3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Wednesday 11/17/21

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 updated line information.

There are only three games on Wednesday, and the first puck doesn't drop until 9:00 Eastern. Let's sort through the best stacks for tonight.

Colorado Avalanche

It has not been the start to the season that most people imagined for the Colorado Avalanche. They are just 6-5-1 after having the best record in the NHL last season. It feels like every game there are new absences on a team that has been hit with the injury bug, and tonight is no different.

Colorado has had to switch up their lines a ton for the injuries. It even means that Mikko Rantanen ($8,100) has had to shift to center from right wing. Gabriel Landeskog ($8,400) will continue to skate on the left wing, and he and Rantanen are tied for the team lead in goals with five. The new addition to the line is Logan O'Connor ($4,100), and he's been producing decently while playing in a bottom six role.

The second line for the Avs is also intriguing. Nazem Kadri ($5,900) leads the team with 14 points. Andre Burakovsky ($5,000) has three goals in his last three games and has been playing better on the second line than he did when he had his chance on the first line. These two players play on the first power play with Rantanen and Landeskog and skate with Valeri Nichushkin ($3,900) at even strength.

What makes the Avalanche such a good option tonight is their opponent. The Vancouver Canucks are currently in crisis mode after losing three games in a row while allowing a combined 19 goals over that span. Colorado smoked Vancouver on Thursday 7-1, that being their first game without Nathan MacKinnon, who won't be in the lineup again tonight.

The loss of MacKinnon could make defenseman Cale Makar ($6,700) more involved in the transition game and on the power play, so he can be included in any stack. If there were more games on this slate and it was against a different opponent, the Avalanche without their best player might not be a great stack. But in this spot, they are one of the top stacks on the board, with an implied team total of 3.32.

Seattle Kraken

People who were hoping that the Seattle Kraken could have success in their inaugural season like the Vegas Golden Knights have been disappointed. They have nine points from their opening 15 games and sit last in the Pacific Division. Their underlying numbers are strong, however, and they have a great matchup on Wednesday.

There have been a lot of moving parts in the Kraken lineup. They appear to be mostly healthy now, and their forward group looks fairly deep. The first line looks like the best stack, as it consists of their three points leaders. Jordan Eberle ($5,800) leads the team with 8 goals and 12 points. He's playing with Alexander Wennberg ($4,200) and Jaden Schwartz ($4,800), who each have 11 points this season. Wennberg and Eberle combine on Seattle's top power play, as well, offering full correlation.

The Kraken take on the Chicago Blackhawks at home, and it could be a cure to their scoring woes. Chicago has allowed the fourth-most goals per game this season. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury has been brutal this season, allowing the fifth-most goals above expected this season.

The Kraken could break out of their funk tonight, and their first line offers great value as a stack. Mark Giordano ($4,900) is a great option on defense to pair with the first line, as he leads the team in time on ice.

Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are on a western road trip that began last night. They weren't able to get the win, losing 3-2 in overtime. They'll get the chance to immediately get back on track tonight.

It's been surprisingly quiet for Alex Ovechkin ($9,400) over the past few games. He has just six shots on goal in his last four games after averaging five up until that point. He has still been able to pick up three points in those four games, so he hasn't been a total zero.

Evgeny Kuznetsov ($8,100) had seven points in his last four games before last night and is capable of linking up with Ovechkin for some goals. The lone player on this line who did have a goal last night was Tom Wilson ($5,700), who continues to play solid hockey on both the top line and power play.

The Capitals will take on a Los Angeles Kings team that has been solid and outperforming expectations. Even without Drew Doughty, they've been pretty good defensively. This may keep the popularity of these Washington players in check, especially as it's been a few games since Ovechkin has completely broken the slate. The Kings still allow the sixth-most scoring chances per 90 minutes, so they can still be exploited here.

Washington's top three scorers are those forwards on the top line, and the fourth is defenseman John Carlson ($6,400). He's the perfect fourth piece to this stack, as he will see the puck a lot on the power play.

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.