Written by LineStar Fantasy Life Coach @ZeroInDenver.

Check out the NHL Season Preview & Strategy Guide

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FYI - Tonight’s NHL game between the Nashville Predators and the Carolina Hurricanes has been postponed.

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 building lineups.

Today, I want to talk about stacking in NHL DFS. To me, there are three general approaches I take:

Forward line (even strength) stacking: This means three players from the same line. For example, Taylor Hall, Jack Eichel, and Sam Reinhart all play on the Buffalo first line. Stacking all three would be considered a forward line or even strength line stack. I find this most appropriate on larger slates.

Power Play line stacking: This means three players from the same power playline. In general, I will only look at players on the first power playline. I'm not absolutely opposed to the second power play line, but many teams will have their top power play unit out for most of the power play. That leaves maybe 30-45 seconds for the second unit. I find power play line stacking best on smaller slates or for teams like Edmonton that have two strong players on a line (think McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins) and a filler like Zack Kassian who really don't contribute. In that case, I prefer to stack the Edmonton PP1 unit with McDavid, Nugent-Hopkins, and Draisaitl. Stacking a power play unit also tends to give exposure to multiple lines at even strength.

Team stacking: In this situation, I'm just trying to get 3 (or more) strong players from the same team on my lineup. I'm not trying to correlate players that share time on the same forward line or power play line. I'm just trying to find 3 quality players and hope goals catch one of those players. This is my preferred stack for small slates and showdown slates. It's much riskier and I often miss correlated assists, but it results in more unique lineups.

Additional thoughts:

• You don't have to stack 3 forwards. You can stack two forwards and defensemen.

• If I can, I try to stack my 3 forwards with a defenseman. Generally, I'll want a defenseman that plays a lot of minutes or shares power play time with the players in my stack.

• If you're playing cash games, the more you stack, the riskier your lineup becomes. I generally stack no more than 3 players from a team in my cash lineups and I don't double stack 3-3 stacks in cash.

Hopefully, that makes sense. If not, hit me up in chat. With that said...

LETSSSSSSSSSSGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Tonight's Slate

Here's numbers on the teams so far this season. 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).

Legend: CF% = Corsi For Percentage, CF60 = Corsi For Per60 min, CA = Corsi Allowed Per 60 Min, HDCF60 = High Danger Corsi For Per 60 Min, HDCA60 = High Danger Corsi Allowed Per 60 Min, SF60 = Shots on Goal For Per 60 Min, SA60 = Shots on Goal Allowed Per 60 Min, SOT = % of Shot Attempts On Goal, Sh% = % of Shots on Goal That Are Goals, SCF60 = Scoring Chances For Per 60 Min, SCA60 = Scoring Chances Allowed Per 60 Min, GF60 = Goals For Per 60 Min, GA60 = Goals Allowed Per 60.

Goaltender Rankings

How to Interpret This: I've added LineStar Projected Ownership, LineStar Projected Fantasy Points, and Goalie GAA (Goals Saved Above Average), and Saves/60, along with my projected upside for each goalie. Generally, I'm looking for goalies that I think will get a win with a positive (green) GSAA and a high saves number.

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

My Favorite:

Philipp Grubauer - COL (DK: $8400, FD: $8500) *CONFIRMED STARTER*

With Grubauer coming off a shutout and the Avs facing the Kings tonight, I expect Grubauer to be the most owned goalie on the slate. I built about 50 lineups so far and he's my highest owned goalie too, FWIW.

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), and shots on goal. I've included projections and average fantasy points to see how each compares so you can more easily find value.

My Favorite

Mark Scheifele - WPG (DK: $6300, FD: $7500)

I'm doubling down on Sheifele. He had a good matchup last night and he has a good matchup tonight. The Jets face Matt Murray, and I can't find a reason not to go back to the well for this one.

Winger Rankings

My Favorite:

Patric Hornqvist - FLA (DK: $3300, FD: $5200)

Hornqvist is still too cheap. He's way underpriced on DraftKings, but I like him on both sites and will have a good number of FLA2 stacks tonight.

Defensemen Rankings

My Favorite

Samuel Girard - COL (DK: $4700, FD: $4800)

I think Girard is often overlooked due to Makar, but he's a solid defenseman who shoots the puck a lot. He's also averaging over 23 minutes and makes for a good late-night hammer for tonight.

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", but 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 power play unit. 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.

Oliver Bjorkstrand: CLS - C (DK: $4.3K, FD: $5K)

Jeff Skinner: BUF - W (DK: $3.2K, FD: $5K)

Matt Roy: LAK - D (DK: $3.8K, FD: $3.5K)

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.

Here are my ranked stacks for tonight:

Favorite Stacks Tonight:

Top-Projected Owned Stacks:

Again - I don't think you need to fade any of these stacks. If you're playing GPP, you could pretty comfortably stack one of these top-owned stacks with a biscuit stack and get a fairly unique lineup.

Risk-It-For-The-Biscuit Stacks:

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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