NHL
3 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 8/1/20
A five-game NHL slate is here to start the return of hockey! Which teams should you focus on for the most upside?

The NHL IS BACK! We have a five-game slate to kick things off and plenty of star power to fit into your lineups.

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.

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.

Let's jump in and look at some stacks to target for goals and plenty of fantasy points.

Edmonton Oilers

With two of the best players in the NHL, stacking the Oilers can be a profitable venture, but it comes with an expensive price tag.

Of course, I'm talking about Connor McDavid ($8,800) and his partner in crime, Leon Draisaitl ($8,500), who come in as the two most expensive skaters on the entire slate. Jamming those expensive salaries into your lineup will leave you searching for value elsewhere, but there are few players on the slate who can rack up the fantasy points as quickly as they do.

We see them both on the first power-play unit for the Edmonton Oilers, alongside Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($7,000), Alex Chiasson ($3,700), and defender Oscar Klefbom ($5,500). This is a fantastic stack to target -- if you have salary available.

The matchup for the Oilers is a juicy one, as they are taking on the Chicago Blackhawks, who were among the worst defensive teams in the league during the regular season. In 5v5 situations, Chicago held the seventh-worst Corsi Against (59.54) per 60 minutes, along with allowing the most High Danger Scoring Chances (12.91) per 60 minutes. They have one of the weakest defensive units in the league, and given the offensive power on the Oilers, they make a clear team to target.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins come in as -170 home favorites against the Montreal Canadiens, which makes them the largest favorites on the slate and a team worth stacking.

The Pens are not only the largest favorite on the slate but also the largest favorite (-230) to win their playoff-seeding series. We should be looking towards the Penguins in all formats with their consistency and upside, not only on this slate but their next few games. Rostering a full four-man stack from the Penguins' first power-play is no small task, as four of the five players sit at $6.8K or higher.

The five players on the first power-play are Sidney Crosby ($8,100), Evgeni Malkin ($8,300), Jake Guentzel ($7,500), Kris Letang ($6,800), and Patric Hornqvist ($5,600). Ultimately, they are all good options, and it should come down to simply managing roster your roster's salary to afford this stack. If you can only get three of these players in, that is still good. If you can get all four, that would be ideal.

Calgary Flames

With a near coin-flip matchup, the Calgary Flames (-125) and Winnipeg Jets (+105) could bring us an exciting game to close out the five-game NHL slate.

The Jets had one of the most inconsistent defenses throughout the regular season and came away with more wins than they should've, simply due to the elite goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck. This is shown by the fact the Jets had an Expected Goals against per 60 minutes sitting at 2.58 in 5v5 situations, but actually allowed the 12th-fewest goals in the entire league. The defenders are leaving Hellebuyck hanging, and he has to bail them out.

Given the four-month layoff, there is a chance the Jets' defenders aren't all on the same page and will struggle with their performances. In fact, I'm willing to bet on this via rostering the Flames' top forward line.

The three players on the first forward line are John Gaudreau ($7,700), Sean Monahan ($6,600), and Elias Lindholm ($5,500) -- who are all on the first power-play together. They have full ice-time correlation and bring strong upside to your lineup, at very reasonable salaries. With the other options on the slate, the Flames' top line shouldn't be too popular, making them all the more interesting in tournaments.

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