Daily Fantasy Stacking: 02-05-18
Tonight’s four-game slate features a number of the league’s top lines but a scarce amount of value. Here are what should be some of the top stacks of the night.
High-Priced
Jamie Benn ($7,000)-Tyler Seguin ($7,300)-Alexander Radulov ($6,900)
The Stars take on the Rangers tonight, who have recently seen their lineup ravaged by injuries. Today Marc Staal and Jimmy Vesey joined an injury list that already includes Chris Kreider, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Pavel Buchnevich. Ken Hitchcock prefers to match his third line against the opposition’s best, so expect Dallas 1 to matchup against the depleted depth of the Rangers tonight. Henrik Lundqvist is expected back in goal for the Rangers tonight, and is currently enduring one of his worst stretches of the season. He’s lost five in a row with a 4.46 GAA and .857 SV%.
The Stars’ top line has been especially good lately, posting a 77.78 GF% at 5v5 together over their last six games. While they have failed to match their extremely high value in DFS at times this season, they have been as reliable as any line in the league when they’re gifted a strong matchup. They’re likely to be chalk tonight but fading them is a huge risk. Full-stacking this line with John Klingberg ($6,000) is obviously ideal but it makes for a very expensive build. If you’re looking for something a little more affordable, I’d suggest playing Esa Lindell ($4,100).
Medium-Priced
Zach Hyman ($4,200)-Auston Matthews ($6,600)-William Nylander ($5,600)
With the Leafs playing host to the Ducks tonight, expect Mike Babcock to match the Patrick Marleau-Nazem Kadri-Mitch Marner line against Anaheim 1. The Matthews line should then have the luxury of spending most of their ice-time matched-up against the depth of the Ducks. Matthews himself is coming off the worst possession game of his career Saturday night against the Bruins, where he posted an embarrassing 21.0 CF%. Throughout his young career Matthews has showed a tendency to bounce back strong from his off-nights, and you can expect more of the same tonight.
On top of dodging Ryan Getzlaf and the Ducks top line, what makes this matchup especially enticing for Toronto 1 is Ryan Miller. Miller will make his third straight start tonight while John Gibson remains sidelined with a lower-body injury. After a strong outing against Ottawa, Miller was pulled Saturday against the Habs after allowing three goals on just four shots. While the Ducks are a defensively sound hockey team, Matthews and company should feast on Miller, who comes in giving up six goals on the last 49 shots he’s faced.
The Ducks are also the most penalized team in the league, so you can expect ample powerplay time for Nylander and Matthews on top of their strong 5v5 matchups. If you’re looking for a full stack, I suggest playing Morgan Reilly ($5,200).
Value Stack
Jesper Fast ($3,000)-Mika Zibanejad ($5,400)-Mats Zuccarello ($4,700)
I don’t love the idea of stacking the Rangers right now given everything I’ve already mentioned above, but there’s not a whole lot of value to be had on this slate tonight. The Rangers’ injury trouble should force them to lean heavily on their top line, which is moderately priced at $13,100 for the full-stack. I already mentioned Hitchcock is expected to match his third line of Antoine Roussel-Radek Faska-Tyler Pitlick against this stack. While Dallas 3 has proven to be a formidable line, they’re far from the best shutdown line in hockey.
All three members of the Rangers’ top line currently feature on their top powerplay unit as well. Given how dreadful their second unit has performed this season, you can expect Rangers 1 to see plenty of powerplay time tonight. I really do prefer the Stars in this matchup, but the price is right for this stack. I’d advise against making this a full stack, but if you need to, Ryan McDonagh ($4,700) is the play.