Written by LineStar Fantasy Wizard @ZeroInDenver.

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Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick.

We have a huge 10 game slate tonight. I've mentioned this before, and I'll say it again. There's no shame in skipping the main slate and playing a Turbo/Express/Late slate. If you do better playing smaller slates, play those.

But before we jump into tonight's slate, I want start highlighting some of the tools within the LineStar app that I find useful and that you might want to consider when building lineups.

For starters, there are a lot of advanced sorters within the app. One of my favorites is "Skaters (Last 5 games)" then "Shots+Blcks/Gm". This is especially useful in finding defensemen, as you're generally going to want to play defensemen that shoot the puck a lot and that block a bunch of shots.

This is also helpful in finding players that will typically have a higher floor for cash lineups. What do you think? Anyone else use this sorter? 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

Darcy Kuemper - ARI (DK: $7200, FD: $8100)

Kuemper was a bit of a disappointment his last time out. He only allowed 2 goals, but he only faced 19 shots. I'm hoping that recency bias causes some people to pass him over tonight. He gets a good matchup against an Islanders team that is only scoring 2.5 goals a game over their last 5 games.

Centers

Pierre-Luc Dubois - CLS (DK: $4.700, FD: $5000)

When you look at the numbers comparing the centers above, there's a lot of value in playing Dubois tonight. He plays on the top line and power play unit, is averaging 18 minutes a night, and is averaging 3 shots on net a night.

Wingers

Jeff Skinner -BUF (DK: $7000, FD: $7500)

Skinner gets a great matchup against a Rangers team that is allowing 3.57 goals a game over their last 5 games. Also, not only is Skinner taking 6.6 shot attempts a game, but his shots are on target 82% of the time as he's averaging 5.4 shots on net a game. The Rangers are also worst on the slate in shots allowed, with an average of 36.7 a game over their last 5 games.

Defensemen

Jacob Trouba - NYR (DK: $6100, FD: $5500)

I think Trouba is a great value tonight for someone who shots the puck, blocks the puck, plays 25 minutes a night, and sits on the top power play unit for the Rangers.

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.

Luke Kunin: MIN - C (DK: $3.4K, FD: $3.9K)

Frank Vatrano: FLA - W (DK: $4.3K, FD: $3.4K)

Rasmus Andersson: CGY - D (DK: $3.3K, FD: $4K)

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.

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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