3 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 1/6/20
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.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs carry the highest implied team total on the slate (3.75), and we should target their offense.
Over their last 10 games, the Maple Leafs have won nine of them, scoring three goals or more nine times. Their offense is flying right after the coaching change, and we will continue to look towards them as one of the best options in DFS when it comes to stacking. Also in this time, we have seen them jump up to number two overall when it comes to Corsi For. They are generating a TON of shot attempts and scoring plenty of goals as a result. This is a great mixture since they have a strong floor of points with the shots and a high ceiling with the volume of goals.
Toronto has two players from the first line on the first power-play and two players from the second line on the first power-play. This could make a toss-up, but the top line with Auston Matthews ($8,600), Mitchell Marner ($7,900), and Zach Hyman ($4,800) offers a plenty of upside and are simply better players compared to John Tavares ($7,900), William Nylander ($6,300), and Alexander Kerfoot ($3,900).
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are looking to be a solid stack tonight for a few reasons, so let's jump in.
As of this morning, Ilya Kovalchuk ($3,000) is set to make his Canadiens debut after signing with them last week. He should be on the top forward line and first power-play unit, and he's the absolute minimum salary tonight. He is the near definition of a 'free square,' which should make him and the line very popular. Alongside him, we will see Tomas Tatar ($6,500) and Phillip Danault ($5,100), which is a very affordable three-man stack.
Okay, so what do we have here? A cheap stack, who should be popular, but is that it? No.
The Canadiens are also at home, a -145 favorite, and carry a 3.48 implied team total -- the second-highest on the slate. They are legitimately in a good spot and would be targeted regardless of the value they are offering. You aren't punting with this stack -- you're getting a top-line home favorite in a good matchup against the Winnipeg Jets, who are the 11th-worst in the league in shot attempts allowed per game.
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are on the road to take on the New York Islanders tonight. Should we look to stack them?
This season, the Islanders have allowed the second-fewest goals in the league, but are they still that good defensively? Finding when the tides are going to be turning for a team and trying to capitalize on that can be hugely profitable in DFS, and that is where we could be finding the Islanders. Allowing the second-fewest goals is great, but if we dig deeper, we see that they are second-worst in the league in Corsi Against and are allowing the sixth-most High-Danger-Scoring-Chances per 60 minutes. Giving up a ton of shots and dangerous shots but very few goals allowed? Something doesn't add up, and we want to jump on this if that is the case.
The Avalanche have one of the best offenses in the league, and their top line is buzzing right now. Nathan MacKinnon ($9,100) has 9 points and 26 shots in his last five games. His wingers are Gabriel Landeskog ($7,000) and Joonas Donskoi ($4,500), who have 4 points and 35 shots in their last five games. A three-man stack who takes a ton of shots? Now against a defense who allows a ton of shots? Sign me up.
