Fantasy hockey line top 25 rankings for October 28, 2018

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.

MORE FANTASY COVERAGE: Top 200 rankings | Tracker | Top 10 waiver wire

PRODUCTION TRENDS

-- After mixing and matching lines through the first two weeks of the season, Buffalo Sabres coach Phil Housley seems to have found the perfect combination of left wing Jeff Skinner, center Jack Eichel and right wing Jason Pominville. After scoring one goal through his first seven games with the Sabres, Skinner has exploded for five goals and four assists in four games since he and Pominville joined Eichel's line. The move has especially boosted the fantasy value of Pominville (11 percent owned), who has four goals and four assists in four games since the line change. As for Eichel, he's averaging a point per game (three goals, eight assists in 11 games) so far this season despite having various linemates.
-- New York Rangers right wing Mats Zuccarello (33 percent owned) joined left wing Chris Kreider and center Mika Zibanejad on the first line last week and found immediate success with a multi-goal game in a 5-2 win against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 23. Zibanejad instantly benefited from Zuccarello's arrival with his second career four-point game in the win. Zuccarello's new lineup placement helped him enter NHL.com's latest top 200 rankings, and all three forwards are worth streaming and targeting in DFS for New York's three-game road trip in California this week.

LINE CHANGES

-- The right wing spot on the Washington Capitals' top line has been a revolving door this season with Tom Wilson suspended, but Jakub Vrana (LW/RW, 12 percent owned) got a trial there this week and could run with the opportunity. Vrana skated with elite forwards Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov against the Calgary Flames on Saturday, scoring a goal in his first game with his new linemates. With 10 games remaining on Wilson's suspension, Vrana has plenty of time to solidify his spot with the defending champions' top talent.
-- Center Alex Galchenyuk made his season debut for the Arizona Coyotes last week, and his return from injury made an immediate impact on the lineup. Galchenyuk has found instant chemistry with wings Clayton Keller and Richard Panik on the first line, assisting on each of Keller's two goals in the past week. This change has allowed Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet to assemble the second line of center Derek Stepan and wings Brendan Perlini and Christian Fischer, which has combined for four goals and five assists in the past three games. Arizona's second line has outscored opponents 4-0 at 5-on-5 since being formed last week, according to NaturalStatTrick.com. Fischer (RW, 2 percent owned) and Perlini (LW/RW, 1 percent) are readily available and should be considered in deeper leagues.

FANTASY LINE RANKINGS FOR 2018-19

These rankings have taken into account NHL.com fantasy top 200 rank, recent production in standard Yahoo categories (goals, assists, plus/minus, power-play points, shots on goal, hits), line stability or fluctuation from previous season(s), team scoring distribution and injury risk or contract status of any individual player(s).
1. BOS: Brad Marchand -- Patrice Bergeron -- David Pastrnak (SAME)
2. COL: Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen (SAME)
3. NSH: Filip Forsberg -- Ryan Johansen -- Viktor Arvidsson (+4)
4. TOR: Zach Hyman -- John Tavares -- Mitchell Marner (+1)
5. TOR: Patrick Marleau -- Auston Matthews (DTD) -- Kasperi Kapanen (-2)
6. DAL: Jamie Benn -- Tyler Seguin -- Alexander Radulov (DTD) (SAME)
7. WSH: Alex Ovechkin -- Evgeny Kuznetsov -- Jakub Vrana (SAME)
8. PIT: Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin -- Phil Kessel (+5)
9. CAR: Micheal Ferland -- Sebastian Aho -- Teuvo Teravainen (SAME)
10. NJD: Taylor Hall -- Nico Hischier -- Kyle Palmieri (+7)
11. TBL: Ondrej Palat -- Tyler Johnson -- Nikita Kucherov (+5)
12. WPG: Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler (+1)
13. PHI: Claude Giroux -- Sean Couturier -- Travis Konecny (-4)
14. CGY: Johnny Gaudreau -- Sean Monahan -- Sam Bennett (-4)
15. FLA: Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad (-1)
16. CHI: Alex DeBrincat -- Jonathan Toews -- Dominik Kahun (-4)
17. CBJ: Artemi Panarin -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Cam Atkinson (-1)
18. BUF: Jeff Skinner -- Jack Eichel -- Jason Pominville (NEW)
19. MTL: Jonathan Drouin -- Max Domi -- Artturi Lehkonen (NEW)
20. VGK: Jonathan Marchessault -- William Karlsson -- Reilly Smith (SAME)
21. STL: Jaden Schwartz -- Brayden Schenn -- Vladimir Tarasenko (+4)
22. EDM: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Connor McDavid -- Kailer Yamamoto (SAME)
23. CHI: Brandon Saad -- Artem Anisimov -- Patrick Kane (NEW)
24. ARI: Richard Panik -- Alex Galchenyuk -- Clayton Keller (+1)
25. NYI: Anders Lee -- Brock Nelson -- Josh Bailey (NEW)
NOTE: Galchenyuk and Panik have replaced Derek Stepan and Lawson Crouse on Keller's line this week. … Fantasy owners should monitor injuries to Matthews and Radulov. … The Pittsburgh Penguins' line of Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Derick Brassard has been omitted because of Brassard's injury. … Keep an eye on the injury to Tomas Hertl, as his line with Logan Couture and Timo Meier has been making a strong case to join this list. The New York Islanders line of Anthony Beauvillier, Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle was reunited against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and could join this list next week.
Read: October 21 line rankings