3 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 10/2/19

When playing NHL DFS -- much like MLB DFS -- stacking is key. Having multiple players from the same team, who correlate together, can bring your lineup upside and help you maximize potential points.

You can roster up to four players from the same team in NHL and you should look to have players from the same forward line or power-play unit together. Shared ice time is the key, as it will maximize their ability to contribute to real-life goals with each other, ultimately leading to more fantasy points for us.

Generally, we don't see late scratches in the NHL, and the team's lines are confirmed at practice or before the game. Two of the best resources for that are LeftWingLock.com or DailyFaceOff.com. That is where you can find updated forward and power-play lines for each team.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs come into this season looking to build on what they did last year and have the offensive options to do so. Their top-six forwards and first power-play unit is essentially unchanged and is known for bringing immense upside on a nightly basis.

The top forward line is led by Auston Matthews ($8.3K), who has Andreas Johnsson ($5.1K), and William Nylander ($5.6K) as his wingers. Matthews is always going to be an expensive option, but that is balanced out since the other two players are below $6K, which helps with roster construction on a small four-game slate. Johnsson is on the first power-play unit with Matthews, while Nylander is on the second, so while you don't have 100% ice-time correlation, you technically get exposure to the second unit through Nylander.

The second forward line is also a fantastic option for stack since that is led by John Tavares ($7.8K), a newly re-signed Mitchell Marner ($7.6K), and value option Kasperi Kapanen ($4.5K). This is where things get interesting since Tavares and Marner are up on the first power-play unit with Matthews, bringing you one of the highest-upside stacks of the slate or really any slate. The "problem" with this stack is that each player is $7.6K or higher, and it only gets more expensive if you add defender Morgan Rielly ($5.7K). I use the term "problem" loosely, since this stack could easily rack up three goals tonight, so it really comes down to how can you fit them in your lineup?

There are some cheaper stacks we'll take a look at a bit later, but let's focus on the matchup. The Maple Leafs are up against the Ottawa Senators, who finished dead last when it comes to Corsi Against last season. Corsi is a metric which measures all shot attempts by a team. Corsi For is the shot attempts created, while Corsi Against is shot attempts allowed. Giving up a ton of attempts presents the opposing offense with frequent opportunities to score, something we want to target. This is a stat which will be referenced throughout the year.

The Senators are projected -- again -- to be among the worst defensive teams in the league, and they are a unit we will target throughout the season. Expect plenty of chances tonight for the Maple Leafs, led by their top two lines.

Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks come in as very slight +110 road dogs tonight, which could give us a closer game than some might assume.

A matchup between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers might not be the most interesting to some, when there are three objectively better games on the slate, but there is plenty of fantasy value to find in this one. The Oilers have Connor McDavid, who is a once-in-a-generation talent, but they find themselves sporting some of the worst defensive pairings in the league. Last season, the Oilers were around the league average when it came to Corsi Against, but they were in the bottom-10 in the number of High Danger Scoring Chances allowed per 60 minutes. While they don't give up the same volume of shots a team like the Senators do, the scoring chances they allow are high goal-scoring opportunities.

This is a legitimately good spot to attack as we have a road 'dog (hopefully, lower ownership in tournaments) versus a team that has a weak defense and allows scoring-chances from goal-scoring areas on the ice. It also helps in terms of roster construction that their most expensive skater is Brock Boeser at $6.9K. That means you can get a full stack at a cheaper price point, which should allow you to pair them with a more expensive option, such as the Maple Leafs.

The second forward line for the Canucks is J.T. Miller ($5K), Bo Horvat ($6.1K), and Tanner Pearson ($4.7K), with the latter two on the second power-play unit together. Sure, you are sacrificing a bit not getting up to Elias Pettersson ($6.7K) on the first line, but his upside is not as high as Marner's or Matthews', who could be in your Leafs' stack.

Vegas Golden Knights

We have a rematch of the very eventful playoff series last year between the San Jose Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights.

These two teams have met in the playoffs each of the last two seasons and many believe we are on course for another showdown this year. Despite both teams being among the better defensive teams in the league, when they face each other, it's the near-polar opposite. Over the last 16 times they have played one another, the over/under has gone in favor of the over 11 times, according to KillerSports. Games between Western Conference teams play a bit faster and a bit heavier compared to the Eastern Conference, so we are in for what should be a great game to close out the opening night.

Vegas was one of my favorites team to target last season since they aren't super expensive, are very consistent, have strong ice-time correlation, and often play in higher-scoring games. What more can you ask for?

The three skaters on the first forward line are Jon Audy-Marchessault ($7.2K), William Karlsson ($6.3K), and Reilly Smith ($5.3K), who are all on the first power-play unit together. Yes. this is exactly what we want. Three forwards who are on the ice together the entire time, bringing us 100% correlation and high upside. You can also add in Shea Theodore ($5.1K), who is the defender on the first power-play and on the second defensive pairing.