Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for 2/12/21
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.
There's a small two-game slate on Friday, so let's look at a few different ways you can stack on this slate.
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are rolling, winning their last four games. They have an .833 point percentage, which is the best in the league.
David Pastrnak ($8,500) has cooled off since his torrid stretch after he returned from injury, but he still has the highest shot rate in the league, according to Natural Stat Trick. Brad Marchand ($8,100) scored the game-winning goal in overtime on Wednesday night, extending his point streak to nine straight games. Not to be forgotten is Patrice Bergeron ($7,900), who is tied with Marchand for the team lead with 16 points.
This line is clearly above the rest of the pack and will be popular with the Bruins having the only implied team total above three goals. So we need to look at how we can make it unique.
The Bruins played the New York Rangers on Wednesday and will play them again tonight. In the first game, we saw them occasionally use five forwards and no defenseman on the top power play. Nick Ritchie ($4,000) has been used on the power play for most of the season and has four power-play goals. David Krejci ($5,700) joined the top unit some of the time, and he was also used on it when Pastrnak was missing. He has five power-play points this season. Mixing and matching four out these five forwards could be a different strategy than what our opponents will do, especially if you play Krejci and Ritchie together with two of the first line forwards.
You could also add in Charlie McAvoy ($5,500) on defense. With Matthew Grzelcyk out tonight, McAvoy would be the defenseman used on the power play if they decide to use one. McAvoy is finally realizing his offensive potential after the Bruins lost other defensemen in the offseason, and he is riding a nine-game point streak.
Boston was able to create 15 high danger chances in the game on Wednesday, so they should be able to get opportunities again tonight. They will be the most popular stack for a reason, so try to do it in a different way than the rest of the field will.
Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are probably the least interesting team to most NHL fans. Outside of a few players, probably no one really moves the needle in the minds of the average viewer. There are some players having good seasons who we as fantasy players shouldn't ignore, though, especially on this small slate.
Conor Garland ($5,300) is tied for the team lead in points with 13 in 12 games, and he is also in the top 10 in the league in shots on goal with 47. This is a nice salary for his production so far this season. The same could be said for Nick Schmaltz ($4,800), who has 11 points in 12 games and plays on the first line and top power play with Garland. Defenseman Jakob Chychrun ($4,800) has also been a solid fantasy player from the blueline, totaling 10 points on the season. He is on the power play with these two, so they make for a nice three-man stack.
The Coyotes will once again play the St. Louis Blues on Friday. These teams seem to play only each other these days, as was amusingly documented by the team on Twitter. This the fifth game in a row that the Blues and Coyotes will square off. Arizona has scored at least three goals in each of the previous four games against St. Louis. The Blues won the Stanley Cup on the back of solid goaltending and good defense in 2018-19, but that hasn't been the case this season. They allow the 11th most goals per game. They've also been horrible on the penalty kill, with the third worst efficiency when a man down.
Arizona is an underdog tonight, but it isn't by too much. Hopefully this will keep their popularity down, as people might not like rostering a lot of Arizona players even on this small 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.
