3 Daily Fantasy NHL Stacks for Wednesday 3/23/22

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 -- if one player on a line is scoring goals, it's likely that his linemates are getting assists, as well.

Ideally, we want players who 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.

We've got the typical smaller Wednesday slate, but there are still teams that are fun to stack playing tonight.

Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs made some deadline moves to help bolster their chances of ending a long Stanley Cup drought. They didn't need to touch the first line, though, as it has been scoring at a rapid pace for a while now. They get a fantastic matchup today to keep up that torrid pace.

After missing two games due to suspension, Auston Matthews ($10,200) returned with a goal on Saturday. That put him up to 46 on the season, so he should easily exceed 50, with 60 being in reach. Mitchell Marner ($8,700) liked Matthews' return to the lineup, as well, as he picked up two goals and an assist in that game. Calder Trophy candidate Michael Bunting ($5,400) has reached 20 goals in his first full season in the league. He won't be on the power play with Matthews and Marner but is still fine as a third piece to this stack.

The Leafs will play the New Jersey Devils in a spot that couldn't be much better. Toronto has been off since Saturday while the Devils played last night and now have to travel north of the border. The Maple Leafs ran wild against the Devils in a back-to-back set of games not that long ago. They won 6-4 on January 31st and then 7-1 on February 1st. Matthews had six points in those two games, including a hat trick in the first clash. Marner had him beat, though, recording seven points in those games.

The Leafs' implied team total is 4.38 goals. That's one of the highest we've seen this season. All signs point to Toronto going off in this game, and we really want to target the top line. It has perhaps been the best line in fantasy hockey in 2022, and it can easily break the slate tonight.

Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche took care of business in an exciting game on Monday. They scored only three goals, but all three goals involved the players we want to play in fantasy. Hopefully, that will be the case again in this one.

Nathan MacKinnon ($10,000) continued his great play with two points and seven shots on goal. That brought him to 17 points over his last 10 games. Mikko Rantanen ($8,800) scored twice, giving him four straight games with multiple points. The newcomer on this line, Valeri Nichushkin ($6,600), has fit in very well, tallying five points in three games since joining this top line. He also continues to get run on the power play, giving this line full correlation.

The second line is also in play as it has some value plays who make sense for this slate. Nazem Kadri ($8,400) is still tied for the team lead in points despite the first line being on fire of late. He has been playing with Andre Burakovsky ($4,900) and could get the newly acquired Artturi Lehkonen ($4,600) on his line, as well. That is a very capable second line with an affordable total salary.

Colorado will face the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks weren't huge movers at the trade deadline, but they did get rid of some depth players and didn't add anyone. Vancouver will have a hard time slowing down this Colorado team, especially if they are taking penalties. Vancouver's penalty kill is dead last in the league by some distance, killing just 71.4% of their penalties this season.

Colorado doesn't have the astronomical team total that the Leafs do, but it's still a very solid 3.91. They definitely have the capabilities needed to win a tournament. If you can fit Cale Makar ($7,100), you certainly should consider it, as he leads all defensemen with 22 goals this season.

Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks are not the contenders that some people thought they would be heading into this season. They made some major splashes in the offseason, but not all of those moves have paid off. They still, however, have some explosive players who can win slates, and they are in a good spot today.

The Blackhawks were a frustrating team to stack earlier in the season because it was hard to get correlation between their best players. That's changed recently, and they now have their best fantasy players all on the same line. Patrick Kane ($9,200) has 18 points in his last 10 games, making him quietly one of the hottest players in the league. Alex DeBrincat ($8,100) leads the team with 34 goals, which is good for the eighth-most in the league. Dylan Strome ($5,800) centers this line and plays on the top power play with them, so he's definitely a nice piece to add.

Chicago will be on the road against the Anaheim Ducks. This line went nuts the last time these teams played, which was back on March 8th. Strome scored a hat trick, DeBrincat had four points and Kane put up a whopping six points. That was when the Ducks still had solid defensemen Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm in the lineup -- both of whom have since been traded. Without Manson and Lindholm in the lineup, the Ducks just allowed six goals to the Nashville Predators on Monday.

Chicago is actually an underdog in this game. That's mostly due to goaltending, with Marc-Andre Fleury no longer on the team. This could keep their popularity down, as some people might not want to use a lot of salary on players from the team with only the fifth-highest implied total on a four-game slate. But we know Chicago they can win in this matchup, so they are still worth taking a shot on despite the rather low team total.

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.