3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for 3/12/21

In daily fantasy hockey, stacking is a key strategy in tournaments. We want to correlate our lineups with up to four players to maximize our upside, as if one player on a line is scoring goals, it's likely that his linemates are getting assists as well. Ideally, we'll want players that will get a lot of ice time together on an even strength line and a power play line. Two good resources for line combinations are LeftWingLock.com and DailyFaceoff.com, so be sure to check those sites for up to date line information.

We'll close out the week with a smaller five game slate that starts at 8pm Eastern time. Let's look at some stacks we can use on this slate.

Edmonton Oilers

We have to talk about the Edmonton Oilers after what they did on Wednesday night. Connor McDavid ($9,200) did his thing, with a goal and two assists, which gave him his third straight multi-point game. He took a back seat to Leon Draisaitl ($8,300), however. Draisaitl had a hat trick and two assists -- good for a whopping 62.6 FanDuel points. It looks like these guys will stick together at even strength for the time being, which is good news for fantasy players, because the upside is massive. The third member of this line was again Kailer Yamamoto ($4,600), who wasn't able to do much in that game despite the 7-1 victory, but he remains an option due to his playing time with two superstars.

The Oilers will face the Ottawa Senators for the third time in a row. After that game on Wednesday, the Senators are again averaging nearly four goals allowed per game. Ottawa seems to be Draisaitl's favorite opponent this season, as he now has two games against them with five or more points. The Senators have a penalty kill that is the seventh worst in the league. This bodes well for Tyson Barrie ($5,600), who is the Oilers' power-play quarterback. Barrie was another player who had a big game on Wednesday, totaling three assists and four shots on goal. Barrie should be used in stacks with McDavid and Draisaitl, because if the power play gets clicking, he will likely be involved in some goals.

Edmonton's implied team total is 3.94, which towers over anyone else's on this slate. They are obviously going to be popular. That's why it could also pay off to be unique with your Edmonton stacks. A way to do this could be through Alex Chiasson ($4,100). He plays on the top power play with McDavid and Draisaitl, so he also is a guy who could get some power-play points if the Oilers are able to get a few goals with the man advantage.

On Wednesday, only 0.71% of FanDuel players used Chiasson, but other Oilers like Yamamoto, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Darnell Nurse had draft percentages over 20%. So, if you want to get a player who might be under-used but also correlates with the two best plays on the slate, Chiasson is your guy.

Colorado Avalanche

The other team we were targeting heavily on Wednesday was the Colorado Avalanche. It didn't pay off as well as the Edmonton stack did, but there were some very encouraging signs. They absolutely dominated that game against the Arizona Coyotes. They had 84 shot attempts, 49 scoring chances, and 3.7 expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. In the end, it was only a 2-1 victory in overtime, but if they are going to play like that, usually the fantasy results will be better.

Nathan MacKinnon ($8,400), in particular, was dangerous, as he had 10 shots on goal, 17 shot attempts and 15 scoring chances. Gabriel Landeskog ($6,600) scored the overtime winner and had seven shots on goal. Mikko Rantanen ($8,000) was as active from a shooting perspective but could have grabbed an assist or two if his linemates were finishing their chances.

Tonight, Colorado hosts the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings have been a much improved team this season, but that really has just made them an average team and not a bottom-five team like they were the past two seasons. They are in the middle of the pack in most defensive metrics, but they don't have to face offenses like Colorado in most of their games.

The Kings also could be starting goalie Troy Grosenick, who picked up his first NHL win since 2014 on Wednesday. That was against the Anaheim Ducks, the third worst team in terms of goals per game. Colorado has a lot more skill than Anaheim does, and Grosenick could be in for a rough game after his stellar performance in his return to the NHL.

Colorado is behind only Edmonton in implied team total tonight. Since they didn't get the job done on Wednesday and the Oilers exploded, the Avs' popularity will likely be way less compared to Edmonton's. This makes them a great leverage play tonight.

Minnesota Wild

It's been the source of many jokes by hockey fans and writers about how the Minnesota Wild are actually fun this year and worthy of attention. They are also worthy of consideration in daily fantasy on a lot of nights, which is not something we could say for them the past handful of seasons.

It all starts with Kirill Kaprizov ($5,500), who got a ton of hype before the season when it was announced he would be coming over from Russia. He dominated the Russian KHL, leading the league in scoring for the two seasons prior to leaving for the NHL. He currently is the frontrunner for Rookie of the Year, as he leads all first-year players with 20 points. He's joined at even strength and on the power play by Mats Zuccarello ($5,200). Other than being compared to a lizard by the general manager who signed him, Zuccarello's time in Minnesota has largely been forgotten about. He's doing his best to change tha, and has been great since returning from injury, amassing 14 points in 13 games.

These two guys are two of the most creative players in the NHL, and they can make plays for anyone who plays with them. The player who will center them at even strength is now Victor Rask ($4,000). Rask has been hit or miss this season but is likely to do better when playing with passers of this level. It also should help that the Wild get a matchup against the Coyotes. Arizona just got dominated by Colorado on Wednesday and has been poor defensively this season. They allow the third most shot attempts and second most expected goals per 60 minutes. With the Wild surprisingly being sixth in expected goals for per 60, Minnesota should be able to create chances in this game.

Perhaps the best thing about the Minnesota stack is how salary-friendly it is. You can comfortably fit in the pieces from Edmonton or Colorado alongside a Wild stack and create two stacks that have a lot of correlation and upside. The Wild also have the third highest implied goal total, so it's not like you are completely punting when using their players. They are a great value stack to use in lineups tonight.

Nicholas Vazquez is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Nicholas Vazquez also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username hbyanksman. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.