4 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 10/15/19

When playing NHL DFS -- much like MLB DFS -- stacking is key. Having multiple players from the same team, who correlate together, can bring your lineup upside and help you maximize potential points.

You can roster up to four players from the same team in NHL, and you should look to have players from the same forward line or power-play unit together. Shared ice time is the key, as it will maximize their ability to contribute to real-life goals with each other, ultimately leading to more fantasy points for us.

Generally, we don't see late scratches in the NHL, and the team's lines are confirmed at practice or before the game. Two of the best resources for that are LeftWingLock.com or DailyFaceOff.com. That is where you can find updated forward and power-play lines for each team.

Toronto Maple Leafs

We have a seven-game NHL slate tonight, and the proverbial elephant in the room is the Toronto Maple Leafs and their 3.78 implied team total.

As of now, that implied team total is nearly 0.30 goals higher than the next closest team, which could put the Maple Leafs in their own tier tonight. There are plenty of good teams in action tonight, but two of the top three teams with the highest implied totals are on the road, which is why we lean toward the Maple Leafs, who are at home. While both top-two forwards lines are good, the second forward line is where you should consider focusing in on tonight.

That line is led by team captain John Tavares ($7,400), alongside Mitchell Marner ($7,700), and Kasperi Kapanen ($4,200). Tavares is over $1,000 cheaper compared to Auston Matthews, and while Kapanen isn't the best player by any means, the salary relief is valuable tonight. Tavares and Marner are on the first power-play unit together, which gets you exposure to Matthews and his multi-point upside. If you have the salary available, add defender Morgan Rielly ($6,200) to the stack, as he is also on the first power-play unit.

Calgary Flames

The Calgary Flames are at home and a favorite, so we want to be looking toward them with full confidence.

A -145 favorite and a 3.25 implied total are both strong on this slate -- or any slate -- but I'm not sure Calgary will be seeing too much ownership tonight. They are facing off against the Philadelphia Flyers, who actually come in with a league-best 46.07 Corsi Against this season, meaning they are allowing the fewest shot attempts on goal per 60 minutes. That is certainly very good, though it's from a small sample size, but there is a bit more to consider tonight.

The Flyers will have Brian Elliott in net. He is making his season debut and isn't a good goalie. Last season, Elliott allowed 2.96 goals per game with a save percentage of .907. Those aren't numbers you should be afraid of, so let's stack against him.

The second forward line for the Flames is very interesting, since they have limited correlation. Normally, I'd look for players who are on the same forward line and the same power play, as that will maximize your potential scoring. With the second forward line, we have the opposite of that. Winger Matthew Tkachuk ($6,500) is on the first power play, center Mikael Backlund ($5,200) is on the second power play, and winger Michael Frolik ($3,300) isn't on any power play but is very cheap. This is a very jumbled line, which is why it "should" come in at lower ownership.

While this might be a bit of a dart throw for tournaments, I firmly believe Elliott is a great goalie to pick on today, and you should be stacking against him given the opportunity.

Winnipeg Jets

Another team, another home favorite, another strong implied team total.

The Winnipeg Jets are carrying a 3.10 implied team total, which is the ninth-highest on the slate. Sure, there are other home teams who have higher implied team totals, but dollar-for-dollar, the Jets have one of the best three-man stacks you can find on the slate. Those three players are Mark Scheifele ($8,100), Blake Wheeler ($7,300), and Patrik Laine ($8,000). Individually, they all carry multi-point upside on a nightly basis, so when you roster them all together, they offer a big ceiling.

This is the stack you want to be looking toward if finding 100% ice-time correlation is your thing. All three of them are on the first power-play unit together, but as you can see, they are all very expensive. What should help them reach their upside tonight is the fact the Jets' defensive pairings are terrible -- all rated 20th or worse -- which should lead to their offense needing to keep the foot on the gas.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights are at home facing the Nashville Predators, who are off to an unusual start this season.

Over the past few seasons, Nashville has been known as a very solid -- if not one of the best -- defensive team, but they aren't showing that this year. As a team, they are allowing over four goals per game, but they are around league average or better in Corsi Against and the number of High Danger Scoring Chances allowed per 60 minutes. It's a bit odd, but if they are struggling right now, and we want to attack them before they correct things on their end.

The second forward line is where you should be looking on Vegas, as they are another line that has 100% ice-time correlation and plays on the second power-play unit together. Center Paul Stastny ($5,100), winger Mark Stone ($7,500), and Max Pacioretty ($6,600) could be my second favorite line of the night behind the Jets' players mentioned above.