NHL Line Changes & Fantasy Alerts: Monday, Apr 20, 2026
4 games on Apr 20, 2026 produced 12 notable changes: 4 power-play changes (1 up, 3 down), 3 line moves (3 promotions, 0 demotions), 4 big ice-time swings and 1 big game. The biggest: Jack Roslovic dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Biggest changes
Jack Roslovic dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · EDMGame reportTeam lines
Thomas Harley dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1 · DALGame reportTeam lines
Claude Giroux played 27:04 (+11:21 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spike · OTTPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Ryan Hartman moved onto the top power-play unit with Eriksson Ek, Kaprizov and Hughes, +4:53 of PP time.
PP1 promotion · MINPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Brady Tkachuk moved up to L1 with Batherson and Stützle.
Line promotion · OTTGame reportTeam lines
Changes by team
Thomas Harley dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Jack Roslovic dropped off PP1 (2 straight games).
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Claude Giroux played 27:04 (+11:21 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikePickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Brady Tkachuk moved up to L1 with Batherson and Stützle.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Tim Stützle moved up to L1 with Batherson and Tkachuk.
Line promotionGame reportTeam lines
Tim Stützle played 29:05 (+8:47 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Brady Tkachuk played 28:17 (+13:11 vs his recent average).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Warren Foegele moved up to L3 with Amadio and Pinto.
Line promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Ryan Hartman moved onto the top power-play unit with Eriksson Ek, Kaprizov and Hughes, +4:53 of PP time.
PP1 promotionPickup alertGame reportTeam lines
Nikolaj Ehlers played 24:20 (+8:58 vs his recent average) (2 straight games).
TOI spikeGame reportTeam lines
Shayne Gostisbehere dropped off PP1.
Off PP1Game reportTeam lines
Dan Vladar stopped all 27 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.
71 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.