NHL

2 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 1/8/20

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Jan 8th, 2020
The Maple Leafs are primed to be the best stack on the night against the Jets. With only three games on the slate, can you fade them?

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 are coming off a tough 6-4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers, but are in a great spot tonight.

Toronto finds themselves at home with a 3.70 implied goal total -- the highest on the slate -- to host the Winnipeg Jets. We have only three games on tonight's slate, and that should make the Maple Leafs very popular, but given this matchup -- they would be popular on any sized slate. Currently, the Jets are sitting as the 11th-worst team in the league in Corsi Against (Shot Attempts allowed), the third-worst in expected goals allowed, and the third-worst in the number of High-Danger-Scoring-Chances allowed per 60 minutes. This is a dream matchup for the Leafs, and they should be able to feast on the Jets' defense, as each of the three pairings are rated 29th in the league.

With Toronto being at home, we want to target their top line since they have the last line change. This should put them in ideal matchups and help continue the hot streak Auston Matthews ($8,800) has been on. He comes in with nine points and 22 shots over his last five games, a level of production solid for any format. Mitchell Marner ($8,000) and Zach Hyman ($4,800) are alongside him on the first forward line, with only Marner being on the first power-play unit.

Philadelphia Flyers

A rivalry game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals should bring plenty of entertainment tonight.

Both the Flyers and Capitals are on the second night of a back-to-back, but that shouldn't slow them down tonight. We have an over/under sitting at 6.5 in this game and should see plenty of scoring, as five of their last seven matchups have hit the over. Plenty of goals, plenty of fantasy points, and truly a good spot to do a game-stack for tournaments. The Capitals are a great team -- there is no denying that -- but they are somewhat average on defense. They are around the league average in Corsi Against and bottom-10 in the league in High-Danger-Scoring-Chances allowed per 60 minutes. They win a ton of games based on their offense, not necessarily their defense.

If that is the case, we want to target the Flyers in the spot -- in what could be a losing effort. This game could very well end up 4-3 or 5-4 in favor of the Capitals, but it offers plenty of scoring for the Flyers. The second forward line for the Flyers offers full ice-time correlation, as they are all on the second power-play together. Kevin Hayes ($5,400), James van Riemsdyk ($4,800), and Nicolas Aube-Kubel ($3,000) aren't too expensive tonight but have been struggling as of late. They only have three points combined over their last five games, but their prices allow you to pay up for the Maple Leafs tonight.