NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Saturday, Jan 21, 2023
14 games on Jan 21, 2023 produced 22 notable changes: 9 power-play changes (3 up, 6 down), 7 line moves (5 promotions, 2 demotions), 3 big ice-time swings and 3 big games. The biggest: Jaret Anderson-Dolan moved onto the top power-play unit with Kopitar, Doughty and Fiala, +1:37 of PP time (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Jaret Anderson-Dolan moved onto the top power-play unit with Kopitar, Doughty and Fiala, +1:37 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · LAKGame reportTeam lines
Aaron Ekblad played only 1:50 (−23:03 vs his recent average), an early exit.
TOI drop · FLAGame reportTeam lines
Michael Bunting dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · TORGame reportTeam lines
Sam Bennett dropped to L3 from L1 with Verhaeghe and Tkachuk (2 straight games).
Line demotion · FLAGame reportTeam lines
Matt Duchene moved onto the top power-play unit with Josi, Johansen and Granlund.
PP1 promotion · NSHGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Jaret Anderson-Dolan moved onto the top power-play unit with Kopitar, Doughty and Fiala, +1:37 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Aaron Ekblad played only 1:50 (−23:03 vs his recent average), an early exit.
TOI dropGame reportTeam lines
Sam Bennett dropped to L3 from L1 with Verhaeghe and Tkachuk (2 straight games).
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Brandon Montour moved up to D1 with Staal.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Marc Staal moved up to D1 with Montour.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Aaron Ekblad dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Radko Gudas moved up to D2 with Mahura.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Sam Bennett played only 9:14 (−9:10 vs his recent average).
TOI dropGame reportTeam lines
Michael Bunting dropped off PP1 to the second unit (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Matt Duchene moved onto the top power-play unit with Josi, Johansen and Granlund.
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Mikael Granlund moved onto the top power-play unit with Josi, Duchene and Johansen.
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Juuso Parssinen dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Tommy Novak dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jack Quinn dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
JJ Peterka dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Dylan Cozens moved up to L2 with Quinn and Peterka.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Sebastian Aho scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 3 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Jake Oettinger stopped all 33 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Moritz Seider dropped to D3 from D1 with Walman.
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Valeri Nichushkin moved up to L2 with Lehkonen and MacKinnon.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Devon Toews played 29:51 (+6:06 vs his recent average).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Zach Hyman had 4 points (1 G, 3 A, 5 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.
169 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.