Week 8: 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.

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LINE CHANGES

-- It was a great week for the Toronto Maple Leafs,who had elite center Auston Matthews return to their lineup Wednesday and forward William Nylander sign a six-year contract Saturday. Toronto enters Sunday tied with the Ottawa Senators for the third most goals per game (3.63) and has the NHL's second-best points percentage (.704), and now has its first line back together. Nylander is coming off back-to-back 61-point seasons and instantly becomes a must-own player for the rest of the season with likely exposure to his longtime linemate Matthews.
It's unclear who will round out the Maple Leafs' first line, but Patrick Marleau (C/LW, 41 percent owned in Yahoo) saw time there earlier this season before Matthews' injury and skated with Matthews and Kasperi Kapanen against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Andreas Johnsson (LW, 3 percent owned) played with Matthews and Kasperi Kapanen against the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday and had two assists. Johnsson has been productive recently with six points (three goals, three assists) in his past four games. Whoever sticks on Matthews' line will see his fantasy value skyrocket.
-- The Edmonton Oilers have been trying to fill out their first line all season but may have finally found a permanent solution on elite center Connor McDavid's left wing. Right wing Alex Chiasson (10 percent owned), one of seven wings to play at least 30 minutes of 5-on-5 time with McDavid this season, has one goal on eight shots on goal in three games and is averaging 19:10 per game since moving to the top line Tuesday. After scoring nine goals in 61 games with the Washington Capitals last season, Chiasson has 11 goals in 20 games with the Oilers, putting him two goals from from his NHL career high (13 in 2013-14 with Dallas Stars). Chiasson's strong start and recent exposure to McDavid makes him a strong waiver wire option.
-- Forward Nick Schmaltz (C/LW, 11 percent owned), acquired by the Arizona Coyotes on Nov. 25, is playing on the top line with center Alex Galchenyuk and wing Clayton Keller. Schmaltz has combined for four points (one goal, three assists) and nine SOG in his first three games since the trade. This line has joined the rankings this week and has a high fantasy ceiling for the rest of the season… Center Dylan Strome made his Chicago Blackhawks debut centering a line with elite right wing Patrick Kane and left wing Alex DeBrincat, finishing with a goal and an assist. Strome (10 percent owned), the third pick in the 2015 NHL Draft, could benefit from a fresh start in Chicago, where he's playing a top-six role with fantasy-relevant linemates. Strome should be monitored in deep leagues but is minus-5 in two games since his strong debut.

PRODUCTION TRENDS

-- The Los Angeles Kingsare at the bottom of the NHL standings, but one big bright spot has been right wing Dustin Brown. After missing the first 10 games with a broken finger, Brown (37 percent owned) has proven last season (61 points) was no fluke by scoring 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in 16 games. Brown skates on the top line with center Anze Kopitar and left wing Alex Iafallo and has averaged the second most power-play minutes per game among Kings forwards this season. After a slow start (three points in first nine games), Kopitar is averaging nearly a point per game (14 points in 16 games) since Brown made his season debut. With prime placement at even strength and on the power play, in addition to strong category coverage (42 SOG, 43 hits), Brown has emerged as the second most-valuable Kings forward behind Kopitar in fantasy, ahead of veterans Ilya Kovalchuk and Jeff Carter.
-- After missing the first 13 games with a facial fracture, New Jersey Devilsforward Jesper Bratt is making a positive impact in his second season. In the past 10 games, Bratt (LW/RW, 3 percent owned) has spent the majority of his ice time on a line with center Pavel Zacha and left wing Marcus Johansson. Bratt has eight points (three goals, five assists) the past 10 games with three or more SOG in each of his past five. Bratt has also recently seen time on the top line with left wing Taylor Hall and center Nico Hischier. Johansson (LW, 1 percent owned) has also seen a recent spike in production with five points (three goals, two assists) in the past five games. But, although New Jersey's second line has improved, the first line has fallen out of this week's rankings with declining production and a recent change.

FANTASY LINE RANKINGS FOR 2018-19

1. COL: Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen (SAME)
   2. CGY: Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm (SAME)
   3. BUF: Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart (+1)
   4. WSH: Alex Ovechkin -- Nicklas Backstrom -- Tom Wilson (+1)
   5. TBL: Tyler Johnson -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov (+8)
   6. TOR: Patrick Marleau -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander (NEW)
   7. DAL: Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov / Jason Spezza (-4)
   8. TOR: Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner (+3)
   9. BOS: Brad Marchand -- Colby Cave -- David Pastrnak (-2)
   10. FLA: Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Mike Hoffman (SAME)
   11. CBJ: Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson (+1)
   12. WPG: Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler (+2)
   13. PIT: Tanner Pearson -- Evgeni Malkin -- Patric Hornqvist / Phil Kessel (-5)
   14. VGK: Max Pacioretty -- Cody Eakin -- Alex Tuch (+3)
   15. WPG: Kyle Connor -- Bryan Little -- Patrik Laine (+7)
   16. CAR: Sebastian Aho -- Jordan Staal -- Teuvo Teravainen (-7)
   17. TBL: Yanni Gourde -- Steven Stamkos -- J.T. Miller / Mathieu Joseph (-2)
   18. STL: Robert Thomas -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Vladimir Tarasenko (SAME)
   19. EDM: Alex Chiasson -- Connor McDavid -- Leon Draisaitl (+1)
   20. OTT: Ryan Dzingel -- Matt Duchene -- Drake Batherson (+2)
   21. PHI: Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Travis Konecny (-2)
   22. OTT: Brady Tkachuk -- Colin White -- Mark Stone (+2)
   23. PIT: Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Dominik Simon (NEW)
   24. ARI: Nick Schmaltz -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Clayton Keller (NEW)
   25. LAK: Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar -- Dustin Brown (NEW)
   NOTES: Forwards Filip Forsberg (upper body; out 4-6 weeks) and Viktor Arvidsson (broken thumb) are on injured reserve, so the Nashville Predators line with center Ryan Johansen has dropped out of the rankings for now. ... Micheal Ferland (concussion) did not play Friday, so Aho and Tervainen each played wing on a reunited line with center Jordan Staal from last season. … Huberdeau has played on a line with Barkov and Hoffman over the past two games, with Evgenii Dadonov being moved down in the lineup. … Crosby's line rejoined the rankings; he has 10 points (six goals, four assists) in six games since returning from injury… With Jaden Schwartz and now Alexander Steen injured, the St. Louis Blues have given rookie Robert Thomas a trial on the top line with Tarasenko and O'Reilly.
   Read: November 25 line rankings