Fantasy hockey line top 25 rankings for October 14, 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.

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PRODUCTION TRENDS
-- The Carolina Hurricanes are 4-0-1 in their first five games, and the line of left wing Warren Foegele, center Jordan Staal and right wing Justin Williams may be the most surprising in the NHL to this point. Entering Sunday, the line's plus-47 even-strength shot attempt differential led the NHL, according to Corsica Hockey. The line has combined for 13 points (eight goals, five assists) in the first five games.

-- It's a new season, and the Boston Bruins' top line of left wing Brad Marchand, center Patrice Bergeron and right wing David Pastrnak is back and better than ever. The Bruins have scored 22 goals through five games, and at least one member of the top line has factored into 16 of the 22 goals. After Pastrnak had a hat trick in an 8-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday, this combination has now combined for 30 points (13 goals, 17 assists).

LINE CHANGES
-- After not scoring a point through his first four games with the Buffalo Sabres, Jeff Skinner shifted to a line with rookie center Casey Mittelstadt and right wing Kyle Okposo against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday and had two points (one goal, one assist) and four shots on goal. This new combination combined for 10 SOG in a 3-0 win. Okposo (21 percent owned in Yahoo) had a season-high five SOG in his first game with Skinner and has averaged 3:59 per game on the power play this season. Elite center Jack Eichel has been playing mostly with wings Conor Sheary and Sam Reinhart on the top line.
-- Vancouver Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson has taken the NHL by storm with eight points (five goals, three assists) through his first five NHL games. Pettersson has started on a line with Nikolay Goldobin (LW/RW, 3 percent owned) and Loui Eriksson; that line has outshot opponents 24-16 at even strength with four goals and just one against. Given Pettersson's high volume of scoring chances created, Goldobin and Eriksson can be fantasy-relevant as long as they continue to play with the rookie standout. It's worth noting Pettersson left Vancouver's game against the Florida Panthers on Saturday after a hit from defenseman Mike Matheson.

FANTASY LINE RANKINGS FOR 2018-19
These rankings have taken into account NHL.com fantasy top 200 rank (listed next to applicable players), 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 (8) -- Patrice Bergeron (35) -- David Pastrnak (12)
2. COL: Gabriel Landeskog (91) -- Nathan MacKinnon (10) -- Mikko Rantanen (69)
3. TOR: Patrick Marleau (157) -- Auston Matthews (11) -- Kasperi Kapanen (180)
4. DAL: Jamie Benn (14) -- Tyler Seguin (13) -- Alexander Radulov (54)
5. TOR: Zach Hyman (177) -- John Tavares (9) -- Mitchell Marner (23)
6. PIT: Carl Hagelin -- Evgeni Malkin (7) -- Phil Kessel (39)
7. WSH: Alex Ovechkin (2) -- Evgeny Kuznetsov (22) -- Brett Connolly
8. CAR: Micheal Ferland (188) -- Sebastian Aho (52) -- Teuvo Teravainen (99)
9. CGY: Johnny Gaudreau (28) -- Sean Monahan (58) -- Elias Lindholm (183)
10. PHI: Claude Giroux (19) -- Sean Couturier (102) -- Jakub Voracek (61)
11. CHI: Brandon Saad / Alex Fortin -- Nick Schmaltz (179) -- Patrick Kane (15)
12. NSH: Filip Forsberg (34) -- Ryan Johansen (117) -- Viktor Arvidsson (98)
13. WPG: Kyle Connor (96) -- Mark Scheifele (30) -- Blake Wheeler (19)
14. WSH: Jakub Vrana (178) -- Nicklas Backstrom (50) -- T.J. Oshie (100)
15. LAK: Alex Iafallo -- Anze Kopitar (32) -- Ilya Kovalchuk (60)
16. CHI: Alex DeBrincat (89) -- Jonathan Toews (122) -- Dominik Kahun (200)
17. PIT: Jake Guentzel (93) -- Sidney Crosby (3) -- Patric Hornqvist (78)
18. NYI: Anthony Beauvillier (163) -- Mathew Barzal (55) -- Josh Bailey (141)
19. NJD: Taylor Hall (22) -- Nico Hischier (146) -- Kyle Palmieri (176)
20. FLA: Evgenii Dadonov (132) -- Aleksander Barkov (41) -- Nick Bjugstad (167)
21. EDM: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (112) -- Connor McDavid (1) -- Ty Rattie (174)
22. VGK: Jonathan Marchessault (58) -- William Karlsson (65) -- Reilly Smith (134)
23. STL: Patrick Maroon -- Ryan O'Reilly (108) -- Vladimir Tarasenko (20)
24. CAR: Warren Foegele -- Jordan Staal (149) -- Justin Williams
25. VAN: Nikolay Goldobin (198) -- Elias Pettersson (90) -- Loui Eriksson
Teams with two lines in the rankings: CAR, CHI, PIT, TOR, WSH
Teams not represented in rankings: ANA\, ARI, BUF\, CBJ, DET, MIN, MTL, NYR, OTT, SJS\, TBL\
\NOTE: The top lines of the Tampa Bay Lightning, San Jose Sharks, Buffalo Sabres* and Anaheim Ducks have been omitted from this week's rankings because of recent line changes and/or injuries.