3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for 2/16/21

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.

Tonight's slate has been reduced to five games, with the Nashville Predators-Dallas Stars game being postponed due to bad weather in the area. So keep that in mind as we look at some stacks for Tuesday night in the NHL.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins have gone through some changes off the ice, with a new general manager and president of hockey operations. On the ice, however, they look pretty similar to what we are used to seeing.

They are still led by Sidney Crosby ($7,800), and he is off to a solid start to the season with 12 points in 13 games. He's not the leading scorer, though, as Bryan Rust ($6,300) is one notch above him with 13 points. Rust also has by far the best shot rate on the team, attempting slightly more than 18 shots per 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick. In addition to them, you also have Crosby's typical running mate, Jake Guentzel ($7,100), who -- like Crosby -- has five goals and seven assists on the season. These guys are all playing together at five on five and on the power play, making it a clean stack and one where all three guys could get a piece of the same goal.

Pittsburgh will take on the Washington Capitals, who have been struggling of late. They've lost four in a row, including a 6-3 loss to the Penguins on Sunday. When people talk about the Capitals being a team that is a Stanley Cup contender, they seem to ignore the poor defensive metrics the Caps have been showing this season (and some of last season). Washington has allowed the second most shot attempts per 60 minutes and the second most goals per game. This is a great spot for the Pens.

Kris Letang ($5,900) has been back in the lineup for three games, and he has four assists. He's a good fourth player to add to the stack, as he continues to be the power-play quarterback. With the Penguins having the highest implied team total on tonight's slate, this is a stack that you'll want to have in your lineups.

New York Rangers

With only five games and not too many high totals on tonight's slate, we have to dig a bit deeper to find some good stacks. The New York Rangers are a good team to take a shot on tonight. The returns from the Rangers have not been the same as what we saw at the end of last season, when they were one of the most fun stacks in the league. Also, tonight they will be without MVP candidate Artemi Panarin. So why should we stack them?

One reason is that the salaries have gone way down, especially on Mika Zibanejad ($6,000). Coming off career year last campaign, Zibanejad has really struggled to put the puck in the net this year. If you look at some of his underlying metrics, they show that he's shooting and getting chances at similar rates to last season, but his shooting percentage has fallen off a cliff, going from 19.71% last season to 2.56% this season. Unless he forgot how to shoot, that number from this season is bound to go up at some point.

He's on a line with Chris Kreider ($5,900) at five on five and on the power play, and these two have had great chemistry since Zibanejad joined the team. Colin Blackwell ($3,200) is on this line, as well, but is an option only if you need salary relief. Adam Fox ($4,500) is a better player to stack with Kreider and Zibanejad, as he plays the most minutes on the team and has the third most points.

Zibanejad, Kreider and Fox are all on the first power play, which is something you'll want exposure to against the New Jersey Devils. The Devils have the worst penalty kill in the NHL, at just a 67.7% success rate this season. The Devils are also coming off a two-week layoff, so it remains to be seen how they will perform after their long break. The Rangers' 2.94 implied team total is the third highest on the slate, so if they aren't going to be popular, it's a good time to hop on board and play them.

Colorado Avalanche

Another team with a long break due to COVID was the Colorado Avalanche. They returned to action on Sunday and lost 1-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights. This could be influencing the line we are seeing on this game. These are two teams with good offenses, yet the total is only 5.5 currently on . If the lower total keeps the popularity down on the Avalanche, then we can attack this spot even more.

Nathan MacKinnon ($8,300) had a five-game point streak end on Sunday, but he had four shots on goal to keep up with his high shot attempt rate that is the fourth best in the NHL. He played with normal linemate Mikko Rantanen ($7,700), who leads the club with seven goals. They had a new left wing at even strength, as Brandon Saad ($4,900) took that spot. He already had five goals in his first season with Colorado before playing on this line, and he has been a very effective player in the past, especially when playing with quality linemates.

The Avalanche have had a few casualties due to COVID and other injuries, which gives some opportunities to other players. Cale Makar missed the last game and could be out again tonight, and Samuel Girard is on the COVID list. That opened up a big chance for Devon Toews ($4,700) to play a lot of minutes and get time on the top power play. He had four shots and three blocked shots on Sunday, so while the team failed to score, he still put a decent fantasy output. For this salary, he is an easy play with this stack if Makar misses the game.

Vegas has been a great defensive team, but the only elite offense in their division belongs to Colorado. Playing the Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes and Anaheim Ducks is one thing, but facing the likes of MacKinnon and the Avs is totally different. The Avalanche attack can beat anyone, so if the masses are scared off today because of the matchup, it's a good time to roster Colorado 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.