Written by LineStar Daily Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver.

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Welcome to the NHL Hat Trick.

In continuing with the conversation yesterday, I'm trying to think of the best ways to build lineups for NHL DFS. I think that with each season, the tools are getting better and the information is getting better and is more widely available. Gone are the days where you can mash buttons and print money. Sad!

I find myself personally looking more into what's happening in slates, what kinds of stacks are winning (or doing well), who is doing well (and studying their lineups).

One thing that I've been considering is trying to focus more on certain players in my lineups, especially on larger slates like we have tonight. My thinking is, if I really like a player like Barkov tonight and I'm playing 150, 20, or even three lineups, shouldn't I have him in as many of those lineups as possible? If I play him at 20%, will those 30 lineups (out of 150) with him be good enough for me to profit? Or will the other 130 lineups sink me.

What do y'all think? Hit me up in LineStar 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

Anton Khudobin - DAL (DK: $7200, FD: $7500)

Even though Dallas played last night in a different city, I'm willing to risk it for the biscuit on Khudobin. He's priced about right for the risk and matchup to me. I'm not expecting a lot out of him, but he allows me to squeeze a few more studs into my lineups.

Centers

Aleksander Barkov - FLA (DK: $6700, FD: $8300)

I don't know how you justify his price on FanDuel, but I think he's still a bargain on DraftKings, which is why I have him highlighted here again. Winnipeg has done well at limiting goals allowed, but they've allowed a lot of fantasy points to the opposing top line, which is why I'm fine rolling him out again.

Wingers

Mike Hoffman - FLA (DK: $5100, FD: $5600)

If you're not sold on Barkov, can I interest you in Hoffman? I think he'll fly under the radar tonight, especially since he's now on the third line, but he's also skating with Vatrano (SPOILER: I really like him tonight too). I think Hoffman makes a good pairing with either one for your lineups.

Defensemen

Cale Makar - COL (DK: $5600, FD: $5000)

A donut is coming. He's going to have a game where he only gets a couple shots on net. That's just the nature of the sport. But while he's priced under $6K, I'm going to continue rolling him out.

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.

Blake Lizotte: LAK - C (DK: $2.7K, FD: $3.4K)

Frank Vatrano: FLA - W (DK: $4.3K, FD: $3.7K)

Josh Mahura: ANH - D (DK: $3.4K, FD: $3.6K)

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 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. 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 today! Tag me in the LineStar Chat @ZeroInDenver if you have any questions or feedback. Follow me on Twitter @ZeroInDenver.

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