Written by LineStar Fantasy Wizard @ZeroInDenver.

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Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick.

We've got a 4 game slate tonight, but first let's look at yesterday.

If you were focused on NFL yesterday like most people, you might have missed that there was a 4-game main slate. On DraftKings, Bloo32 won the 2-Man Advantage with a 4-3 stack of Minnesota and Washington.

On FanDuel, testosterown won the Breakaway with a 3-3 stack of Minnesota and Montreal.

This time, I want to think about spending up at defense. It's fitting that testosterown won last night, as this is a strategy he's run for a long time.

What I've found in crossing that $4500-$5000 threshold for defensemen is that you start to find players that take a lot of shots, block a lot of shots, get a ton of minutes, and spend time on the top power play unit. Also, these players tend to be a big part of the offense as well. I find they have a better floor than defensemen in the lower salary tiers and carry more upside. I'll certainly be over the field on Thomas Chabot, Alex Pieterangelo, and Morgan Rielly tonight, and I'll be interested to know if any of you are as well.

What do you think? Hit me up in chat.

Tonight's Targets

Here's a high level look of team numbers for tonight:

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: Corsi is shot attempts that the team has taken and allowed. "Shot attempts" include shots that are blocked or miss the net. CF% is the ratio of shot attempts made to shot attempts allowed. Elite teams and lines will have a CF% of 60% or greater.

• HDCF60, HDCA60: This is High Danger Corsi For/60 minutes and High Danger Corsi Allowed/60 minutes. "High Danger" means shot attempts in the area closest to and in front of the goalie.

• SF60, SA60: This is Shots For/60 minutes and Shots Allowed/60 minutes. These are actual shots that hit the goal (or went in).

• SOT: Shots on target. This is the percentage of shots attempted that end up being a shot on goal.

• 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. This is an average of the goals scored or allowed over the last 10 games (in this case 1-3 games).

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

Philipp Grubauer - COL (DK: $7500, FD: $8100)

I really like Grubauer's price tonight. He's allowing just under 3 goals a game, but Colorado is averaging 4.38 goals scored so far this season. I think there's a lot of win equity at the price and if Colorado jumps to an early lead, he's going to see a lot of shots.

Centers

Nathan MacKinnon - COL (DK: $7900, FD: $8600)

St Louis is allowing 4.2 goals a game over their last 5 games and, like I mentioned before, are facing a team that is scoring over 4 goals a game. MacKinnon is a big part of this offense. He plays a lot of minutes and puts a lot of shots on net, so I'm going to have a lot of him in my lineups tonight.

Wingers

James van Riemsdyk -PHI (DK: $5000, FD: $5700)

I've mentioned before that I'm really going to chase players that shoot the puck a lot. JVR comes in at a great price for someone who's averaging 7.6 shot attempts and 3.8 high danger shot attempts in his last 5 games. I don't love that he's on the third line, but he is on the top power play unit for Philly and is seeing almost 18 minutes of ice time a night.

Defensemen

Zach Werenski - CLS (DK: $4400, FD: $5300)

I've mentioned spending up at defense, but I think Werenski comes in at a great value as he's been priced much higher in years past. He checks all the boxes I look for in a defenseman. Plus, he shoots the puck a lot, blocks shots, and sees over 23 minutes a night.

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.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau: OTT - C (DK: $4.2K, FD: $3.5K)

Andre Burakovsky: COL - W (DK: $3.9K, FD: $4.6K)

Vince Dunn: STL - D (DK: $3.9K, FD: $3.9K)

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.

I'm going to do stacks a little differently moving forward. I'm going to provide you with the top projected owned stacks, my favorites, and the "risk it for the biscuit" stacks (high-upside, low ownership stacks. Along with these stacks you can compare their prices, see how LineStar projects them, as well as their combined average fantasy points per game over the last 5 games.

I don't think this is a complicated slate. I think you can get a lot of leverage by picking that odd line that goes off, but I'm going to go heavier on the top lines on the slate. Which is why I think Vegas, Toronto, Colorado, and Dallas are the top targets.

Keep in mind, these are my favorites. 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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