NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Saturday, Jan 18, 2025
15 games on Jan 18, 2025 produced 19 notable changes: 8 power-play changes (2 up, 6 down), 3 line moves (2 promotions, 1 demotions), 1 big ice-time swing and 7 big games. The biggest: Mackie Samoskevich moved up to L1 with Bennett and Luostarinen (3 straight games).
Biggest changes
Mackie Samoskevich moved up to L1 with Bennett and Luostarinen (3 straight games).
Line promotion · FLAGame reportTeam lines
Mason Lohrei moved onto the top power-play unit with Marchand, Lindholm and Pastrnak, +2:27 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · BOSPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Alexis Lafrenière dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · NYRGame reportTeam lines
Mason McTavish moved onto the top power-play unit with Strome, Vatrano and Terry, +2:51 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · ANAGame reportTeam lines
Thomas Chabot moved up to D1 with Jensen.
Line promotion · OTTGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Mackie Samoskevich moved up to L1 with Bennett and Luostarinen (3 straight games).
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Mackie Samoskevich played 16:45 (+6:05 vs his recent average) (3 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Spencer Knight stopped all 34 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Mason Lohrei moved onto the top power-play unit with Marchand, Lindholm and Pastrnak, +2:27 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Alexis Lafrenière dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Igor Shesterkin stopped all 27 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Mason McTavish moved onto the top power-play unit with Strome, Vatrano and Terry, +2:51 of PP time.
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Thomas Chabot moved up to D1 with Jensen.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Brandt Clarke dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jamie Drysdale dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Morgan Frost dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Owen Tippett dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Travis Konecny dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jaden Schwartz scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 6 SOG).
Hat trickPickup alertGame report
Collin Graf dropped to L4 from L2 with Goodrow and Sturm (2 straight games).
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Daniil Tarasov stopped all 26 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutPickup alertGame report
Artturi Lehkonen had 4 points (2 G, 2 A, 4 SOG).
Big nightPickup alertGame report
Filip Forsberg had 4 points (2 G, 2 A, 8 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Clayton Keller 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.
205 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.