NHL

3 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 12/4/19

Thomas Vecchio  —  @DFS_Tom Dec 4th, 2019
The Oilers are going to dominate ownership tonight, as they are in a great spot versus the Senators. Which other teams should you look at tonight?

When playing NHL DFS -- much like MLB DFS -- stacking is key. Having multiple players from the same team, who correlate together, can give 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.

Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are going to be one of the chalkiest teams tonight, viable in all formats.

Edmonton has a few injuries right now, which has forced them to change up their forward lines, and I don't like it one bit. Normally, we have Connor McDavid ($9,000) and Leon Draisaitl ($8,400) both on the first forward line, making the best two-man stack in the entire league, as they have 51 and 50 points, respectively -- the two highest in the league. They are expensive, but it provides a ceiling of points that's unmatched. It also helps that they are up against the Ottawa Senators, who are one of the worst teams in the league -- this has been made clear several times.

But with the injuries they have, Draisaitl is now on the second forward line with Jujhar Khaira ($3,300) and Sam Gagner ($3,400), the latter of whom is on the first power-play with McDavid and Draisaitl. I would add Oscar Klefbom ($5,500) into this stack, which gives you three players on their first power-play unit. You punt on the two cheaper players, which gets you the access to McDavid via the power-play and helps ease the process of roster construction tonight where we have limited value.

Colorado Avalanche

Oh boy. The Toronto Maple Leafs are on the second night of a back-to-back, lost 6-1 last night, and have their backup goalie in net tonight.

Things don't look great for the Maple Leafs in recent weeks -- go on a big losing streak, fire the head coach, and their team still doesn't seem to put together a full 60-minute game.

They now have the task of facing the Colorado Avalanche, who have scored the third-most goals this season and just got one of their best players back from injury. That player is Mikko Rantanen ($7,600), who is right back on the first forward line and the first power-play unit, the ideal spot to target for a stack. The Avalanche have been this good on offense, and they were missing two players from their top line, so getting one of them back only makes them more dangerous. The Maple Leafs are bottom-16 in the league or worse in Corsi Against, expected goals against, and the number of High-Danger-Scoring-Chances per 60 this season.

Along with Rantanen on the top line, we have Nathan MacKinnon ($9,200), who has posted an insane 11 points and 23 shots in his last five games, along with Joonas Donskoi ($4,500), who offers some savings and is grabbing easy points simply for being on the ice with MacKinnon. They are all on the first power-play together with future Calder Trophy winner Cale Makar ($5,400) -- seriously, he is going to win the NHL rookie of the year award, place your future bets now -- who has three goals in his last five games.

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are on the second night of a back-to-back and scored five goals last night, so let's go back to the well.

The Caps poured in plenty of goals last night versus the San Jose Sharks, and we should be seeing more of the same tonight, as they are up against the Los Angeles Kings, one of the weakest teams in the league. I say weak since they are bottom-four in the league for points, don't score a ton, and give up too many goals.

It's pretty straight forward with them, but they are actually a 'fun' team. The Kings are third-highest this season in Corsi For and number one overall in expected goals for this season. That is unusual for a team who is that 'bad', but it's good for DFS, since they play at a fast pace and allow plenty of fantasy points to be scored.

You can go back to the second forward line for the Capitals with Lars Eller ($4,800), Jakub Vrana ($6,000), and T.J. Oshie ($6,800), and the latter two are on the first power-play together with Alex Ovechkin.