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.
Four games to kick off the week, with some teams we can definitely feel good about stacking on this slate.
Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres this season have been one of the most interesting teams we've seen in a long time. They are currently outside of the playoffs despite leading the league in goals per game. We definitely care more about their scoring than if they are a good team when considering them in DFS, so they are definitely a team to consider stacking on most slates.
Buffalo's top line has been one of the best in hockey this season. It includes an incredible season from Tage Thompson ($10,400), who is on pace to smash last season's 38 goals; he already has 31 with half the season left. Alex Tuch ($8,200) is also having a great season with 43 points in 37 games, including 8 in his last four outings. Jeff Skinner ($8,100) is also averaging more than a point per game and combines with these two on the first line.
Buffalo will face the Philadelphia Flyers at home tonight. Philadelphia just lost 6-2 last night, and they sit close to the bottom of the Eastern Conference. They also allow the third-most expected goals per 60 minutes in the NHL.
The Sabres' top line will be hard to fit into lineups due to salary cap constraints, but they have as much upside as any team on this slate.
Seattle Kraken
It's surprising that the Sabres lead the league in goals per game, but it's almost equally surprising that the Seattle Kraken are third in that category. They aren't led by a star player but have enough depth to damage from multiple lines.
Seattle's first line is fairly affordable and offers full correlation. It's centered by Matty Beniers ($6,500), the favorite to win the rookie of the year. Andre Burakovsky ($6,400), has been great in his first season in Seattle, leading the team with 32 points. Jordan Eberle ($6,200) trails him by just one point and is having a decent bounce-back season after a disappointing one last year. They each had multiple points on Saturday and seem to really be clicking as a line.
You can get an even lower total salary stack if you use the second line.Jared McCann ($6,500) leads the team in goals with 19. He's playing on this line and on the power play with Jaden Schwartz ($5,000), who has five points in his last three games. The center on this line is Alexander Wennberg ($4,600), who can definitely be used with this stack as a playmaker that can rack up assists.
Seattle will take on the Montreal Canadiens tonight as their road trip through Canada continues. The Canadiens have been wretched defensively of late, allowing at least four goals in seven straight games. They've now allowed the fourth-most goals per game in the league.
Seattle's implied team total is only behind Buffalo's tonight, and the value of their players' salaries makes them nice building blocks for lineups tonight.
Edmonton Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers are always a team we're going to target. They have two of the best offensive players in the league and have scored the fourth-most goals per game in the NHL. They've mixed up their lines in an interesting way, and it makes them somewhat tricky to stack.
Connor McDavid ($10,600) now has 18 more points than anyone not on his team. He now has two cheap wingers -- Klim Kostin ($3,800) and Kailer Yamamoto ($4,000). These players don't play on the power play with McDavid but have enough talent to contribute at these low salaries. Then, you can add Tyson Barrie ($6,100) for power play correlation. You can also play one of the wingers with McDavid and Leon Draisaitl ($10,200), and you'll have your bases covered with McDavid correlation.
Edmonton is on the road tonight to play the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings haven't been a bad team; in fact, they've gone 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. However, they've been riding journeyman goaltender Pheonix Copley to solve their issue in net, and that may be unsustainable given his shaky track record. They are 11th in goals allowed per game, and the Oilers should be able to do damage against them if Copley falters.
The Oilers are underdogs in this game, which may keep their popularity down a bit. If that's the case, they are a great team to stack in tournaments 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.