NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Thursday, Mar 26, 2026
13 games on Mar 26, 2026 produced 20 notable changes: 8 power-play changes (1 up, 7 down), 4 line moves (4 promotions, 0 demotions), 5 big ice-time swings and 3 big games. The biggest: Chandler Stephenson moved up to L1 with Kakko and McMann (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Chandler Stephenson moved up to L1 with Kakko and McMann (2 straight games).
Line promotion · SEAPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Vinnie Hinostroza moved onto the top power-play unit with Verhaeghe, Jones and Bennett, +1:03 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · FLAPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Drake Batherson moved up to L1 with Giroux and Stützle.
Line promotion · OTTGame reportTeam lines
Tim Stützle moved up to L1 with Giroux and Batherson.
Line promotion · OTTGame reportTeam lines
Tyler Kleven moved up to D1 with Zub.
Line promotion · OTTPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Chandler Stephenson moved up to L1 with Kakko and McMann (2 straight games).
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Jamie Oleksiak played only 8:26 (−6:41 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI dropGame reportTeam lines
Chandler Stephenson played 24:18 (+4:52 vs his recent average).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Vinnie Hinostroza moved onto the top power-play unit with Verhaeghe, Jones and Bennett, +1:03 of PP time.
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Vinnie Hinostroza played 19:58 (+8:02 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Evan Rodrigues dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Drake Batherson moved up to L1 with Giroux and Stützle.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Tim Stützle moved up to L1 with Giroux and Batherson.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Tyler Kleven moved up to D1 with Zub.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Blake Coleman dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Matt Coronato dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Matvei Gridin dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Morgan Frost dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Zayne Parekh dropped off PP1 to the second unit.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Sidney Crosby dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Anthony Mantha played 19:44 (+4:48 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Mikael Granlund scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 6 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Alex Ovechkin scored a hat trick (3 G, 0 A, 5 SOG).
Hat trickGame report
Darcy Kuemper stopped all 19 shots for a shutout.
ShutoutGame report
Jack Eichel played 26:24 (+5:24 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.
157 raw deployment changes were checked for this date; 17 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.