3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Monday 11/8/21
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.
Three games kick off the week, so let's see which stacks make the most sense tonight.
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals have hit a bump in the road after their great start to the season. They've lost three games in a row -- each by just one goal. The good news is their best players have still played well and will have a chance to turn things around tonight.
Alex Ovechkin ($9,400) was held off the scoresheet on Saturday but still had six shots on goal. He leads the league in both shots on goal (54) and goals (10), and the Ovechkin march just continues. He's really rejuvenated Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7,800) this season, who's second on the Capitals with 13 points. With some absences in their forward group, Tom Wilson ($5,400) has stuck with the first line and first power play, and he's fourth on the team with eight points.
While it was a fun and exciting start for the Buffalo Sabres, they've come back down to earth in the last week. They've lost four games in a row and allowed at least four goals in their last three games. 40-year-old goaltender Craig Anderson will be in net, and while he got off to a nice start, he was one of the worst goalies in the league between 2018-2020 and is unlikely to keep up a .921 save percentage.
John Carlson ($6,800) has put up five points in his last four games and is a perfect blueline component to the first line stack. You'll get full correlation, which is key on these smaller slates, so this four-man stack stands out as the best of the night.
Toronto Maple Leafs
It was only a matter of time before the Toronto Maple Leafs' best players started playing better. They were under intense scrutiny that carried over from the playoffs last year. Toronto has won five games in a row, including two against division rivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins. They could easily continue that streak tonight.
One of the Leafs under the most pressure was Auston Matthews ($9,500) after he scored just one goal in the playoffs last season. He started off the season getting a bunch of shots but no goals, but that changed in the past week. He has four goals and six points in his last three games. He's shifted to playing with William Nylander ($7,100) and Michael Bunting ($4,200), and the line has been fairly effective.
Toronto's second line is also stackable tonight. John Tavares ($8,600) leads the team with six goals and Mitchell Marner ($7,500) leads the team with nine assists. A four-man power play stack of these two with Matthews and Nylander makes a lot of sense tonight; you could capture most of Toronto's goals and points.
The Leafs' will face the Los Angeles Kings with the highest implied team total on tonight's slate, so they are clearly a solid team to stack.
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are coming off a tough rough trip to the west, with it ending in a 6-0 loss on Saturday. They're back home tonight and looking to bounce back, and have some intriguing fantasy options to the roster.
The Rangers proved to be one of the most explosive offensive teams in the league last season, and we usually know where those explosions come from. Mika Zibanejad ($7,400) has seen crazy goal-scoring runs over the past two seasons, and now has three goals in his last three games. He plays with the team's current leading goal scorer, Chris Kreider ($6,100), at both even strength and on the power play. Only three players in the league have more goals than Kreider's eight so far.
Their other explosive skater plays on the second line. Artemi Panarin ($8,100) has started to pick up his play; he has seven points in his last five games. It could have something to do with getting his normal center, Ryan Strome ($5,500), back in the lineup. These guys also play together on the power play, alongside Adam Fox ($7,100). Fox was named the league's best defenseman last season and is currently tied for the lead in points among blueliners with 12.
The Rangers will play a Florida Panthers team that could be without Aleksander Barkov, who is listed as a game-time decision. If he is out again, this would mean they are down their top two centers, including last season's Selke trophy winner as the league's best defensive forward. New York will also avoid goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who has been one of the best goalies in the league out of the gate.
These Rangers guys will certainly be less popular than Toronto and Washington, but they certainly have enough upside to be a team that can break a small three-game 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.
