NHL

4 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 12/12/19

The Jets are up against the Red Wings, who haven't won a game in a month. There is no reason to fade them in any format tonight. Which other teams should you consider stacking?

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.

San Jose Sharks

Despite the fact the San Jose Sharks fired their head coach yesterday, we still want to look toward them as a stack tonight.

The Sharks ended last season in the Western Conference Finals and were firmly expected to be right back in the mix this year. That hasn't been the case so far, as they are sixth in the Pacific Division. Hopefully, a change behind the bench will get them going in the right direction, and a matchup against the New York Rangers tonight is ideal for a fresh start.

The Rangers are in the midst of a West Coast trip, which has them playing their third game in five days. New York has been a consistent team to target for fantasy production, since they are sitting at dead last in the league in Corsi Against and the number of High-Danger-Scoring-Chances allowed per 60 minutes. They allow a ton of shots and many of those shots often lead to goals.

Going to the Sharks for cash games or tournaments should be safe tonight, and you can look to their second forward line. Timo Meier ($5,500), Kevin Labanc ($4,600), and Tomas Hertl ($5,700) are on that line, with the first two on the first power-play unit and Hertl on the second power-play group. It's not full correlation, but it's still a good way to capture much of the potential offensive production tonight.

Winnipeg Jets

We were on the Winnipeg Jets the other night when they were against the Detroit Red Wings, and they play them again tonight.

The Jets posted five goals in the last matchup with Detroit, who are setting records for how bad they are. November 12th was the date the Red Wings last won a game -- a full month ago. Five NHL head coaches have been fired since the Red Wings won a game. They are an absolute mess of a team as they have all four of their forward lines rated 28th or lower as well as all three of their defensive pairings rated 30th or lower. It's to the point where I legitimately think an AHL team could beat them.

Unless there is some type of divine intervention, I will be stacking against the Red Wings every time they are on the slate.

Tonight, that points us to the Jets and either of their top two lines. Of those, I like their second forward line tonight -- which is nearly identical to the Sharks second line -- one player on the first power-play unit and the other two players on the second power play. Those players are Blake Wheeler ($6,800), Nikolaj Ehlers ($5,500), and Mathieu Perreault ($3,200). They have a combined 13 actual points and 33 shots in their last five games.

Carolina Hurricanes

Being able to identify trends and act on them can be massively profitable in DFS.

Right now, the Carolina Hurricanes are sitting at 15th in the league in Goals For per 60 minutes, but they are all the way up at 3rd in Expected Goals For per 60 minutes. The shots they are creating should be leading to more goals than they are currently scoring -- in short, they are getting unlucky. Maybe it's amazing goaltending, maybe it's situational in the matchups, but at the end of the day, they should be producing more goals. The best example I could give would be an MLB hitter who has a massive fly-ball rate and high exit velocity but no home runs. He is primed for a breakout.

That is what we have with the Hurricanes, and trying to capture that in tournaments could prove to be very beneficial, especially if they are at lower ownership.

Sebastian Aho ($7,500), Nino Niederreiter ($4,400), and Teuvo Teravainen ($6,700) are on the second forward line, with the latter two on the first power-play unit. They are up against the Vancouver Canucks, who are around the middle of the league or worse when it comes to most defensive categories.

Arizona Coyotes

The Arizona Coyotes aren't the best offensive team in the league, but their matchup is too good to pass up tonight.

Arizona is tied for first place in the Pacific Division, have allowed the third-fewest goals this season, and are tied for the 12th fewest goals scored. They win via their defense -- it's not really a secret -- but with that lower-scoring comes lower salaries. Arizona has only a single skater above $6K -- Phil Kessel ($6,800) -- which presents plenty of salary relief.

This team is very easy to stack due to their prices and looks to be a solid complementary stack to a higher-priced one. You should look to add Clayton Keller ($5,600) and Derek Stepan ($4,600) to that stack as they are on the first power-play together.

Now, we wouldn't be targeting this stack solely for their salaries tonight; we also see them coming in with a fantastic matchup versus the Chicago Blackhawks. the 'Hawks sit right behind the Rangers -- mentioned above in the Sharks section -- as one of the worst defensive teams in the league. Arizona is a home favorite with reasonable salaries against a weak defensive opponent. Yes, please.