Written by LineStar Daily Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver.

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Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick.

So if you love watching hockey, the first two days of Round 1 have been fantastic. If you love DFS, they've been a bit frustrating. The first night was nuked by the Columbus-Tampa game going to 5 OT. In any year but 2020, this would be no big deal, but since all games are being played in two cities, it pushed back the start of the Carolina-Boston game, postponing it until the next day. From a DFS perspective, if you were paying attention, you either scrambled to fix lineups or you had a bunch of dead lineups like me. Fortunately, Draftkings and FanDuel gave everyone a mulligan and refunded any losses.

DFS Approach

I'm still trying to figure out Stanley Cup DFS. Just looking at who's scoring fantasy points, it still seems like it's primarily the first and second lines. So for me, I'm going to probably exclude all 4th liners from my lineups and all 3rd liners unless they're on a power play line. Again, I'm not going to force line stacks. It's a small slate and the LineStar builder is probably going to give you some team stacks without having to force it. If you're hand-building lineups, I still wouldn't force it. If you like Point and Kucherov, go for it, but I wouldn't play one simply because you played the other.

What do you think? Let me know in LineStar Chat

LETSSSSSSSSGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Goaltender

Guess who's confirmed for tonight at the time of this writing? Absolutely no one.

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

I'm going back to the well on Talbot. He's been playing well, and like I said last time, I don't like spending more than $8K on goaltenders.

Centers

My Favorite: Sebastian Aho - CAR (DK: $7200, FD: $8100)

Aho doesn't take a lot of shots, but he's a playmaker that can pick up a assists. To me, he's the stud that I build my lineups around today.

Winger

My Favorite: Jonathan Marchessault - VGK (DK: $6100, FD: $7000)

Marchessault has shot volume that I love and he's facing a Chicago team that doesn't appear to be the same team that beat Edmonton in the qualifier round.

Defensemen

My Favorite: Shea Theodore - VGK (DK: $6600, FD: $6100)

Theodore is one of the most expensive defensemen on the slate, but I think his shot volume and ability to block shots makes it worth it, plus paring him with David Savard makes for a solid floor with defensemen in your lineup.

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 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.

Paul Stastny: VGK - C (DK: $4600, FD: $4400)

Jake DeBrusk: BOS - W (DK: $4000, FD: $4600)

David Savard: CLS - D (DK: $4100, FD: $3900)

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.

Like I mentioned before, I don't think I'm going to run many full line stacks. To me, it's just too much risk if that line doesn't score or only scores one line. If I am going to do a full line stack, I'm going to lean towards lines where I don't have any issue with playing any one of the players individually, if that makes sense. Here are my favorites that fit that requirement:

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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