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.
It's the last day of games before the all star break, so let's try to win some money with some stacks before taking a few days off.
Minnesota Wild
In the past, the Minnesota Wild were accused of being a boring team. There's no one saying that now as they average 3.8 goals per game -- good for third in the league. They'll have a good shot at scoring some again tonight.
The Wild are led by Kirill Kaprizov ($9,400) offensively. The second-year winger is now tied for eighth in points in the league and has 19 points in his last 10 games. Mats Zuccarello ($7,800) has also been excellent and just had a streak of six-straight multiple-point games snapped on Sunday. Ryan Hartman ($6,800) continues to center this line and is tied for the team lead with 18 goals. Zuccarello and Kaprizov are together on the top power-play unit along with Jared Spurgeon ($5,800) on defense, who has four points in four games since returning to the lineup.
The Wild will face the Chicago Blackhawks tonight. They recently played a back-to-back set against Chicago on January 21st and 22nd and won both games, scoring a total of nine goals. The Blackhawks allow the ninth-most goals per game and have the sixth-worst penalty kill.
Minnesota's implied team total is the highest on tonight's slate. With the way they've been playing, they certainly make for a good stack tonight.
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames were down 3-1 in the third period last night, and they managed to come back and win in regulation. It was just another impressive win in a season that should see them make the playoffs. Last night, it was tough to get on them as a stack, but tonight, there are fewer games and their matchup is much better.
The Flames have been fantasy-friendly all season long, and it continues tonight. That's because they keep their first line together, and it's fully correlated on the power play. Johnny Gaudreau ($8,800) has been red hot, with 16 points in his last 10 games, to go with 37 shots on goal. Matthew Tkachuk ($8,500) is right there with him; he also has 16 points in his last 10 games. Elias Lindholm ($6,600) hasn't been as productive as his wingers of late, but he still plays with them on the top line and power play, so that could be a bit of an anomaly.
Calgary will play the Arizona Coyotes tonight. Arizona had a shocking upset last night but still sits at the bottom of the Western Conference. They allow the third-most goals per game and have the second-worst penalty kill in the league.
Calgary's implied team total is only behind Minnesota tonight. This is a great stack because of the correlation, and without a true standout piece at defense, you don't need to force in a fourth piece on the blueline, either.
Edmonton Oilers
As another option from Alberta, the Edmonton Oilers are also in a decent spot tonight.
They've been a bit resurgent of late, getting points in their last five games, and they have a new addition to their lineup that makes things intriguing for fantasy purposes.
The first question we ask when considering Edmonton is who will play with Connor McDavid ($10,200). The answer to that became Evander Kane ($5,500) on Saturday after the Oilers picked him up off the scrap heap. We know that he wasn't available because he isn't good at hockey. He scored 22 goals and was fifth in the NHL in shots last season. Now, being set up for shots by McDavid is a dream scenario for him and fantasy managers. Kailer Yamamoto ($4,000) is also on this line and has points in each of the two games that it's been together.
Kane supposedly will now be on the top power play with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl ($10,400), so that makes for a solid stack as well. You could add Jesse Puljujarvi ($5,400) as well; he will correlate with Draisaitl on the second line and power play.
Edmonton's matchup may be a bit scary against the Washington Capitals tonight. Washington has been a pretty solid defensive team this season. However, there are some factors that could allow the Oilers to exploit them. The Oilers will have a rest advantage over the Caps, who played an overtime game last night. In that game, goaltender Vitek Vanecek got injured. Ilya Samsonov had to take over, and he's struggled this season.
The Capitals allowed 4.27 expected goals last night, and even though they won, they allowed some solid fantasy games from the Pittsburgh Penguins' top line. If the Oilers are able to generate that many chances, they could break the 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.