Week 23: Fantasy hockey line top 25 rankings for 2018-19

NHL.com ranks the top fantasy hockey forward lines and tracks notable changes and production trends each week during the 2018-19 season. For more fantasy coverage, visit NHL.com/Fantasy.

LINE CHANGES

-- Buffalo Sabres forward Alexander Nylander (LW/RW, 1 percent owned in Yahoo) has four points (two goals, two assists) and a plus-2 during a three-game point streak. Nylander was promoted to the first line with elite center Jack Eichel and left wing Conor Sheary against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday and also saw time on the top power-play unit with valuable rookie defenseman Rasmus Dahlin. Nylander, the eighth pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, is worth adding in deep leagues and has breakout potential for next season.
-- Anaheim Ducks forwards Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg have combined for 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in the past 12 games, helping the Ducks go 7-4-1 in the span. The duo has played mostly with veteran center Ryan Getzlaf, but Getzlaf (upper body) was replaced by Sam Steel against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday. Steel (1 percent owned) has 39 points (18 goals, 21 assists) in 50 games with San Diego of the American Hockey League this season and is worth monitoring with exposure to the Ducks' top forwards.

PRODUCTION TRENDS

-- The Montreal Canadiens have gotten major contributions from their top two lines during a three-game winning streak entering Sunday as they try to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The line of left wing Artturi Lehkonen, center Max Domi and right wing Andrew Shaw has combined for 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the past three games, and Domi leads the Canadiens with five points (two goals, three assists) in the span. Shaw (C/RW, 30 percent owned) has four points (one goal, three assists) and eight SOG during the streak and is a must-add player in hits leagues (22 in past six games).
The Canadiens' top line of left wing Tomas Tatar, center Phillip Danault and right wing Brendan Gallagher has also combined for 10 points (four goals, six assists) in the past three games entering Sunday with 28 SOG between the trio. The group rejoins the top 25 rankings after outshooting opponents 29-17 and outscoring them 3-0 at 5-on-5 in the past three games. Gallagher leads all NHL forwards in 5-on-5 shot attempts (435) this season and has 17 SOG in the past three games. This trio has dominated puck possession all season and is a valuable stacking option in FanDuel DFS contests.
-- Entering Sunday, the Washington Capitals third line of left wing Carl Hagelin, center Lars Eller and right wing Brett Connolly has combined for 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in the past five games. Connolly (LW/RW, 27 percent owned) has seven points (four goals, three assists), a plus-8 and 11 SOG in the past five games and NHL career highs in goals (21) and points (43) this season. Connolly, who can become an unrestricted free agent July 1, ranks second on the Capitals in goals per 60 minutes (1.27) behind Alex Ovechkin and is worth streaming in standard leagues.
-- Entering Sunday, the Vancouver Canucks line of center Bo Horvat, left wing Tanner Pearson and right wing Loui Eriksson has combined for 13 points (six goals, seven assists) in four games since being put together. Horvat is finishing the season strong with nine points (four goals, five assists) in the past seven games and is three away from his first 60-point season. Pearson (3 percent owned) has six points (four goals, two assists) in 12 games since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins compared to 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in 61 games before the trade and is worth considering in deeper leagues with exposure to Horvat.

FANTASY LINE RANKINGS FOR 2018-19

1. BOS: Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak (+1)
   2. TBL: Tyler Johnson -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov (-1)
   3. TOR: Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner (+1)
   4. WPG: Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler (-1)
   5. CGY: Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm (SAME)
   6. NSH: Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson (SAME)
   7. PIT: Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Jared McCann (+1)
   8. FLA: Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov (+2)
   9. PHI: Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek (SAME)
   10. WSH: Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson (-3)
   11. CAR: Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Justin Williams (SAME)
   12. EDM: Leon Draisaitl -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian / Alex Chiasson (+1)
   13. SJS: Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Joe Pavelski, DTD (+1)
   14. DAL: Roope Hintz / Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov (+5)
   15. TOR: Andreas Johnsson -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander (SAME)
   16. CBJ: Artemi Panarin -- Matt Duchene -- Cam Atkinson / Josh Anderson (-4)
   17. WPG: Kyle Connor -- Kevin Hayes -- Patrik Laine (SAME)
   18. VGK: Max Pacioretty, DTD / Alex Tuch -- Paul Stastny -- Mark Stone (-2)
   19. STL: Brayden Schenn -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Vladimir Tarasenko (+1)
   20. VGK: Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith (NEW)
   21. BUF: Conor Sheary -- Jack Eichel -- Alexander Nylander (-3)
   22. TBL: Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- J.T. Miller (-1)
   23. CGY: Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik (+1)
   24. WSH: Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie (-1)
   25. MTL: Tomas Tatar -- Phillip Danault -- Brendan Gallagher (NEW)
       NOTE: The Pittsburgh Penguins line with Evgeni Malkin has dropped out of the rankings because the elite center is week to week with an upper-body injury.
       READ: Week 22 line rankings
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