NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Thursday, Jan 29, 2026
15 games on Jan 29, 2026 produced 13 notable changes: 7 power-play changes (1 up, 6 down), 4 line moves (4 promotions, 0 demotions) and 2 big games. The biggest: Filip Hronek moved onto the top power-play unit with DeBrusk, Pettersson and Karlsson, +2:13 of PP time (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Filip Hronek moved onto the top power-play unit with DeBrusk, Pettersson and Karlsson, +2:13 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · VANGame reportTeam lines
Arseny Gritsyuk moved up to L1 with Hischier and Hameenaho.
Line promotion · NJDPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Lenni Hameenaho moved up to L1 with Hischier and Gritsyuk.
Line promotion · NJDPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Nico Hischier moved up to L1 with Gritsyuk and Hameenaho.
Line promotion · NJDGame reportTeam lines
Charlie McAvoy dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1 · BOSGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Filip Hronek moved onto the top power-play unit with DeBrusk, Pettersson and Karlsson, +2:13 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Nikita Tolopilo stopped all 32 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutPickup alertGame report
Arseny Gritsyuk moved up to L1 with Hischier and Hameenaho.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Lenni Hameenaho moved up to L1 with Hischier and Gritsyuk.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Nico Hischier moved up to L1 with Gritsyuk and Hameenaho.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Charlie McAvoy dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
David Pastrnak dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Morgan Geekie dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Pavel Zacha dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Mason Lohrei moved up to D2 with Lindholm.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Ryan Hartman dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Vladimir Tarasenko dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Alex Tuch scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 7 SOG).
Hat trickGame 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.
198 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 11 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.