NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Saturday, May 8, 2021
14 games on May 8, 2021 produced 24 notable changes: 11 power-play changes (2 up, 9 down), 5 line moves (3 promotions, 2 demotions), 3 big ice-time swings and 5 big games. The biggest: Andre Burakovsky moved onto the top power-play unit with Donskoi, Landeskog and Rantanen, +2:13 of PP time (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Andre Burakovsky moved onto the top power-play unit with Donskoi, Landeskog and Rantanen, +2:13 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · COLPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Erik Brannstrom moved up to D1 with Zub (2 straight games).
Line promotion · OTTGame reportTeam lines
Artem Zub moved onto the top power-play unit with Norris, Brannstrom and Batherson, +1:27 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · OTTPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Erik Brannstrom played 24:49 (+6:43 vs his recent average) (3 straight games).
TOI spike · OTTGame reportTeam lines
Troy Stecher moved up to D1 with Staal.
Line promotion · DETPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Andre Burakovsky moved onto the top power-play unit with Donskoi, Landeskog and Rantanen, +2:13 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Erik Brannstrom moved up to D1 with Zub (2 straight games).
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Artem Zub moved onto the top power-play unit with Norris, Brannstrom and Batherson, +1:27 of PP time.
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Erik Brannstrom played 24:49 (+6:43 vs his recent average) (3 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Tim Stützle scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 5 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Artem Zub played 26:08 (+6:16 vs his recent average).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Troy Stecher moved up to D1 with Staal.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Filip Hronek dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jakub Vrana dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Sam Gagner dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Gustav Lindstrom moved up to D2 with Djoos.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Maxime Comtois dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Rickard Rakell dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Trevor Zegras dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Troy Terry dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Conor Garland dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jordan Staal dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Alexander Wennberg scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 3 SOG).
Hat trickPickup alertGame report
Justin Faulk dropped to D2 from D1 with Mikkola.
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Reilly Smith scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 7 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Maxime Lagace stopped all 29 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Connor McDavid had 4 points (1 G, 3 A, 4 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Marcus Johansson dropped to L4 from L3 with Rask and Fiala.
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
T.J. Oshie played only 12:29 (−6:58 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.
211 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 19 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.