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've got a seven game slate on Friday, so let's see what stacks work the best for attacking this slate.

Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild would have to be considered a surprise team this season. Not necessarily for how good they've been -- as many people had them as a playoff team -- but because they have been way more exciting and offensive than most people expected. They've averaged 3.25 goals per game, the ninth most in the NHL. That's more than the likes of the Carolina Hurricanes, Winnipeg Jets and Boston Bruins. They have a great matchup today to use their newly found offensive power.

The story of the Wild's season has been the emergence of Kirill Kaprizov ($6,700). The rookie sensation is up to eighth in goals with 26. People expected him to be good given his track record in Russia, but people probably didn't expect him to have more goals than Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. He has 10 goals in his last 10 games, and he also has at least three shots on goal in every game during that stretch.

Mats Zuccarello ($4,900) has been a great setup man for Kaprizov, as he's tied for the team lead in assists. Ryan Hartman ($3,300) plays between these two guys, and he was able to pick up two assists in that role in their game Wednesday. Hartman and Zuccarello play together on the power play to give them some upside through correlation.

The Wild will face the Anaheim Ducks, who occupy 30th place in the NHL. The Ducks look like they are just trying to play out the string with their last two games being this weekend, as they've gone 3-7 in their last 10. Minnesota has won five of six meetings with the Ducks this season and are massive -330 favorites to win again tonight. They also have the second highest implied team total, making them a team worth stacking.

Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche will not be ending their season this weekend, like many other teams are doing. They have played just 51 games, tied for the fewest among teams in the U.S. This is good news for them, as it gives them a shot to win the West. They currently sit two points out of first place, with a game in hand over the Vegas Golden Knights. Their five remaining games are crucial, starting with Friday's tilt.

The Avalanche rarely have let us down this season, but Wednesday was one of those rare occurrences. They scored only two goals, and the big line didn't have a point on either of them. That's fine, as we definitely should still go back to them based on their production this season.

It starts with Nathan MacKinnon ($8,800), who's having another fantastic season. He's third in real-world points per game with 1.38 and also has the third most shots on goal with 204. He had a dud on Wednesday but still has 30 NHL points across his last 19 games. Mikko Rantanen ($8,400) has more goals than anyone not named Auston Matthews or Connor McDavid. Gabriel Landeskog ($7,000) seems to get disrespected in fantasy circles compared to his teammates, but being a point-per-game player is nothing to sneeze at, so he certainly should be included in stacks. Cale Makar ($5,600) is the only defenseman who has averaged a point per game this season, so he's an offensive piece from the blueline who makes sense to put with this stack.

The Avalanche will take on the Los Angeles Kings on Friday. The Kings are out of contention and are giving some of their kids a chance to play, which makes for a good opportunity for the Avs. Los Angeles has allowed the fourth most expected goals per 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. Colorado creates the most expected goals per game, so they should be able to create loads of scoring chances in this one. The Avalanche have the third highest implied team total on the night.

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals have had quite the week. They've played two games against the New York Rangers that were filled with fighting and physical play. They also had star Alex Ovechkin return from injury for just one shift before having to leave Monday's game. Then they had Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ilya Samsonov violate protocols and end up on the COVID-19 list for the second time this season. They were still able to win the two games convincingly earlier in the week and have a good matchup today to continue their success even with important players out of the lineup.

With the lineup missing players, obviously the lines had to change. The first line now features Nicklas Backstrom ($6,400) at center, and he leads the team with 53 points. His right wing is Anthony Mantha ($4,700), who just came over at the trade deadline. Mantha is getting his chance on the Capitals' top power-play unit, which is a well-oiled machine, so he can get fantasy points that way. The other wing on this line is Daniel Sprong ($4,000), who has been on a tear, netting five goals in his last five games since being bumped up in the lineup.

The affordability of the wingers should allow you to fit in John Carlson ($6,700), a defenseman who is third in the team in points.

The Capitals get to face the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers are now the worst defensive team in the NHL, allowing 3.6 goals per game. That number actually puts them as the sixth worst defensive team since the salary cap was instituted in 2005-06. That's why Washington has a high implied team total of 3.7 despite missing their star sniper. The lack of Ovechkin makes it less exciting to stack the Capitals, but the way they've been performing and the matchup make Washington a good stack to target 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.