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Tyler Toffoli moved onto the top power-play unit with Kopitar, Doughty and Kempe, +2:16 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Sean Walker moved up to D1 with Doughty.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Ryan Strome moved onto the top power-play unit with Kreider, Zibanejad and DeAngelo (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Kaapo Kakko dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Chris Kreider moved up to L1 with Zibanejad and Buchnevich.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Mika Zibanejad moved up to L1 with Kreider and Buchnevich.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Ryan Strome had 4 points (2 G, 2 A, 6 SOG).
Big nightPickup alertGame report
Samuel Girard dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Andreas Athanasiou played 21:54 (+6:28 vs his recent average) (3 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Timo Meier scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 6 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Bryan Rust had 4 points (2 G, 2 A, 3 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Victor Hedman had 4 points (0 G, 4 A, 3 SOG).
Big nightGame 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.
127 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 8 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.