2 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 10/7/19

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.

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues are on the road to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in a star-studded matchup on both sides.

As we move further into the season, the sample size on data will grow, which will give us a more accurate picture of where teams stand. As of right now, the Maple Leafs have allowed 10 goals through three games and hold a 61.34 Corsi Against.

As a reminder, Corsi is a metric which shows the number of shot attempts -- not shots on goal -- a team generates or allows per 60 minutes. A 61.34 Corsi Against isn't good, whether it's through 3 games or through 30 games. This is somewhat similar to last season for Toronto, where their defense is a bit shaky, but they manage to win plenty of games since their offense can outscore almost anyone.

If their defense is off to a slow start, we want to target them, and we want to be aggressive about it on a very small two-game slate. There is no doubt the Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres, who we'll get to, will be the highest owned teams on the slate.

I'm not saying the Blues won't be highly-owned -- it's only two games on the slate -- but this is where you want take a stand. Notably, the first forward line is who you want to target on the Blues, as they have full correlation and are on the second power-play unit together. That line consists of Jaden Schwartz ($5,900), Brayden Schenn ($5,800), and Vladimir Tarasenko ($7,600). You can add in defender Vince Dunn ($3,900), too, who is on the second power-play and brings a nice bit of salary relief to the table.

This game has an over/under set at 6.0 goals tonight, so we are in for a bit of scoring on both sides. The Blues would be a great GPP stack on a two-game slate or an eight-game slate.

Buffalo Sabres

The Buffalo Sabres are off to a hot start this season, scoring 10 goals in their first two games, so let's look towards their offense tonight.

While a five goals per game average won't be sustainable, the Sabres offense was known for being very streaky last season, giving us a chance to capture that scoring again tonight. They come in with an implied team total set at 2.93, which is very solid for being on the road.

They are up against the Columbus Blue Jackets, who come in with a 61.61 Corsi against this season, and frankly, that should be where we find them for most of the season. Columbus is going to take a large step back from the playoff team they were last season and we want to attack them tonight.

The top stacking option for the Sabres is the first forward line, who are all on the first power-play together. If you've been reading the stacks the first few days of the season, you will notice this is a trend, and one that will continue the entire season. We want upside and want to maximize that potential upside, and that comes from having as much correlation as possible.

That line is led by star center Jack Eichel ($7,500), rookie winger Victor Olofsson ($4,600), Sam Reinhart ($5,500), and former number-one pick from 2018, defender Rasmus Dahlin ($5,400). The last member of the power-play is Jeff Skinner ($6,800), who is on the second forward line and has plenty of skill and fantasy value, just simply not on the top forward line.

There is some merit to rostering part or all of the second power-play, since they bring a significant amount of salary relief on this two-game slate, but they are a clear step down in terms of real-life skill and potential fantasy production.