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 updated line information.
There are four games on Wednesday in the NHL, and the slate doesn't start till 8:30 Eastern time. Let's see which stacks are the best tonight.
Edmonton Oilers
It's tough to get past the Edmonton Oilers, as they are pretty much the best stack on any slate when they play. They haven't completely broken any slates in the last few games they've played, but they always have the potential to do that.
On Monday, the Oilers scored five goals and won. The surprising part was that Connor McDavid ($10,000) only had one point and now has back-to-back games with just one assist in each. His salary keeps going up despite the performances not being as amazing as they were to the start the season, so it might shift some popularity away from him a bit. His teammate Leon Draisaitl ($9,300) stole the show on Monday, with two goals and two assists. He is now tied with McDavid atop the league with 17 points.
Even though these two might not play together at even strength, you can still stack them because of Edmonton's power play. It's hitting a massive 46.2% clip. You can fill the stack with players like Zach Hyman ($6,900) or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($6,900), who will play with one of the two star centers and play on the top power play. Tyson Barrie ($5,600) is still the power-play quarterback despite getting off to a slow start to the season, but he led all defensemen in points last season in this role.
The Oilers face the Nashville Predators, who are coming off an overtime win last night. They were thoroughly outplayed in that win, allowing 4.2 expected goals to the Calgary Flames. It will be tough for them to bounce back against the Oilers, who once again have the highest implied team total on tonight's slate.
Carolina Hurricanes
The only remaining perfect team in the NHL is the Carolina Hurricanes. Their 8-0-0 start has them one point behind the Florida Panthers for the most in the league, having played one fewer game. They are scoring 4.13 goals per game, tied with Edmonton for the second most in the league. They could easily extend the streak to nine tonight.
The Hurricanes moved some pieces around on their forward lines despite the winning streak. The Finnish duo of Sebastian Aho ($8,800) and Teuvo Teravainen ($6,400) remain together at even strength and on the power play but are now joined by Jordan Martinook ($3,300) at even strength. Andrei Svechnikov ($8,700) slides back down to the second line to play with Vincent Trocheck ($6,100) and Martin Necas ($5,100). Trocheck and Svechnikov join forces with the two Fins from the first line as the four forwards on the power play.
The Canes play the Chicago Blackhawks for the second time in less than a week. Last Friday, they beat Chicago 6-3, with the goals spread throughout the lineup. Power-play specialist Tony DeAngelo ($5,300) led the team with three points, and Aho had two points. Carolina's power play is ranked fourth in the league, so getting pieces of their power play in your stack is the way to go.
Chicago has allowed the second-most goals per game in the league, and Carolina could put up another big number tonight. Their implied team total sits only behind the Oilers on tonight's slate, making them a great stack again.
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche haven't started off the season like the juggernaut many were expecting. They are just 4-4-0 in their first eight games and have been missing players throughout the lineup. They've started to turn things around with two straight wins and look to keep that up.
The Avalanche's top line players have all already missed time this season. Nathan MacKinnon ($9,000) missed the first two games of the season, but now he's back and getting into form. He's had a point in all six games and has begun to shoot more, with 12 shots in his last three games. Gabriel Landeskog ($7,700) had a suspension at the start of the season but scored two goals and added two assists on Saturday for his best performance of the year. The new addition filling in on the right wing is J.T. Compher ($5,000), who has been great this season, with four goals and four assists so far.
Compher is filling in for Mikko Rantanen, and the Avs will also be without their top defenseman, Cale Makar. This gives Bowen Byram ($4,200) a chance to pick up more minutes and play on the top power play. Byram was the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft, so he carries significant prospect pedigree.
The Avalanche are at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night. Columbus has been off to a decent start in terms of record, but their underlying metrics are not great. They've allowed the fourth-most expected goals and the fourth-most scoring chances per 60 minutes this season. With MacKinnon playing well, Colorado has the potential to be the stack you need to roster tonight to win tournaments.
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.