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.
We've got 11 games scheduled and no postponements as of now, so let's cross our fingers and hope that the full schedule of games goes ahead tonight.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes had their game on Tuesday postponed, but they still sit on top of the Metropolitan Division. That's in spite of playing four games fewer than their closest competitors. They are fourth in goals per game and have a juicy matchup tonight.
We've seen a ton of moving parts with the Carolina lineup, both on the lines and on who's been able to dress. It looks like the Finnish duo of Sebastian Aho ($9,100) and Teuvo Teravainen ($6,600) will be together on the top line and top power play. These are two leading scorers on the team, and each are tied for the team lead with six power play goals. They'll be joined at even strength by Seth Jarvis ($5,100), and the rookie has been fairly productive with 15 points in 24 games.
You can also do a stack of the second line, as Andrei Svechnikov ($6,800) and Vincent Trocheck ($5,200) will play together on this line and on the first power play. Svechnikov is second on the team in goals and leads the team in shots on goal. The power play forwards correlate well with Tony DeAngelo ($6,400), as he is fourth on team with 24 points despite playing in only 26 games as a defenseman.
The Canes will face the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at home, having had off since Saturday. Things have not been going well for the Jackets defensively, as they are fifth from the bottom in both actual and expected goals allowed per 60 minutes. Carolina put up seven goals against them on January 1st and could explode for a big number again tonight. Their 3.98 implied team total is the highest on tonight's slate, and they make for one of best stacks on the board tonight.
Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators are perhaps going under the radar a bit as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. They've won 5 in a row, and 8 of their last 10. They are without a key player tonight, but that shouldn't slow them down much.
The Predators had one of the most in-form lines in hockey. That was before Filip Forsberg went on the COVID list. Now Matt Duchene ($7,700) and Mikael Granlund ($5,300) are playing with Eeli Tolvanen ($4,700) as their left winger. Duchene was able to produce on this line on Tuesday, scoring two goals on six shots. Granlund chipped in with an assist, extending his assist streak to four games. Tolvanen wasn't able to get on the score sheet, but he played 21 minutes and has been a high shot-rate player since being in the league.
Nashville was able to put up five goals on Tuesday without Forsberg, and tonight, they'll have a much easier opponent. They will face the Buffalo Sabres at home. The wheels have come off for the Sabres after they just lost 6-1 on Tuesday night. They had two goalies get injured in that game and now have to turn back to Aaron Dell between the pipes. Dell has started five games for Buffalo and has a .872 save percentage and allowed fewer than four goals just once.
Nashville's first line is fully correlated on the power play. The bittersweet part of Forsberg being out is that Tolvanen's salary makes it easier to fit Roman Josi ($7,500) in a stack. Josi had three points on Tuesday for his third consecutive game with multiple points. Nashville's implied team total is 3.75, and they could truly explode in this matchup.
Calgary Flames
It's tough being a Canadian team these days, as they've seen more games postponed than the American teams. The Calgary Flames will see their game go ahead tonight, having not played since Friday. They've lost three in a row but have a great chance to right the ship in this game.
The Flames have stuck with their top line for the entire season. Johnny Gaudreau ($8,500) leads the team with 38 points and has five goals in his last five games. Matthew Tkachuk ($7,800) is tied with Gaudreau with 15 goals and has also been playing well of late, with nine points in his last six games. Elias Lindholm ($6,800) is the center on this line and also third on the team with 29 points. This line has produced four more goals than any other line at five-on-five.
Calgary will take on the Ottawa Senators tonight. This is Ottawa's first game since January 1st, which they lost 6-0. They've allowed the third-most goals per game in the league, conceding 3.69 per contest. It remains to be seen how their infrequent play will affect their game, as that January 1st game is their only game since December 18th. We've seen some teams come off breaks and really struggle defensively.
Calgary's highly-correlated first line has the potential to be a slate winner, even if they don't necessarily have the best individual players. We saw that with the Dallas Stars last night, and it could be something similar tonight.
Others to Consider: Tampa Bay Lightning, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets
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.