NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Tuesday, Apr 6, 2021
9 games on Apr 6, 2021 produced 16 notable changes: 6 power-play changes (3 up, 3 down), 4 line moves (2 promotions, 2 demotions), 2 big ice-time swings and 4 big games. The biggest: Keith Yandle played only 5:50 (−9:27 vs his recent average), an early exit (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Keith Yandle played only 5:50 (−9:27 vs his recent average), an early exit (2 straight games).
TOI drop · FLAGame reportTeam lines
Rasmus Ristolainen moved onto the top power-play unit with Reinhart, Olofsson and Mittelstadt, +1:40 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · BUFPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Vincent Trocheck moved onto the top power-play unit with Staal, Hamilton and Aho, +2:54 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · CARGame reportTeam lines
Matt Benning moved up to D1 with Ekholm (2 straight games).
Line promotion · NSHGame reportTeam lines
Nick Merkley dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · NJDGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Rasmus Ristolainen moved onto the top power-play unit with Reinhart, Olofsson and Mittelstadt, +1:40 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Vincent Trocheck moved onto the top power-play unit with Staal, Hamilton and Aho, +2:54 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Keith Yandle played only 5:50 (−9:27 vs his recent average), an early exit (2 straight games).
TOI dropGame reportTeam lines
Jonathan Huberdeau dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Keith Yandle dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Matt Benning moved up to D1 with Ekholm (2 straight games).
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Mattias Ekholm played 28:20 (+5:56 vs his recent average).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Nick Merkley dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jamie Oleksiak dropped to D3 from D1 with Heiskanen (2 straight games).
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Dylan Strome moved onto the top power-play unit with Kane, DeBrincat and Boqvist, +2:13 of PP time.
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Adam Boqvist dropped to D3 from D2 with Keith.
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Marc Staal moved up to D1 with Stecher.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Patrice Bergeron scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 5 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Brad Marchand had 4 points (1 G, 3 A, 2 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Semyon Varlamov stopped all 29 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutPickup alertGame report
Artemi Panarin had 4 points (1 G, 3 A, 2 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.
153 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 12 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.