3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Friday 10/15/21

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 updated line information.

We've got a light three-game slate on Friday, but it gives us a chance to see some teams for the first time this season. So let's look at some good line stacks for tonight.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers had a season to forget last year. They came in with high expectations and could not live up to them. However, most of that fell on the defense and goaltending, as the offense was not the problem. Tonight, they'll have a great matchup to get off to a fast start this season.

The Flyers rewarded Sean Couturier ($6,500) with a contract extension, symbolizing that he is one of their most important players for the future. He led the team in points per game last season with 0.91. He's joined by a member of the old guard in Philly, as Claude Giroux ($5,500) proved he still had gas left in the tank with 43 points in 56 games last season. Travis Konecny ($5,200) led the team in goals and points in 2019-20 and will look to bounce back this season after a down 2021 campaign.

These guys all play together on the top power play unit, too, giving full correlation across the board.

The Flyers will open their season at home against the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver wasn't a complete disaster defensively in their season opener, but they still allowed 3.42 expected goals in that game. Vancouver is expected to be one of the worst defensive teams in hockey and should have their hands full tonight in Philly.

The oddsmakers also expect Philly to handle Vancouver's defense, as the Flyers have a 3.53 implied team total tonight. With that being the highest on the slate, you may want to add a fourth piece to this stack. Keith Yandle ($4,200) is the perfect player to do it with, as he is the new power play quarterback for the Flyers.

This is the top four-man stack of the night and could pay off in spades with the perfect correlation they offer.

Minnesota Wild

The Minnesota Wild were a surprise team in the NHL last season. They have long been a team that has been stuck in the middle, never Cup contenders and never bad enough to get a top draft pick. They also haven't had many star players in franchise history, but that all changed last season.

When Kirill Kaprizov ($7,400) burst onto the scene last season, the Wild got a dynamic, game-breaking talent that they hadn't seen in a decade. Kaprizov took down the rookie of the year award, and his 27 goals were the eighth-most in the league.

He also showed good chemistry with Mats Zuccarello ($4,000) when they were on the same line. Joel Eriksson Ek ($4,500) is finally getting recognized as a solid two-way player in the NHL, and he could add more offense to his game playing with these two talented wingers.

Correlation was an issue when stacking the Wild last season, but it looks like these guys will all be on the first power play. They'll be joined by Jared Spurgeon ($5,000), who's not the most gifted offensive defenseman, but has shown the ability to have big fantasy games in the past. He can show that ability even more if he sticks on the top power play.

The Wild face the rebuilding Anaheim Ducks in the first game of the season. The Ducks surprised people with a win on Wednesday, but they still allowed 67 shot attempts in that game and had just 39 of their own. The Wild beat the Ducks seven of eight times last season and scored at least three goals in six of those games.

They should be able to take care of business here and are a great stacking option on this slate.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks had a disastrous season last year, both on and off the ice. They had made it to the second round of the bubble playoffs and fans were hopeful that they would contend, but instead, they took some major steps backward. Things honestly could be similar to last season, but that talent up front still makes them attractive for daily fantasy.

The two future franchise players for the Canucks went without a contract late into September. The first one is Elias Pettersson ($7,200), who had a season to forget in which injuries limited him to only 26 games. He had a good showing in the first game of the season, with no points but six shots on goal.

The second player with a new contract was Quinn Hughes ($6,500), who also is looking to bounce back this season after a weaker sophomore year. Hughes scored in the season opener against the Oilers and is one of the best offensive defensemen in the league. J.T. Miller ($7,000) had an assist on that goal and generally has great chemistry with Pettersson when playing together.

The new member of the Pettersson line looks to be Vasily Podkolzin ($4,600), a talented Russian who was the 10th overall pick in the 2019 draft. After playing just seven minutes in the first game, he could go overlooked by the field, who may not notice his change in role.

The Canucks are underdogs against the Flyers, but Philadelphia really struggled to keep the puck out of their net last season. They allowed the most goals in the league, even more than the Buffalo Sabres. Carter Hart was the worst goalie in the league in terms of goals saved above expected, and if he doesn't improve, teams like the Canucks could feast on him again this season.

Vancouver's four-man stack could go a bit under the radar tonight, making them a good tournament stack on this slate.

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.