3 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 12/16/19
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.
Washington Capitals
Another day, another chance to stack the Washington Capitals and watch the goals pile up.
We have five games tonight and there is enough value on the slate to reach up for a high-priced stack, so consider spending all the way up for the Capitals' top power-play unit. They come in with a 3.32 implied goal total tonight and are taking on the Columbus Blue Jackets, who beat the Capitals one week ago 5-2. The Capitals are simply the better team, and I fully expect them to post a stronger performance tonight and come away with the win. Columbus comes in right around the league average in Corsi Against and slightly better than league average in expected goals against, along with the number of High-Danger-Scoring-Chances allowed per 60 minutes.
They truly aren't a team to worry about on defense, and you should look to spend up on Alex Ovechkin ($8,400), Nicklas Backstrom ($6,800), T.J. Oshie ($7,000), and John Carlson ($7,400), who are on the first power-play together. Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,600) is the fifth player on the power-play (on the second forward line), but having four players all over $7K could stretch the roster a bit thin tonight.
Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers have a slate-high 3.83 implied goal total, and you shouldn't look past them tonight.
The Panthers simply check all the boxes tonight and are going to be one of the most popular stacks in all formats. They are -205 home favorites against the Ottawa Senators with a high implied goal total and plenty of goal-scoring ability in their top power-play unit. All of this should shine through tonight since they are up against the Senators, who are in the bottom half of the league in Corsi Against and expected goals against, while just around league average in High-Danger-Scoring-Chances allowed per 60 minutes.
When it comes to looking at what players to stack, the Panthers have been changing their forward lines a good amount recently, but their first power-play unit remains intact -- which is ideal. Aleksander Barkov ($7,600) is too cheap considering the matchup, and he's joined by Jonathan Huberdeau ($6,900), Evgeni Dadonov ($5,600), Mike Hoffman ($5,900), and defender Keith Yandle ($5,500). As mentioned, they don't have a ton of correlation on their forward lines, so you can mix and match those players if you are rolling out multiple lineups and still capture the offensive production.
New York Rangers
The Nashville Predators have finished first in their divisions in each of the past two seasons, but that's not happening this year.
I don't remember specifically, but sometime in mid-November in this very stacks article, I said the Predators weren't good and you should consider stacking against them going forward. Right now, the Predators are 14-12-5 and look to be the definition of average. There isn't anything inspiring about their team on either end and now they face a New York Rangers team, who have scored three goals or more in three of their last four games and are playing at a very fast pace. The Rangers give up shots, but they enable so much back and forth play that their offense can post plenty of fantasy points.
If you are stacking the Rangers, you have to start with the Breadman himself, Artemi Panarin ($8,600), who has 8 points and 14 shots in his last five games. Mika Zibanejad ($7,700), Chris Kreider ($5,700), Kaapo Kakko ($5,000), and Tony DeAngelo ($4,200) are on the first power-play together. A few cheaper players in there eases the process of roster construction tonight if you are looking to get two full stacks into one lineup.
