3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Thursday 12/16/21

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 updated line information.

With all of the players unfortunately being placed on the COVID list, tons of lineups have been shaken up. Let's take a look at what we can stack now.

Minnesota Wild

There have been many crazy things this year, and one of them is the Minnesota Wild becoming a great team to stack. They are second in goals per game and have some really exciting players we can stack.

The first line for the Wild is fully correlated across the power play, as well.

Kirill Kaprizov ($7,900) is a dynamic talent and has 32 points in 28 games this season. There were concerns that he wasn’t shooting enough, but those have ended quickly, as he is now averaging 3.5 shots per game. Ryan Hartman ($6,200) is having a career year with 13 goals, which is as many as the likes of John Tavares, Steven Stamkos, and Mikko Rantanen. Mats Zuccarello ($6,400) is the third member of this line and has been solid when healthy with 22 points in 22 games.

The Wild will face the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night. This is a great matchup for Minnesota, as Buffalo has been cratering defensively. They’ve allowed five or more goals 11 times since the start of November.

The Wild have an implied team total that’s hit rare territory by exceeding four. They are a great stack that won't break the bank, so they'll be one of the more popular teams tonight.

Vegas Golden Knights

The Vegas Golden Knights had an unrecognizable lineup about a month into the season. Now that they are nearly back to full strength, they are the true Western Conference contender we all thought they would be. They're on a roll and should continue that tonight.

The hottest goal scorer in the league at the moment is Max Pacioretty ($10,600). He has 10 goals and 54 shots on goal in his last 10 games. His running mate, Mark Stone ($8,000), has played setup man for him, with 11 assists and 15 points in those 10 games. Chandler Stephenson ($6,500) continues to prove the people who say Vegas needs a stronger center on this line wrong, as he has 13 points in those games, as well.

The Golden Knights will take on a struggling New Jersey Devils team tonight. The Devils have lost 8 of their last 10 games, including 3 in a row. Their last time out, they got beat badly by the Philadelphia Flyers 6-1. They will still be missing Nico Hischier and Ryan Graves tonight, too, which hurts their depth.

Vegas' implied team total comes in just behind the Wild tonight. Defenseman Shea Theodore ($6,300) is someone to throw into this stack, as he has seven points in his last seven games and plays on the power play with this line that's been on fire of late.

Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers have not had a good season by any means. They had a 10-game losing streak in which they had to make a coaching change. But they've won three games in a row and face a team that's been even worse this season.

The Flyers finally had a breakout game on Tuesday against the Devils. Cam Atkinson ($6,100) scored a hat trick and had an assist, as well. Claude Giroux ($5,800) had just one assist with Atkinson on his line but leads the team with 24 points. Oskar Lindblom ($3,800) is the third member of this line who also plays on the power play with Atkinson.

The first line has two members of the first power play that play with Giroux. Those would be Sean Couturier ($5,900) and Travis Konecny ($5,300). They've both struggled badly of late but could turn things around tonight.

Philadelphia will face the Montreal Canadiens tonight. Montreal has a depleted lineup that has been getting beaten bad of late. They've lost their last two games by a combined 9-3 score, and they allow the third-most goals per game in the league.

This could be a great get-right spot for some of Philly's players. They are big favorites on the road, and given how badly they have struggled so far this season, that says a lot about the current state of the Canadiens. We shouldn't be afraid to stack the Flyers in this spot.

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.