Week 20: Fantasy hockey line top 25 rankings for 2018-19
Hurricanes enter first 15; McCann, Saad, Hintz elevated; Golden Knights rejoin mix after Stone trade
By
Jonathan Baron / NHL.com Fantasy Correspondent
LINE CHANGES
-- Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jared McCann (C, 1 percent owned) had a goal, an assist and was plus-4 against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday skating on the top line with center Sidney Crosby and left wing Jake Guentzel in place of Bryan Rust, who is out with a lower-body injury. McCann, acquired from the Florida Panthers on Feb. 1, has four points (three goals, one assist) and is plus-7 in his past three games and is worth streaming if he continues to see top-line placement.
-- The Chicago Blackhawks stacked their first line against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday by moving left wing Brandon Saad (19 percent owned) to a unit with center Jonathan Toews and right wing Patrick Kane. Saad, who has played at least 20 minutes in each of the past two games, has 38 points (21 goals, 17 assists) in 63 games compared to 35 points (18 goals, 17 assists) in 82 games last season. Saad is worth adding again in standard leagues with exposure to the Blackhawks' elite forwards.
-- Dallas Stars rookie forward Roope Hintz (C/LW, 1 percent owned) has two goals and 11 shots on goal in the past three games skating on the top line with valuable forwards Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov. Hintz was moved to the first line in place of injured Jamie Benn but remained there when Benn returned against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday; Benn scored a hat trick playing on the second line with center Joel L'Esperance and wing Jason Spezza. Hintz has averaged 17:20 in the past three games compared to 12:37 through his first 38 games and is worth considering as a value option in FanDuel DFS contests with an expanded role.
PRODUCTION TRENDS
-- The Toronto Maple Leafs second line of left wing Andreas Johnsson, center Auston Matthews and right wing Kasperi Kapanen has combined for 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) in the past six games since Johnsson replaced forward Patrick Marleau on the unit. Johnsson (LW/RW, 33 percent owned), who ranks third on the Maple Leafs in 5-on-5 goals (15), has 14 points (nine goals, five assists) in his past 13 games. Johnsson and Kapanen have joined Matthews among NHL.com's top 100 forwards and are must-own wings for the rest of the season. Left wing Zach Hyman has been producing on the top line with elite forwards John Tavares and Mitchell Marner with four points (three goals, one assist) in his past five games.
-- The Carolina Hurricanes' first line of Sebastian Aho, Nino Niederreiter and Justin Williams has joined the top 15 rankings for the first time and are getting secondary scoring help during their five-game winning streak. Center Jordan Staal (13 percent owned) has six points (one goal, five assists) during a four-game point streak since returning from an upper-body injury. Staal is playing on a line with left wing Micheal Ferland and right wing Teuvo Teravainen, who has nine points (one goal, eight assists) during the winning streak. Staal brings added value in hits leagues (seven in past four games) and is an intriguing waiver-wire option.
FANTASY LINE RANKINGS FOR 2018-19
- TBL: Tyler Johnson -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov (SAME)
- TOR: Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner (SAME)
- BOS: Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- Danton Heinen (SAME)
- CGY: Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm (SAME)
- WPG: Patrik Laine -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler (+2)
- COL: Gabriel Landeskog / Alexander Kerfoot -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen (-1)
- NSH: Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson (-1)
- PIT: Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Jared McCann (+3)
- BUF: Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart (-1)
- CBJ: Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois / Matt Duchene -- Cam Atkinson (-1)
- WSH: Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson (SAME)
- CHI: Brandon Saad -- Jonathan Toews -- Patrick Kane (SAME)
- TOR: Andreas Johnsson -- Auston Matthews -- Kasperi Kapanen (SAME)
- CAR: Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Justin Williams (+3)
- PHI: Oskar Lindblom / Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek (+6)
- STL: Jaden Schwartz -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Vladimir Tarasenko (-2)
- FLA: Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Mike Hoffman (+1)
- WPG: Kyle Connor -- Kevin Hayes -- Nikolaj Ehlers (+1)
- TBL: Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- Yanni Gourde / J.T. Miller (-3)
- SJS: Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Joe Pavelski (SAME)
- EDM: Leon Draisaitl / Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian (NEW)
- DAL: Roope Hintz -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov (+2)
- WSH: Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie (SAME)
- PIT: Zach Aston-Reese -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel (+1)
- VGK: Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Mark Stone (NEW)
NOTES: Kerfoot has been playing with the MacKinnon-Rantanen duo, with Landeskog moving down to a unit with Tyson Jost and Matt Calvert. … Giroux spent time on multiple lines against the New Jersey Devils on Friday, including some shifts with Voracek and Couturier. … Hayes, acquired by the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 25, had three points (one goal, two assists) centering a line with Ehlers and Connor against the Nashville Predators on Friday. … The Edmonton Oilers' top line rejoins the rankings after McDavid returned from a two-game suspension. Draisaitl has 15 points (eight goals, seven assists) during a 10-game point streak and has 40 goals for the first time in his NHL career. … Stone has played with Stastny and Pacioretty in three games with the Vegas Golden Knights, while Alex Tuch has been moved to the third line. The unit of Pacioretty, Stastny and Stone has out-attempted opponents 52-29 at 5-on-5 in three games since Stone was acquired by Vegas. … The San Jose Sharks' second line dropped out of the rankings because of an injury to left wing Evander Kane.
Read: Week 19 line rankings
