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 that 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.
Monday's slate actually starts an hour later than normal, with the first puck drop at 8 PM eastern time. The hat trick promotion is still going on in the FanDuel $4.44 Breakaway tournament, so keep that in mind building lineups tonight.
Edmonton Oilers
A team with a few players that could hit that hat trick bonus is the Edmonton Oilers. Connor McDavid ($8,700) already has two hat tricks this season, and is tied for second in the league in goals makes him one of the more likely players to do it again tonight. He had fallen into a mini-slump but rectified that with three points on Saturday night, and now leads the league in points by five. Leon Draisaitl ($7,900) could also get a hat trick, being that he plays on the power-play with McDavid. Draisaitl also played on McDavid's wing from about halfway through Saturday's game until the end, and that seems to be what they will do to start this game. The right wing on that line was Kailer Yamamoto ($4,700), so he's an affordable part of this even-strength line and gets to play with two of the best players in the league, making him a reasonable option to put with this stack.
The Oilers get a great matchup tonight against the Ottawa Senators. The Senators are coming off a back-to-back, after blowing a 3-0 lead on Sunday night. They've allowed the most goals per game in the NHL, allowing 3.89 per contest. A combination of bad defense and the league's worst team save percentage will lead to that, and the Oilers can easily take advantage of that. In four games this season against them, we've seen McDavid get eight points and Draisaitl get nine, so they are definitely able to thrive in this matchup.
The other part of this stack would be Tyson Barrie ($5,200). He's seen his salary plummet after a bad three-game set against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but came back with eight shots on goal on Saturday. Barrie is the Oilers' power-play quarterback, so he should get some points if the Oilers are able to strike with the man advantage. Edmonton's implied team total is 3.89, the highest on the slate. They will certainly be popular, especially McDavid, but the upside they have is too good to ignore in this game.
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup on the back of solid defense and goaltending and playing low-event hockey. A lot of that has gone out the window this season, as their games feature the fourth-most goals in the league. They've added some players and seen some development to make their forward group pretty deep. The return of Vladimir Tarasenko ($6,900) also helps. Tarasenko was able to play 16 minutes in his season debut on Saturday and got four shots on goal. This is a guy who scored over 30 goals in five straight seasons before getting injured last season, so he's worth taking a chance on despite not having shown anything in a long time. He's centered by Ryan O'Reilly ($6,900), the team's second-leading scorer, and they will also be on the power-play together. The last member of the line is Jordan Kyrou ($4,500), who is having a breakout season and is a great value at this salary.
There's another way to stack up the Blues tonight. Leading scorer David Perron ($7,100) is on the second forward line with Brayden Schenn ($6,400) and Mike Hoffman ($5,100). These three are all accomplished players that are in the top five on the team in scoring. Perron leads the team with 10 power-play points and is joined by Schenn on that top unit, along with Tarasenko and O'Reilly. Stacking one of the lines or the four forwards on the power play are all viable strategies on this slate.
The Blues will face off against the San Jose Sharks. These two teams played on February 27th in a wild 7-6 game. While we can't expect that to happen, we should see some fireworks. San Jose allows the second-most goals per game in the league, allowing just .03 fewer than Ottawa. The Blues have scored the 10th most goals and just added another weapon, so they should be able to put the puck in the net in this game. They have the second-highest implied team total and should be in consideration for your lineups tonight.
Los Angeles Kings
After two straight years of finishing 30th in goals per game, the Los Angeles Kings have made marked improvements. They are only up to 17th, so nothing to write home about, but it at least puts them in play to stack on a given night. They have the eighth-best power play in the league, something that most people would not have seen coming. A lot of credit has to go to Anze Kopitar ($7,500), who is tied for eighth in the NHL with 28 points. His old wing Dustin Brown ($5,800) is linking up well with him, as his 12 goals are tied for the most in the West division. Alex Iafallo ($4,700) is also chipping in, with 15 points on the season.
These guys make up a fully-correlated power-play unit and one that has had success so far this season. The other member of this power play that's having a good bounce-back season is Drew Doughty ($6,100). There's a narrative around Doughty that he's playing angry due to some disrespect he's seen from the media in having him left off of Team Canada's projected roster for next year's Olympics. Whether that's true or not, something's working for Doughty, as his 19 points are tied for fifth for defensemen this season.
The Kings will take on their cross-town rivals, the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks have been on a terrible run, having won just one of their last 10 games. They are without their top defenseman Hampus Lindholm and are really struggling defensively. They allow the fifth-most scoring chances and the third most high danger chances per 60 minutes in the league, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Kings should be able to exploit this good matchup and score some goals against the Ducks. They likely won't be a popular stack, so a few goals could go a long way in tournaments in the right circumstances.
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.