Written by LineStar Daily Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver.

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Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick. Twelve games on tap tonight. I've been seeing a lot of the same questions over the past couple months in LineStar Chat and I want to take some time to touch on some of those for the people that might be new or still struggling with NHL DFS.

Who is a lock?

No one. $7000 players can drop a 0, even with the best matchup in the world. That's not to say that I won't play someone at 100%. I've done that with players like McDavid, MacKinnon, and Pastrnak, but it's a very select few that I do that with. But it's a matter of "play who you like" more than "you have to play this person".

What position do I spend up for?

I don't decide on who to spend up for on position. Instead, I'm looking at players and probability that they could have a ceiling game. Some nights, that might be John Carlson. Other nights, that might be Pastrnak. Also, I'll make the argument that you can usually pick two or three positions to spend up on in your lineup without having too high of an opportunity cost.

What position do I play in the UTIL spot?

Just like before, it really depends on how your lineup looks as a whole. For me, I'm heavily reliant on stacking. The UTIL spot for me will typically be the best player available to fill my stack.

What team do I stack?

I have a high-level look at the slate posted in the next section. Teams with high numbers in the ScoreAgg column are typically those I focus more on.

In the LineStar app, I like to use an advanced sorter for "Skaters vs Opp Team (Last 5)" and sory by "FPPG to Line". These are lines that typically have the best matchup on the slate.

With that said....

LETSSSSSSSSGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Got questions on tonight's slate? Hit me up in LineStar Chat

Tonight's Targets

First - a lot of this data might be foreign to most of you, so let me break it down (numbers over the last 10 games):

• W and L: Wins and Losses

• CF%, CF60, CA60: This is Corsi For %, Corsi For/60 minutes, Corsi Allowed/60 minutes

• HDCF60, HDCA60: This is High Danger Corsi For/60 minutes and High Danger Corsi Allowed/60 minutes.

• SF60, SA60: This is Shots For/60 minutes and Shots Allowed/60 minutes.

• SOT: Percentage of shots on target .

• Sh%: The percentage of shots on goal that are goals.

• SCF60, SCA60: Scoring chances for and allowed per 60 minutes

• GF60, GA60: These are goals for and goals allowed per 60 minutes.

• ScoreAgg: Summed numbers of a teams GF60, xGF60 and the opponent's GA60 and xGA60.

I'm overgeneralizing, but I want teams that aren't afraid to shoot the puck. More shot attempts the better. Then I narrow it down more based on teams that are hitting the net and getting goals. Again, really high level stuff. Don't go all in based on one or even a few numbers, but I think it's more useful than just going off of implied goals.

Now let's dig into this slate.

Goaltenders

Cam Talbot - CGY (DK: $7900, FD: $8000)

On large slates, I don't like spending up for goaltending. So in this case, I'm going for the best talent I can afford that will face decent shot volume. For me, Talbot is interesting because over the past month, he has a 2.20 GAA with a solid .931 Save%.

Centers

Nathan MacKinnon - COL (DK: $8500, FD: $8700)

I'm sticking with this homer call. COL2 went ham last game, but I think the top line for Colorado gets it done tonight.

Wingers

Mike Hoffman - FLA (DK: $4600, FD: $6000)

He'll go overlooked because of the 3rd line status (which is also kind of a nasty line stack for tonight), but that price! He still manages to get 17 minutes of ice time, has solid shot volume, plus time on the top power play unit for Florida.

Defensemen

Shea Theodore - VGK (DK: $5600, FD: $5300)

Theodore represents everything I look for in a defenseman for NHL DFS. High shot volume, over 23 minutes of ice time, and on the top power play unit.

If you take anything away from this, keep in mind that hockey is a high-variance sport. The top ranked player in each category could be a great play or be a dud tonight. Going all in on any player probably isn't a great move.

With DFS, I try to think of these things:

• Who makes the most sense to play?

• Where is the field leaning?

• Who has been the most consistent?

• Who has the most upside?

• Who will benefit me most if others are wrong?

Bottom of the Barrel

Some people call these "value" plays or "salary savers." I hate both terms. These are players that I like for tonight that fit at the lowest salary tier. It could be they're playing on one of the top forward lines or it could be that they've been playing well, but these are my cheap calls for a skater to pick up a goal or assist.

Pavel Zacha: NJD - C (DK: $3200, FD: $3700)

Alex Killorn: TBL - D (DK: $4200, FD: $4600)

Samuel Girard: COL - D (DK: $3800, FD: $4300)

Line Stacks

Line stacking is a common strategy in GPP. You’ll see a lot of winning lineups where players are stacked from the same forward lines or power play lines. DraftKings allows a maximum of 6 skaters from the same team (with skaters from at least 3 teams) and FanDuel allows a maximum of 4 skaters from one team. In tournaments, you'll often see 3-3 stacks (meaning 3 players from one team and 3 from another team), 4-3, and 3-3-2 stacks.

Looking at stacks for tonight, here are LineStar's top projected owned stacks, my top ranked, and the "risk it for the biscuit" stacks (high-upside, low ownership stacks.

Keep in mind, these are my favorites. These lines may change so keep an eye out for news during the day and during pre-game warmups. You should all do your own research and you might (and probably should) disagree with me in some spots. Don't be afraid to go your own way.

Good luck to–day! Tag me in the LineStar Chat @ZeroInDenver if you have any questions or feedback. Follow me on Twitter @ZeroInDenver.

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