Week 22: 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

-- St. Louis Blues forward David Perron (LW/RW, 27 percent owned) returned to the lineup against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday after missing 24 games with a concussion. Perron had an assist skating on the first line with left wing Brayden Schenn and center Ryan O'Reilly, giving him points in 14 straight games played totaling 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in the span. Perron was on pace for 63 points before the injury and should be added in standard leagues with elite right wing Vladimir Tarasenko out at least another week.
-- Pittsburgh Penguins rookie forward Teddy Blueger (C/LW, fewer than 1 percent owned) has spent the past three games playing on the second line with center Evgeni Malkin and right wing Phil Kessel after Zach Aston-Reese sustained a lower-body injury March 10. Blueger has one assist, a plus-1 and six hits in three games since moving to the top six and is worth monitoring in deeper leagues with exposure to valuable forwards at even strength. Blueger has six points (three goals, three assists) in 18 games this season. UPDATE: Malkin is week to week with an upper-body injury.

PRODUCTION TRENDS

-- The Calgary Flames second line of left wing Matthew Tkachuk, center Mikael Backlund and right wing Michael Frolik joins the top 25 this week, giving the Flames two lines in the rankings for the first time this season. The second unit has combined for 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists) in the past four games, including 10 points (six goals, four assists) for Tkachuk in the span. This line is worth stacking in FanDuel DFS contests with four of the Flames' next six games coming against teams out of the Stanley Cup Playoff picture (Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings, Anaheim Ducks).
-- Chicago Blackhawks forward Brendan Perlini (LW/RW, 5 percent owned) had a goal against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, giving him 10 points (eight goals, two assists) in six games since returning from an illness, including seven points (five goals, two assists) in his past three games. Perlini has skated with left wing Alex DeBrincat and center Dylan Strome in the past six games, a unit that has emerged as a steady producer this month. Perlini has 11 goals in 36 games since being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes and is a must-add player for the rest of the fantasy playoffs with a chance to emerge as a top 100 forward next season.
-- Arizona Coyotes forward Vinnie Hinostroza (C/LW/RW, 5 percent owned) enters Saturday with four goals during a two-game goal streak, including his first NHL hat trick against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. Hinostroza, who's playing on a line with left wing Michael Grabner and center Brad Richardson, has set NHL career highs in goals (15) and points (34) this season and is a worthwhile streaming option in deep leagues. The Coyotes play four road games this week, and Hinostroza leads them with 10 road goals.

FANTASY LINE RANKINGS FOR 2018-19

1. TBL: Tyler Johnson -- Brayden Point -- Nikita Kucherov (SAME)
   2. BOS: Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- Danton Heinen (SAME)
   3. WPG: Patrik Laine -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler (+1)
   4. TOR: Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner (-1)
   5. CGY: Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Elias Lindholm (SAME)
   6. NSH: Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson (SAME)
   7. WSH: Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Tom Wilson (+1)
   8. PIT: Jake Guentzel -- Sidney Crosby -- Jared McCann (-1)
   9. PHI: Oskar Lindblom -- Sean Couturier -- Jakub Voracek (+1)
   10. FLA: Jonathan Huberdeau -- Aleksander Barkov -- Evgenii Dadonov (+3)
   11. CAR: Nino Niederreiter -- Sebastian Aho -- Justin Williams (-2)
   12. CBJ: Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson (-1)
   13. EDM: Leon Draisaitl / Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Zack Kassian / Alex Chiasson (+1)
   14. SJS: Timo Meier -- Logan Couture -- Joe Pavelski (+4)
   15. TOR: Andreas Johnsson -- Auston Matthews -- William Nylander (+2)
   16. VGK: Max Pacioretty -- Paul Stastny -- Mark Stone (+4)
   17. WPG: Kyle Connor -- Kevin Hayes -- Nikolaj Ehlers (-2)
   18. BUF: Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Sam Reinhart (-6)
   19. DAL: Roope Hintz -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov (SAME)
   20. STL: Brayden Schenn -- Ryan O'Reilly -- Vladimir Tarasenko (DTD) / David Perron (-4)
   21. TBL: Ondrej Palat -- Steven Stamkos -- J.T. Miller (+1)
   22. PIT: Teddy Blueger -- Evgeni Malkin (WTW) -- Phil Kessel (+1)
   23. WSH: Jakub Vrana -- Nicklas Backstrom -- T.J. Oshie (+1)
   24. CGY: Matthew Tkachuk -- Mikael Backlund -- Michael Frolik (NEW)
   25. CHI: Alex DeBrincat -- Dylan Strome -- Brendan Perlini (NEW)
       NOTE: The Colorado Avalanche, who are without injured left wing Gabriel Landeskog and have lost five of their past seven games, have dropped out of the line rankings for the first time all season.
       READ: Week 21 line rankings