Written by LineStar Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver.

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Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick.

ICYMI - The NHL Season Preview & Strategy guide goes over the basics of NHL DFS and what I look for when researching players.

Today's slate is almost identical to the main slate from two days ago, except no SJ/STL tonight. Some things to keep in mind for tonight:

• Nathan MacKinnon is expected to be back for the Avalanche tonight

• I'd still expect 40%+ owned McDavid and chalk Edmonton stacks

• Pietrangelo out, Stone GTD for Vegas

• Montreal put Toffoli and Gallagher together on MON2

• Does LAK/ANH go off again? Hard to say but there's a lot of cheap lineup fillers in both lineups.

I've talked about recency bias before, and it's something to consider again tonight. It's hard to go back to teams like Montreal, Vegas, and Colorado when they were relative busts on Monday. Still, I think we have to remember this is "daily" fantasy and it's good to have a short memory.

With that said, let's take a look at tonight's slate... LETSSSSSSSSSSGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Tonight's Slate

Here's numbers on the teams from their past 10 games. Generally, I start my research by looking for teams in good spots. For example, teams that score goals (GF60) that are facing teams that give up goals (GA60). I also look at teams that shoot a lot (CF60) that are facing teams that give up a lot of shots (CA60).

Based on this, teams that stand out to me are COL, EDM, OTT, MIN, and VAN

Goaltender Rankings

How to Read This: 

I'm giving you a comparison of LineStar projections vs the average fantasy points scored over their last 10 games. I've also given you their save percentage (over 0.910 is ideal), goals allowed (lower is better), saves per game (more is better), GAA (Goals Saved Above Average), and my projected upside for each goalie.

Generally, if I'm stacking a team, I'll correlate a goalie if I can. In GPPs, I may not have the salary to make this work. In this case, I usually spend down on someone that I expect will take a lot of shots and could pick up the W.

As always - double-check that your goalie is starting before the game starts.

My Favorites:

CASH: Mike Smith - EDM (DK: $8300, FD: $8000)

GPP: Thatcher Demko - VAN (DK: $7300, FD: $7000)

Forwards and Defensemen Rankings

How to Interpret C/D/W charts: In NHL DFS, I think it's most important to look at peripheral stats instead of goals which is why I put so much emphasis on shots. This includes shot attempts, high danger shot attempts (those shot attempts closest to the net with the highest probability of going into the net), shots on goal, and scoring chances. I've included projections and average fantasy points to see how each compares so you can more easily find value.

Center

My Favorite

Connor McDavid - EDM (DK: $9300, FD: $8800)

MacKinnon is expected to return to the lineup tonight, but I think I want to pay a little more and get McDavid, who has a better matchup against an Ottawa team that is giving up almost 27 scoring chances and 3.7 goals a night.

Wing

My Favorite:

Kevin Fiala - MIN (DK: $5400, FD: $6300)

I looked up numbers on Fiala with Parise and Rask vs Vegas and in 10:37 of TOI, they have a CF% of 77.78 with 8 shots on goal and 1 goal. With Pietrangelo out, I feel this is a solid play tonight.

Defensemen

My Favorite

Tyson Barrie - EDM (DK: $6300, FD: $5200)

Barrie takes shots, gets minutes, on PP1, and makes for a good correlation play with McDavid tonight. EZ

Bottom of the Barrel

Here are my cheap calls for a skater to pick up a goal or assist.

Adrian Kempe: LAK - C (DK: $4300, FD: $5000)

Valeri Nichushkin: COL- W (DK: $2800, FD: $3400)

Travis Hamonic: VAN - D (DK: $3100, FD: $3700)

Line Stacks

Here are my ranked stacks for tonight. I like to target stacks that correlate, meaning the players all share time on the ice at even strength, and on the power play. BOS1, COL1, and VGK1 are examples of that. However, that doesn't stop me from playing other stacks that I like on the night.

Favorite Stacks Tonight:

Risk-It-For-The-Biscuit Stacks:

These are stacks that I think have the ability to go off and will probably go under-owned tonight.

Disclaimer: Keep in mind, plays and thoughts listed are my own. 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 today! Tag me in the LineStar Chat @ZeroInDenver if you have any questions or feedback. Follow me on Twitter @ZeroInDenver.

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