NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Saturday, Jan 31, 2026
14 games on Jan 31, 2026 produced 11 notable changes: 4 power-play changes (2 up, 2 down), 5 line moves (4 promotions, 1 demotions), 1 big ice-time swing and 1 big game. The biggest: Timo Meier moved onto the top power-play unit with Hamilton, Brown and Bratt, +6:04 of PP time (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Timo Meier moved onto the top power-play unit with Hamilton, Brown and Bratt, +6:04 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotion · NJDGame reportTeam lines
Alexander Nikishin dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · CARGame reportTeam lines
Luke Evangelista dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · NSHGame reportTeam lines
Anthony Mantha moved onto the top power-play unit with Malkin, Crosby and Karlsson, +6:02 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · PITGame reportTeam lines
Oliver Ekman-Larsson played 28:10 (+10:06 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spike · TORPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Timo Meier moved onto the top power-play unit with Hamilton, Brown and Bratt, +6:04 of PP time (2 straight games).
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Alexander Nikishin dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Luke Evangelista dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Anthony Mantha moved onto the top power-play unit with Malkin, Crosby and Karlsson, +6:02 of PP time.
PP1 promotionGame reportTeam lines
Oliver Ekman-Larsson played 28:10 (+10:06 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Brandon Carlo moved up to D1 with Rielly.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Conor Garland moved up to L1 with Kane and Pettersson.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Linus Karlsson moved up to L3 with Chytil and Kampf (3 straight games).
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped all 28 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Nick Seeler dropped to D3 from D2 with Juulsen (2 straight games).
Line demotionGame reportTeam lines
Anthony Beauvillier moved up to L3 with Ovechkin and Strome (2 straight games).
Line promotionPickup alertGame 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.
177 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.