3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Monday 4/26/21
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.
We kick off the week with a seven-game slate that has some options to stack. Let's see what some of the best ones are for Monday.
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche wrapped up a playoff berth over the weekend, and now are playing for first place in the West. They are within striking distance of first place, sitting four points out with two games in hand over the Vegas Golden Knights. Colorado's loss on Saturday snapped their five-game winning streak, but their main players still had good fantasy performances. They'll have the same opportunity to do damage on Monday night.
The Avalanche will play the St. Louis Blues for the third game in a row. Nathan MacKinnon ($9,100) had three points in each of the previous two games and extended his points streak to 13 games. He hasn't missed a beat with Mikko Rantanen out of the lineup, and Andre Burakovsky ($4,400) has filled in nicely for Rantanen. He has two points in each of the last two games since joining MacKinnon's line. Gabriel Landeskog ($6,800) had three points in the last two games and remains a steady option for the top line. Cale Makar ($5,800) had three points in the game on Saturday and leads all defensemen in the league in points per game with 1.06.
This Avalanche line seems just as dangerous even without their leading goal scorer. That shows that Nathan MacKinnon is capable of carrying his line even without Rantanen and also shows that Andre Burakovsky is a talented player who can step up into a bigger role when needed. For fantasy purposes, this just gives us a nice discount on the stack and we don't lose much in terms of upside. Colorado has the third-highest implied team total on the night at the moment, sitting at 3.06. The Blues will be without two of their regular defensemen, which does not bode well for them against Colorado. The Avalanche average 3.58 goals per game, so it wouldn't be too surprising if they exceeded that total. The Avalanche are one of the best stacks on most nights, and tonight is not an exception.
Vancouver Canucks
This season has not been the one that the Vancouver Canucks had hoped for. After last season when they made it to the second round of the playoffs and lost in game seven, some people thought this young team was destined for an upward trajectory. That hasn't been the case as they lost some players in the offseason due to salary cap mismanagement. Star center Elias Pettersson wasn't himself to start the season and now hasn't played a game since March 2nd. Vancouver will likely miss the playoffs but have shown some signs of life since returning from their layoff due to COVID. Tonight, they'll have a perfect chance to continue that play.
There have been a few bright spots for the Canucks this season. Brock Boeser ($7,200) found his scoring touch again and has 17 goals this season after only scoring 16 last year. Bo Horvat ($6,000) has 32 points in 41 games, which means he's averaging a career-high in points per game. Sophomore defenseman Quinn Hughes ($5,300) isn't quite having the perceived down year that people think, as he is averaging more points per game this season than in his stellar rookie campaign, despite having a lower shooting percentage this year. Tanner Pearson ($4,600) joins the top line as a left wing and had three goals in the past three games. This foursome fully correlates at even-strength and on the power-play, which is definitely two boxes we want to check when stacking.
The main appeal for the Canucks tonight is the matchup. They'll face the Ottawa Senators for the third game in a row. Ottawa has allowed the most goals per game in the league at 3.52. The Senators also have two goaltenders injured, meaning Marcus Hogberg will be in net tonight. Hogberg has been brutal this season, with a 4.14 goals-against average and a save percentage of .869%. His goals saved above average is the fifth-worst in the NHL this season among qualifying goalies. The Canucks' implied goal total is 2.85, and they could easily beat that with how poor the Senators' netminder has been this season.
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers have been slightly out of the spotlight with a light schedule over the past few weeks. That will change this week as they have some key games that could determine their seeding in the North Division playoffs. They have slipped down to third place, but have two games in hand over the Winnipeg Jets, so second place is still within reach. On Monday, they'll have the chance to overtake Winnipeg, as they will play the Jets on the road.
The Oilers have juggled their lines a bit from what we are used to seeing. Connor McDavid ($9,200) still has Jesse Puljujarvi ($3,800) on his right wing, but now has Dominik Kahun ($3,400). This obviously gives him some affordable stacking partners, but the two wings might have limited upside seeing as they probably won't be on the power-play with McDavid. You could just play McDavid with Leon Draisaitl ($8,400) instead, because of their power-play connection and coach Dave Tippett likes to put them together when the game is close. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($5,500) is a good third piece to add to that duo, as he will play on that power-play unit and also will play with Draisaitl at even-strength. Tyson Barrie ($6,300) is third on the team in points and seventh among all defensemen in scoring, so he would be the blueline piece to add to an Oilers' power play stack.
Edmonton has won five of the seven meetings with Winnipeg this season. McDavid in particular has burned the Jets, with 15 points in those seven games. Winnipeg allows the most high-danger chances per 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. That's something that you may be able to get away with against most teams with a goalie as good as Connor Hellebuyck, but not against McDavid and the Oilers. Edmonton tops the slate in terms of implied team total, so it's a great time to get back on the wagon and ride their top guys to fantasy points when building 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.
