4 Daily Fantasy Hockey Stacks for 2/18/20

When playing NHL DFS -- much like MLB DFS -- stacking is key. Having multiple players from the same team, who correlate together, can give your lineup upside and help you maximize potential points.

You can roster up to four players from the same team in NHL, and you should look to have players from the same forward line or power-play unit together. Shared ice time is the key, as it will maximize their ability to contribute to real-life goals with each other, ultimately leading to more fantasy points for us.

Generally, we don't see late scratches in the NHL, and the team's lines are confirmed at practice or before the game. Two of the best resources for that are LeftWingLock.com or DailyFaceOff.com. That is where you can find updated forward and power-play lines for each team.

St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues have the highest implied goal total on the slate -- 3.59 -- and we should look to stack them tonight.

It's been a tough stretch for the Blues recently, but they are in a spot to get things going in the right direction tonight at home against the New Jersey Devils. The Blues are a very good team, who happen to be on a five-game losing streak and have lost 8 of their last 10. What was a multi-point lead in the Central Division has evaporated, and they are now tied with the Dallas Stars. They need to put the recent losing aside and show what they are capable of against the Devils -- one of the worst teams in the league.

Why are the Devils so bad? They are holding a 60.96 Corsi Against (Shot Attempts Allowed) -- third-worst in the league -- along with sitting at seventh-worst for Expected Goals Against, and 14th in the number of High-Danger-Scoring-Chances allowed per 60 minutes. They are giving up plenty of shot attempts, those attempts often lead to goals, and you want to grab all the fantasy points that come along with that. As I mentioned above, the Blues are on a five-game losing streak, but you should trust them in this matchup.

The first forward line is led by Ryan O'Reilly ($6,300), David Perron ($6,300), and Zachary Sanford ($5,000). They come in with five goals and six assists over their last five games, but all five goals come from Sanford. Both O'Reilly and Perron are on the first power-play, while Sanford is on the second power-play unit. They don't have full ice-time correlation, but you get exposure to both power-plays via this first forward line.

Montreal Canadiens

The Montreal Canadiens are a good team to target in DFS tonight, that much is clear.

With a 3.15 implied goal total and -200 favorites, the Habs are a very clear team to target tonight. This is because they are up against the Detroit Red Wings, who have allowed the most goals this season, have a goal differential of -106 and are simply the worst team in the NHL. It also helps that the Canadiens' offense gives them a solid floor of fantasy points, and this matchup brings them a nice upside to reach for since Detroit is terrible. Where does the floor of points come from? Well, Montreal is leading the league in Corsi For (Shot Attempts Created) and sitting at third-best in High-Danger-Scoring-Chances For per 60 minutes.

They take a ton of shot attempts every game, and many of those come close to the net, giving them fantastic goal-scoring upside. It also helps that the Canadiens aren't too expensive tonight, and you should be able to fit them into any type of lineup. Brendan Gallagher ($7,300) is the most expensive skater for the Canadiens but is listed as questionable for tonight's game and didn't practice on Monday. If he is out, we should see Jordan Weal ($3,100) on the first forward line with Phillip Danault ($5,100) and Tomas Tatar ($6,400), giving you a very affordable stack against the worst team in the league.

Nashville Predators

I guess we have to look at the Nashville Predators as a stacking option tonight?

In the past, I've said I don't enjoy stacking the Predators in DFS for a few reasons. First off, they have multiple lines who can score, and they have almost no correlation between their forward lines and their power-play units. The first power-play has skaters from the first, second, and third forward lines, while the second power-play has skaters from the first, second, and fourth lines. They are all over the place, and that can be an issue since it takes away from potential upside. The lines are a mess, but their matchup tonight should have plenty of goals -- only both sides.

The Predators are taking on the Carolina Hurricanes tonight, giving us two teams in the top six for shot attempts created per 60 minutes this season. This gives us an over/under sitting at 6.0 and what, ultimately, should be a faster-paced game. If this is the case, we want to look at the Predators' second line with Filip Forsberg ($6,800), Matt Duchene ($5,900), and Kyle Turris ($4,300), where Forsberg and Turris are on the first power-play. We get a bit of correlation here, along with the fact these three players come in with nine points and 29 shots in their last five games.

Toronto Maple Leafs at Pittsburgh Penguins Game Stack

The Toronto Maple Leafs at Pittsburgh Penguins game is the only one with an over/under set at 6.5, so let's take a look.

Both the Leafs and Penguins are in the top 10 in goals scored this season, and with the highest over/under on the slate, a game stack scenario should be in play tonight. Game stacks are common in MLB and NFL, but can also be viable when it comes to tournaments for NHL DFS. Both teams have some very expensive options to pay up for, but there are some value players to add to those stacks.

On the Penguins side, Sidney Crosby ($8,600), Evgeni Malkin ($7,800), and newly added Jason Zucker ($6,000) are the expensive options. But you can find value with Dominik Simon ($4,200), Jared McCann ($4,300), and Bryan Rust ($4,500). The top six forwards for the Penguins offer plenty of options at different prices. For the Maple Leafs, Auston Matthews ($8,800), Mitchell Marner ($7,600), and John Tavares ($7,400) lead the way, with Alexander Kerfoot ($3,700), Kasperi Kapanen ($4,100), and Jake Muzzin ($4,200) bringing the value.

Each team has high-priced options to pay for, along with some value if you choose to go the game stack route.