NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Tuesday, Dec 23, 2025
13 games on Dec 23, 2025 produced 27 notable changes: 12 power-play changes (2 up, 10 down), 8 line moves (8 promotions, 0 demotions), 3 big ice-time swings and 4 big games. The biggest: Nikolaj Ehlers moved onto the top power-play unit with Hall, Nikishin and Stankoven (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Nikolaj Ehlers moved onto the top power-play unit with Hall, Nikishin and Stankoven (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · CARGame reportTeam lines
Ryker Evans moved onto the top power-play unit with Eberle, Stephenson and Tolvanen, +1:06 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · SEAPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Luke Hughes moved up to D1 with Pesce (2 straight games).
Line promotion · NJDGame reportTeam lines
Taylor Hall moved up to L1 with Jankowski and Robinson (2 straight games).
Line promotion · CARPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Jesper Boqvist moved up to L2 with Verhaeghe and Rodrigues (2 straight games).
Line promotion · FLAPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Nikolaj Ehlers moved onto the top power-play unit with Hall, Nikishin and Stankoven (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Taylor Hall moved up to L1 with Jankowski and Robinson (2 straight games).
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Mark Jankowski moved up to L1 with Hall and Robinson.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Andrei Svechnikov dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jackson Blake dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Sebastian Aho dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Shayne Gostisbehere dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Shayne Gostisbehere played only 15:14 (−6:41 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI dropGame reportTeam lines
Ryker Evans moved onto the top power-play unit with Eberle, Stephenson and Tolvanen, +1:06 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Ryker Evans moved up to D1 with Larsson.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Ryker Evans played 21:36 (+4:50 vs his recent average).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Luke Hughes moved up to D1 with Pesce (2 straight games).
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Owen Power moved up to D2 with Kesselring (2 straight games).
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Josh Doan dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Josh Norris dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Rasmus Dahlin dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Tage Thompson dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Zach Benson dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Owen Power played 25:10 (+5:33 vs his recent average).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Beck Malenstyn moved up to L3 with Greenway and Dunne.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Josh Dunne moved up to L3 with Greenway and Malenstyn.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Jesper Boqvist moved up to L2 with Verhaeghe and Rodrigues (2 straight games).
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Matthew Knies dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
William Nylander had 4 points (2 G, 2 A, 3 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Connor McDavid had 5 points (0 G, 5 A, 6 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Leon Draisaitl scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 4 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Scott Wedgewood stopped all 32 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame 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.
177 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 23 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.