3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for 2/17/21

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.

It's a Canadian night in the NHL, as three of the four games are from the North division. Those games have typically been the highest scoring, so it should be fun.

Toronto Maple Leafs

It was all going so well for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night. They sat with a 5-1 lead in the second period, as the first-place team in the league against the last-place team. That was until a flurry of Ottawa Senators goals saw them come back to win 6-5 in overtime. The Leafs get an immediate chance to avenge that defeat, playing Ottawa again tonight. It's still a matchup between the best and worst records in the league, so on paper, they should have no problem doing that. Ottawa still allows the most goals per game in the league, as the only team conceding more than four goals per contest. Toronto's usual suspects should be in line for another good game.

The first line for Toronto continues to deliver. Auston Matthews ($8,800) had two goals and an assist on Monday, bringing his goal total to 13 and extending his point streak to 13 straight games. He has rarely let fantasy players down at all this season, and it's unlikely to start in this matchup. He'll be running alongside his buddy Mitch Marner ($7,900), who is third in the league with 23 points. They have a linemate that plays with them at even strength and on the power play, but it's Joe Thornton ($4,300). Thornton had a goal and an assist on Monday, but his shot rate is so low that he's not a necessary piece to any stack as his upside is limited. Morgan Rielly ($5,000) is Toronto's number one defenseman and it fits well with this stack, being on the power play with all of these forwards.

Looking at the draft percentages from Monday night, Matthews was predictably the most popular player on that slate. Marner and Rielly were in the top four most popular but were down 25% range while Matthews was up to 54%. Thornton was down at 8%, as the goalie Frederik Andersen was a more popular fourth piece to this stack at 19%. So, if you get the four skaters in your lineup, it could be more unique than you might think, and it makes logical sense with all four of them sharing the ice on the power play.

Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are in a similar situation to the Leafs. They also lost 6-5 on Monday and will face the same opponent that they saw in that game. Connor McDavid ($9,000) looked dangerous in that game, with two assists and seven shots on goal. He got his left wing going, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins ($6,200) had two goals and also added seven shots on goal. RNH's salary has dropped a lot compared to where it was at the start of the season, and with three games over 35 FanDuel points this season, and it's hard to match that kind of upside for just $6,200. Jesse Puljujarvi ($4,200) got a lot of power-play time with McDavid's unit and has been playing on the top line for a while, so for that salary he's a great value.

The Oilers will take on the Winnipeg Jets in a rematch on Monday's thrilling game. Winnipeg continues to struggle defensively this season, allowing the second-most high danger chances per 60 minutes and the fifth most expected goals per game, according to Natural Stat Trick. McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins have enjoyed this matchup, with McDavid having seven points in the three previous meetings and Nugent-Hopkins having four goals. Another Oilers player we need to consider is Tyson Barrie ($5,700), who has developed into the offensive defenseman that Oilers hoped for when they signed him. He's on a streak of nine straight games of at least 10 FanDuel points, with points in eight of those nine games. He also has a streak of eight games with at least three shots on goal, so he's getting lots of opportunities to produce fantasy points.

For a lot of the season, it was tough to fit in Oilers' stacks without sacrificing a lot more of your lineup. With these four players, you get a full power play correlation for an average of $6,275. With the average salary we have available in an empty lineup set to $6,111, this stack certainly won't break the bank if you try to fit it into your lineup.

Chicago Blackhawks

So far, the season is going better for the Chicago Blackhawks than many expected. They sit in fourth place in the Central division. Even if some of that is because they've been able to play 17 games while others have only been able to play 12, they were expected to be closer to the bottom of the league than they are currently. Most of that is owed to Patrick Kane ($8,600), who has been great and is now fourth in the NHL in scoring. Not to be outdone too much is Alex DeBrincat ($6,900), who has been on a hot streak with six goals in his last seven games. Chicago's lines have been juggled throughout the season, but now they have these two playing together at five on five and on the power play, which is what we want. The center for this line has been rookie Pius Suter ($4,300), who leads all first-year players with 10 points.

Suter scored a hat trick earlier in the season against Wednesday's opponent, the Detroit Red Wings. While the Red Wings have improved their defense from last season, they still allow the ninth-most goals per game. They also have the fifth-worst penalty kill in the league, killing just 73% of their penalties. Chicago has a young defenseman now playing on the top power play in Nicolas Beaudin ($4,000), who has four points in his last three games and looks to be getting more comfortable with life in the NHL.

With the high-scoring Canadian games getting a lot of attention, Chicago could go overlooked in this spot. Especially because this is the same spot that saw them disappoint fantasy players on Monday. This is a good spot to go against the grain and get some of them in your lineup in tournaments.

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.