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 six games on Wednesday, so let's look at three teams we can stack in tournaments today.
Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken have been a fun addition to the league in many ways. Their play on the ice has unfortunately not been one of them. However, tonight they have a good opportunity to change that -- at least for one game.
Many people expected Jared McCann ($5,900) to be Seattle's best offensive player, and that has come to fruition. McCann leads the team with 19 goals and 30 points this season. He's playing alongside Seattle's All-Star Jordan Eberle ($5,400), who's second in points and goals. Marcus Johansson ($4,600) completes this trio as the left wing and will also play on the top power play with his two linemates.
The Kraken will welcome the Arizona Coyotes to town tonight. Arizona will be on the second night of a back-to-back; they lost 5-1 last night. They've allowed the second-most goals in the league and occupy last place in the Western Conference.
The Coyotes allowed five goals to the Vancouver Canucks last night, who are not exactly offensive juggernauts this season. That should give us hope that Seattle can do something similar tonight. Their implied team total is the second-highest on tonight's slate, and you can get a fully-correlated top line for a low combined salary. This makes the Kraken a great stacking option on this slate.
Edmonton Oilers
Last night did not go how the Edmonton Oilers would have drawn it up. They lost 4-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights, getting shut out for just the second time this season. They'll remain at home tonight in a much easier matchup.
The Oilers have stuck with their lines ever since they made their controversial signing of Evander Kane ($6,500). He's been glued to Connor McDavid ($10,100) since joining the team. Kane doesn't play all of the power-play minutes when McDavid is out there, but he does enough to give this pairing a strong correlation. The other member of this line is Kailer Yamamoto ($3,900), who is a good salary relief option and is capable of chipping in with a point or two if things break right for this line.
Leon Draisaitl ($10,200) carries the highest salary on the slate but is a bit tricky to stack. His even-strength linemates don't correlate with him on the power play and don't inspire a lot of confidence. If you want to use Draisaitl in a stack, playing him with Kane, McDavid, and Evan Bouchard ($6,100) makes a lot of sense as a power-play stack.
The Oilers are facing the Chicago Blackhawks tonight. After some people were optimistic about Chicago's chances this season, it's mostly been a lost year. They are only above Arizona in the Central Division and have allowed the eighth-most goals per game.
Edmonton has the highest implied team total on tonight's slate. It's a great spot for them to bounce back -- and for McDavid and Draisaitl to potentially light up the scoreboard.
Calgary Flames
The other Alberta team, Calgary, is an interesting stack tonight. They were expected to be worse than their provincial rivals but currently sit ahead of them in the standings. The Flames have won three games in a row and have had some slate-breaking fantasy performances lately.
Calgary's top line has been hot all season. Johnny Gaudreau ($8,900) has shown great form recently, with 17 points and 44 shots on goal in his last 10 games. Matthew Tkachuk ($8,400) isn't far behind with 16 points in his last 10. Elias Lindholm ($6,700) has been lagging a bit behind his teammates, but does have points in three consecutive games. This forward group has scored 34 goals while together, making them the most productive trio in the league.
It won't be an easy matchup for the Flames against the Golden Knights tonight, but they do have a few things going in their favor. Vegas hasn't been an elite defensive team this year, ranking in the bottom 10 in expected goals against and scoring chances against, both on a per 60-minute basis. Calgary will also have the rest advantage with Vegas playing last night. The Flames have put up big fantasy performances against tough opposition in the last month, scoring five against the Florida Panthers and seven against the St. Louis Blues, so we shouldn't shy away from playing them in this spot.
Calgary actually has the third-highest implied team total of the night, but it seems like they won't be too popular tonight. That was the case in those games against the Blues and Panthers, and they broke the slate. Something similar could happen 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.