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 -- if one player on a line is scoring goals, it's likely that his linemates are getting assists, as well.
Ideally, we want players who 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.
Tuesday's NHL slate is loaded with 12 games and lots of options to consider stacking.
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers started off the season like a house on fire, and they looked even better than the team that made it to the conference finals last season.
Then, they hit a snag where the pucks stopped going in the net. They turned things around with two wins over the weekend and now return home with a nice matchup.
The Rangers have had two stackable lines for the last few seasons. The first line has the combination of Chris Kreider ($6,700) and Mika Zibanejad ($10,000), who have dynamic together at even strength and on the power play. They are joined by Kaapo Kakko ($4,300), who is affordable and looks to be taking a step forward this season.
The second line hasn't missed a beat with Vincent Trocheck ($6,500) replacing Ryan Strome. He has 9 points in 10 games playing with Artemi Panarin ($9,600) in all situations. Panarin is tied for third in the league points (16). Alexis Lafreniere ($5,100) is the third member of this line and is usable even without power play time with the first unit. Adam Fox ($7,000) is fine to use in any stack as the power play quarterback.
New York is at home tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers. Don't let the Flyers' solid record fool you; they are still not a good team. They've allowed the most shot attempts per 60 minutes in the league, allowing nearly seven more attempts than the team just behind them. They will be giving up a ton of opportunities in every game and face one of the better offenses in the NHL tonight.
The Rangers have an implied team total of 3.63, which is one of the higher team totals on the slate despite the game being a 6.0 over/under. This should mean the Rangers will dominate and, if they get some shooting luck, could cause the Flyers to crash back to Earth.
Edmonton Oilers
Many slates in the NHL in the last few seasons hinge on the Edmonton Oilers. Tonight isn't the most obvious matchup for them, but at home with the lines coming together as they have, the slate likely will be shifted on their performance.
Stacking with Connor McDavid ($10,400) was tricky to start the season. He didn't have any linemates whom with he would also see power play time. Now, he's playing with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($7,900) and Zach Hyman ($7,600) at both even strength and on the power play, making it clear that you should stack McDavid with at least one of these two. You could also play him with Leon Draisaitl ($10,100), but it will be difficult to fit in two players above $10,000.
The defense option would be Tyson Barrie ($4,400), who continues to play on the power play with the first unit.
The Oilers will play the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Nashville isn't thought of as a team to stack against, but so far this season, they've allowed the fifth-most expected goals per 60 minutes. They will have a tough time trying to slow down McDavid and company.
With none of these players being an obvious value and the slate being large, the popularity of the Oilers' guys might not get too out of hand. It's good if fantasy players go in other directions because Edmonton has perhaps the most upside on the slate.
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers don't seem to have as much firepower in the lineup as they did at the end of last year. There are some encouraging signs, though.
They lead the league in shot attempts per 60 minutes, and their team shooting percentage is one of the lowest in the league. With a little regression and a matchup against the worst team in the league, they could show some of the same explosiveness that we saw last season.
The fact that the Panthers aren't as deep throughout their forward group actually makes it easier for fantasy. We know to stack the top line, which has their two best forwards on it. Aleksander Barkov ($7,800) is a great value at this salary. He has 21 shots in his last four games but just one goal on the season. He's a better goal scorer than that, so a bounceback should be coming.
He is now playing with Matthew Tkachuk ($10,200). Tkachuk has been great since joining the Cats with 13 points in nine games. Carter Verhaeghe ($5,400) is the third piece of this line, and he has a relatively low salary for his role.
Florida is traveling to face the Arizona Coyotes at their new arena. Arizona has lived up to the expectations of being absolutely terrible. They've allowed the second-most expected and actual goals per game.
Barkov is one of the better values on the slate when you consider the players around his salary. In this matchup, he can easily be one of the highest scorers on the slate. Getting exposure to him through this stack is a great way to attack this slate.
Others to Consider
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.