NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Thursday, Jan 15, 2026
10 games on Jan 15, 2026 produced 14 notable changes: 7 power-play changes (3 up, 4 down), 1 line move (1 promotions, 0 demotions), 2 big ice-time swings and 4 big games. The biggest: Connor Zary moved onto the top power-play unit with Backlund, Andersson and Frost, +1:45 of PP time (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Connor Zary moved onto the top power-play unit with Backlund, Andersson and Frost, +1:45 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · CGYPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Kris Letang moved onto the top power-play unit with Malkin, Crosby and Rust, +2:35 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · PITPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Tage Thompson scored a hat trick (3 G, 2 A, 3 SOG).
Hat trick · BUFGame report
Noah Ostlund moved onto the top power-play unit with Zucker, Thompson and Dahlin, +4:53 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · BUFPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Dante Fabbro moved up to D2 with Werenski (2 straight games).
Line promotion · CBJPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Connor Zary moved onto the top power-play unit with Backlund, Andersson and Frost, +1:45 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Kris Letang moved onto the top power-play unit with Malkin, Crosby and Rust, +2:35 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Tage Thompson scored a hat trick (3 G, 2 A, 3 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Noah Ostlund moved onto the top power-play unit with Zucker, Thompson and Dahlin, +4:53 of PP time.
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Dante Fabbro moved up to D2 with Werenski (2 straight games).
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Thomas Harley played 30:46 (+6:46 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Ilya Sorokin stopped all 35 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Dmitry Orlov dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
William Nylander dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Tom Willander dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
John Carlson dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jack Eichel had 4 points (1 G, 3 A, 5 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Mark Scheifele had 4 points (1 G, 3 A, 2 SOG).
Big nightGame report
Charlie McAvoy played 28:00 (+5:00 vs his recent average).
TOI spikeGame 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.
104 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 10 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.