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 -- if one player on a line is scoring goals, it's likely that his linemates are getting assists, as well.
Ideally, we want players who 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 have just four games on Friday, but we can find teams that are in great spots and feel comfortable stacking them.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafscome off their bye week on Friday sitting comfortably in second place in the Atlantic Division. They still will be without Auston Matthews but have enough firepower to dominate this matchup.
With Matthews on the sideline, John Tavares ($8,000) steps up to the number one center role. He's third on the team with 21 goals and fourth in points with 51. Mitchell Marner ($8,400) leads the team in points with 60 and will play on Tavares' right wing. Michael Bunting ($6,000) has become Toronto's fifth scoring forward over the last two seasons and now gets the bump up to the top power play with Matthews out of the lineup. This gives this line full correlation on the power play.
Toronto gets a super soft matchup that we love to attack. They'll face the Columbus Blue Jackets, one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL. The Jackets have allowed the second-most shots per game and third-most goals per game.
The Leafs have an implied team total of 3.88 goals, and this stack has the potential to go off tonight.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made the playoffs for 16 consecutive seasons. They are in a good position to make them again this year but can't rest on their laurels too much. Luckily, they'll return from their bye facing a weak opponent.
Once again, Sidney Crosby ($8,500) leads the way for the Penguins with 61 points in 50 games, which has him tied for 13th in the league in scoring. Jake Guentzel ($7,800) is averaging a point per game and is second on the team with 20 goals. Rickard Rakell ($6,900) has fit in nicely in his first full season in Pittsburgh with 18 goals. With Rakell joining the top power play, this line is fully correlated and is relatively affordable for the upside they bring.
It will be a revenge game for Rakell, as the Penguins travel to face his former team, the Anaheim Ducks. Anaheim is the league's third-worst team by points percentage but is at the bottom in several defensive metrics, including goals and shots allowed per game.
The Penguins' first line basically gives us all we can ask for in a stack, with good players in a great matchup playing together on the power play. You can add Kris Letang ($6,500) to this stack on defense, too, as he has been great since returning to the lineup.
Pittsburgh has the highest implied team total tonight and is likely the best stack on the board.
New York Rangers
NHL teams often wait until right before the trade deadline to make big moves. The New York Rangers did not do that, making a splash yesterday that makes their lines very interesting to stack moving forward.
The Rangers made the move to acquire Vladimir Tarasenko ($6,800) from the St. Louis Blues. He's slotting in on the top line with Mika Zibanejad ($8,400) and fellow Russian Artemi Panarin ($7,200), who he has experience playing with in the past. Panarin and Zibanejad will link up on the first power play and are each tied for the team lead in points with 53. Tarasenko will play on the second power-play unit, but he still should be played in this stack.
New York is at home tonight against the Seattle Kraken. Seattle lost last night and now will have the tough task of playing two playoff-caliber teams on back-to-back nights. The Kraken will also likely turn back to Martin Jones in net, who has a .894 save percentage and has allowed at least three goals in five of his last six games.
The Rangers come in just behind the Leafs and Penguins in terms of implied team total on this slate. It will be interesting to see if their new high-powered first line can take off in a big way in their first game together, and it's something we should be willing to take a chance on 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.