NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Thursday, Jan 2, 2020
12 games on Jan 2, 2020 produced 21 notable changes: 6 power-play changes (2 up, 4 down), 8 line moves (7 promotions, 1 demotions), 4 big ice-time swings and 3 big games. The biggest: Jake DeBrusk moved onto the top power-play unit with Bergeron, Marchand and Krug (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Jake DeBrusk moved onto the top power-play unit with Bergeron, Marchand and Krug (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · BOSPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Max Pacioretty moved onto the top power-play unit with Stastny, Stone and Theodore (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · VGKGame reportTeam lines
James van Riemsdyk dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · PHIGame reportTeam lines
Jakub Voracek moved up to L2 with Giroux and Couturier (3 straight games).
Line promotion · PHIGame reportTeam lines
Kris Russell played 22:12 (+7:24 vs his recent average) (3 straight games).
TOI spike · EDMGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Jake DeBrusk moved onto the top power-play unit with Bergeron, Marchand and Krug (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Danton Heinen dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Max Pacioretty moved onto the top power-play unit with Stastny, Stone and Theodore (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Shea Theodore moved up to D2 with Holden (2 straight games).
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Alex Tuch moved up to L2 with Smith and Karlsson.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
James van Riemsdyk dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jakub Voracek moved up to L2 with Giroux and Couturier (3 straight games).
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Jakub Voracek played 21:44 (+5:36 vs his recent average).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Kris Russell played 22:12 (+7:24 vs his recent average) (3 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Kris Russell moved up to D2 with Nurse (2 straight games).
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Oscar Klefbom moved up to D1 with Bear.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Alex Galchenyuk played 20:13 (+9:15 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Juuso Riikola moved up to D2 with Letang.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Brock Boeser moved up to L1 with Miller and Pettersson.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
J.T. Miller had 4 points (1 G, 3 A, 4 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Adam Boqvist played 20:35 (+5:45 vs his recent average) (3 straight games).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Brent Burns dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Erik Karlsson dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Mason Appleton dropped to L4 from L3 with Shore and Harkins (2 straight games).
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Nathan MacKinnon had 4 points (1 G, 3 A, 6 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Samuel Girard had 4 points (0 G, 4 A, 3 SOG).
Big nightPickup alertGame 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.
154 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 18 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.