3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Friday 3/17/23
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.
Just four games on Friday, but someone is bound to get lucky on St. Patrick's Day.
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals look like their streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances is going to come to an end, unless they get really hot down the stretch. Luckily for them, their Friday matchup looks like a good one on paper.
The Capitals have experienced a revolving door of line combinations, in a large part due to injuries. Alex Ovechkin ($8,600) missed Tuesday's game due to an injury but returned on Wednesday and scored a goal. He's up to 37 goals this season, which puts him 11th in the NHL despite missing some time. His center tonight will be Dylan Strome ($5,800), who's third on the team in goals and points. He'll also play on the top power-play unit with Ovechkin. Conor Sheary ($3,900) will play on the other wing and comes in at a low salary.
Washington will play the St. Louis Blues, who are really struggling lately. They traded away a lot of players before the deadline, and it has resulted in them allowing 35 goals in their last eight games, including eight on Wednesday night. They also will be starting Joel Hofer for just his third career NHL game.
The Caps carry the highest implied team total on tonight's slate and have a lot of affordable players. You definitely should consider adding Rasmus Sandin ($4,500) to your stacks, as he has nine points in his first six games on Washington's blue line.
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are one of the teams that are hanging around in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race, just like the Capitals. They are third in the league in goals per game, so whether or not they make the playoffs, they will still be fun for our purposes.
Buffalo's top line has been one of the most fun to stack all season. The Tage Thompson ($9,900) explosion has slowed down a bit, but he does have 12 shots on goal in his last two games. He should get back to his scoring ways soon. Alex Tuch ($7,800) has been somewhat overshadowed by Thompson and is having a career year for himself, scoring 30 goals. Jeff Skinner ($7,400) has also been solid this season, averaging more than a point per game.
The Sabres will play the Philadelphia Flyers on the road tonight. Philly has lost their last four games as they continue to sink toward the bottom of the league. They also have the sixth-worst penalty kill in the league, which will go up against Buffalo's fourth-ranked power play.
Buffalo has the second-highest implied team total, behind only Washington. They have had some huge games this season, and this could be one of those spots.
Anaheim Ducks
We are usually looking at stacking against the Anaheim Ducks, not using them ourselves. There are certain instances where it can be appropriate to use them, including tonight.
The Ducks are led by Trevor Zegras ($6,600), one of their few bright spots for the future. He leads the team in both goals and points. It's been a disappointing season for Ryan Strome ($4,600) in his first year with Anaheim, but he'll get a chance to put up some points with Zegras on the first line and first power play. Newcomer Brock McGinn ($3,900) is also on the first line and completes this stack for a low total salary.
You can also look at the Ducks' second line as a stack. Troy Terry ($6,400) ranks second behind Zegras in goals and points on the team. Mason McTavish ($5,300) is having a reasonable rookie season, especially on a team that has been as bad as the Ducks. Then Max Jones ($4,000) can be thrown into this stack, and he has points in his last two games.
The reason we can look at stacking the Ducks tonight is because they'll face the worst team in the league, the Columbus Blue Jackets. Columbus just played last night and again allowed four goals, making that the sixth consecutive game they've done so. For the whole season, they've allowed the third-most goals per game.
It's a rare occasion that the Ducks are favored in a game, but that's the case tonight. Both of their top two lines are decent filler stacks to fit in other expensive players into your lineups.
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.
