In daily fantasy hockey, stacking is a key strategy in tournaments. We want to correlate our lineups with up to four players to maximize our upside, as if one player on a line is scoring goals, it's likely that his linemates are getting assists as well. Ideally, we'll want players who will get a lot of ice time together on an even strength line and a power play line. Two good resources for line combinations are LeftWingLock.com and DailyFaceoff.com, so be sure to check those sites for up to date line information.
There's a nice Super Crossbar contest on FanDuel today with a seven dollar entry fee and lots of prize money. So let's see what stacks we can use to try to take down first place in that tournament.
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are on a roll, winning four games in a row and eight of their last 10. That includes a win over these Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday, and they'll play them again tonight.
It wasn't the Connor McDavid ($9,000) show like we were expecting, though he did score a goal. He still has a five-point lead over anyone else in the scoring race. That lead is over teammate Leon Draisaitl ($8,400), who had three assists on Tuesday. It's been a few weeks since these two had a big game together, but they are always capable of going off on the power play or whenever they link up for some shifts at even strength.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($6,400) is one of the best values on the slate. We've seen him have huge games of over 30 fantasy points four times this season. He has nine goals and has a lower salary than the likes of Taylor Hall (one goal) and Jamie Benn (three). Any player that is tied to the hip of McDavid at even strength and on the power play like Nugent-Hopkins is worth playing in stacks, so it's nice to get him at a slight discount.
Jesse Puljujarvi ($4,200) is no longer on the top power play but has shown flashes of the talent that made him a fourth overall draft pick. He still gets even strength time with the first line, so he is worth it for this low salary.
The matchup with the Canucks is one of the best in the league. They allow the most expected goals and the third most actual goals per 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Oilers' implied team total is the third highest on tonight's slate, and with how often some of their players blow up, they are the highest upside stack on the board tonight.
Boston Bruins
We saw what the Boston Bruins can do on Sunday at Lake Tahoe. They put up seven goals against the Philadelphia Flyers, and it wasn't a huge surprise where the goals came from.
After a brief stint split up, the perfection line was back together. David Pastrnak ($8,700) scored his second hat trick in just nine games this season. He continues to fire the puck at any chance he gets, leading the league in shot attempts per 60 minutes, attempting over three more shots than any other player in the league. Brad Marchand ($7,800) had two assists on Sunday and leads the team with 20 points this season. Patrice Bergeron ($7,900) is just behind him with 19 and leads the team in shots on goal with 56.
These three are all in the top 13 in points per 60 minutes for players who have played at least 150 minutes. They are certainly one of the most talented trios in the league that play together in all possible situations.
People were expecting the Bruins' power play to take a hit without Torey Krug this season, but the opposite has happened. So far, they have a success rate of 30%, up from 25.2% last season. The new power play quarterback is Charlie McAvoy ($5,700), who has been solid with 13 points in 16 games. He has been consistent, as well, with at least eight FanDuel points in 12 straight games.
The matchup against the New York Islanders is not ideal, as they are a solid defensive team. The Bruins should have the advantage, though, as the third best possession team going up against a team that is below average in possession. They also have the talent to put up goals in any matchup.
Buffalo Sabres
Your first instinct might think it's gross to stack the Buffalo Sabres on a 10-game slate with a lot of other options. Well, it's likely to be the instinct of a lot of other fantasy players, too, which should keep their popularity down. The Sabres have only scored 2.8 goals per game, the 21st most in the league. There is a specific matchup that we can exploit if we use the Sabres' top line, so let's delve into some numbers and see why that's the case.
The Sabres' star player Jack Eichel ($7,300) has just two goals this season but has 14 points total. He's shooting just 4% this season and is a career 10.6% shooter who scored 36 in the shortened season last year, so we know he's a better goal scorer than this. He's been playing with Sam Reinhart ($5,600) and Victor Olofsson ($6,400). Reinhart has five points in the three games since this line was put together. Olofsson is known for having a dangerous shot and leads the team with seven goals this season.
These three are on the top line together, and perhaps more importantly, on the power play together. Buffalo has the second best power play in the league, scoring on 33% of their opportunities. They will face the New Jersey Devils, who have an abysmal penalty kill that kills off just 59% of their penalties. That's the worst in the league by 9.8 percentage points. Buffalo scored on one of their two power plays on Tuesday when these teams played, and if they get more chances tonight, they could explode.
This is a stack that has upside to send your lineups near the top of the leaderboard, and most people will not consider them on this slate.
Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.