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 is a busy night in the NHL, with nine games on tap. Let's look at some stacks we can use to attack tournaments tonight.
Vegas Golden Knights
The Vegas Golden Knights have been on a roll of late. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are in first place in the West. They are averaging the eighth-most goals per game in the league, as some of their offensive players have really been clicking. Their best player in fantasy has been Max Pacioretty ($7,900). He had a goal and 2 assists on Saturday, which brought him to 13 goals on the season, tied for 10th place in the league. He's also been a shooting machine all season, with 47 shots on goal in his last ten games moving him to fourth in the league with 110. Mark Stone ($7,500) has been more of a facilitator this season, but he has three goals in his last two games. He leads the Golden Knights with 31 points and is seventh in the league with 1.29 points per game. It looks like Chandler Stephenson will be missing this game, which would open things up for Cody Glass ($3,400). Glass has prospect pedigree as a great playmaker and was already getting time on the power play with these guys, so he's a decent value if Stephenson is out.
Vegas will take on their rival San Jose Sharks for the fourth time this season. This line has done well in the three previous meetings, with Stone and Pacioretty each scoring four points. We can expect that kind of goal scoring to continue against the Sharks. They allow the second-most goals per game in the league with 3.52, even after just shutting down the lowly Anaheim Ducks to just one goal in two games over the weekend. San Jose also allows the fourth-most shots per game, and when you have goaltending as inconsistent as theirs, it could lead to some really big numbers for the opposition.
The Golden Knights have Monday's highest implied team total, at 3.93. With the full correlation, this line gets at even strength and on the power play, they are one of the strongest line stacks of the night. They've had big games against San Jose already this season and could have an even bigger one if things break right.
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals came into the season with some doubters. They had a new coach, a new full-time goaltender, and an aging core of players, and had a very disappointing end to last season. Well, the doubters haven't been right, as the Capitals are second in the East and are on a roll now with most of their players healthy. They are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games and have won four in a row. The damage is done by the same familiar players that have been teammates for over 10 years. The leading point scorer is Nicklas Backstrom ($6,600), as he takes up his usual playmaking role. His job is to set up Alex Ovechkin ($8,000) for shots, and it's been working as Ovechkin has the second-highest shot attempt rate in the league, according to Natural Stat Trick. T.J. Oshie ($5,900) is a fine complimentary piece to this line, as he is fifth on the team with 18 points.
The Capitals face the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night. When trying to figure out what's gone wrong for the Sabres this season, the answer is just about everything. They are last in the East and have just one win since the start of February. Things have only been getting worse without their best player Jack Eichel in the lineup. The Sabres have allowed the fifth-most goals per game in the league, and that could get even worse without Eichel's ability to transition the puck out of the zone.
When using Ovechkin in Capitals stacks', a player you should always consider is John Carlson ($6,600). His role on the power-play is to set up Ovechkin's one-timer, and he's very good at it. This is the role that led to him having the fourth-most assists of any player in the league last season. He's a vital part of the power-play, so he fits well with this stack. The Capitals are implied to score 3.28 goals and are always a threat to explode if their power-play gets going.
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers have been one of the most surprising teams in the NHL. They are tied with their in-state rivals and defending Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning with 40 points. The Lightning are also the only team that averages more goals per game than the Panthers. They are led in scoring by Jonathan Huberdeau ($7,500), who continues to be one of the league's most overlooked stars, as he is seventh in the NHL in points. He plays on a line with a rejuvenated Patric Hornqvist ($6,300), who's tied for the team lead in goals with 11. These two play on the same line and together on the power-play, but you'll have to get creative to get more correlation with Florida.
Florida's best player, Aleksander Barkov ($7,400), is not the center of this line at even-strength. So you'll have to make a decision on how you want to use these guys if you want to use Florida tonight. You could use the center of the line in Alexander Wennberg ($4,100) as he's not a horrible player, but his reluctance to shoot the puck limits his upside. Another way to do it is to play one of the defensemen, as Aaron Ekblad ($5,800) is having a good year. He has the second-most goals for any blueliner in the league with nine. Keith Yandle ($4,200), also plays on the power-play and has 17 points this season, so this salary makes him a decent value. Of course, you could just play the three high-salary forwards with a defenseman to capture most of the upside that Florida has tonight, but it gets expensive and you are likely to get some uncorrelated goals if they don't score on the power-play.
The Panthers take on the Chicago Blackhawks, so it's a good spot. The Blackhawks allow the most shots on goal per game and have the eighth-worst penalty kill in the league. With the way Florida has been playing, they should be able to score goals in this game. The oddsmakers think so as well, as the Panthers have the second-highest implied team total, sitting all the way up at 3.65. However, you choose to do it, getting some Florida exposure is definitely a good route to go in lineups tonight.
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.