NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Saturday, Dec 20, 2025
13 games on Dec 20, 2025 produced 10 notable changes: 5 power-play changes (0 up, 5 down), 4 line moves (4 promotions, 0 demotions) and 1 big game. The biggest: Jamie Oleksiak moved up to D2 with Lindgren (3 straight games).
Biggest changes
Jamie Oleksiak moved up to D2 with Lindgren (3 straight games).
Line promotion · SEAPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Kent Johnson moved up to L1 with Marchment and Fantilli.
Line promotion · CBJPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Spencer Stastney moved up to D2 with Nurse (2 straight games).
Line promotion · EDMPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Tony DeAngelo moved up to D1 with Pelech.
Line promotion · NYIPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
John Tavares dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1 · TORGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Jamie Oleksiak moved up to D2 with Lindgren (3 straight games).
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Kent Johnson moved up to L1 with Marchment and Fantilli.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Spencer Stastney moved up to D2 with Nurse (2 straight games).
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Tony DeAngelo moved up to D1 with Pelech.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Jonathan Drouin dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Mathew Barzal dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Matthew Schaefer dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
John Tavares dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
William Nylander dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jacob Fowler stopped all 31 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutPickup 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.
160 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 9 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.