Today’s NHL Sunday Slate Breakdown goes over Sunday’s five (5) game main slate on FanDuel, which will lock at 12:00 PM ET/9:00 AM PT and the four (4) game main slate on DraftKings, which will lock at 3:00 PM ET/12:00 PM PT.
I’m going to be copy/pasting this GPP process for every GPP article that I write this season.
Remember, the concept of playing GPPs is generally the same in all sports. Take some risks. Be a little different. Go for the win. In GPPs, if your lineups are cashing more often than not cashing, you’re probably doing it wrong.
People who have more winning nights than losing nights at GPPs are probably people who don’t take enough risks to get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd, which tends to be what you want to go for when you’re entering GPP tournaments. If you think doing so is “too risky” then I highly advise for you to stick to cash games.
When it comes to taking the necessary risks to get 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in these tournaments, you’re going to have to stack. Stacking in NHL means playing 2, 3, or 4 players from the same team who play on the same line (either at even strength or on the power-play).
As a whole, the most common stacks (not including goalie) that you’ll see on DraftKings is probably 4-3-1 or 3-3-2. The most common stacks that you’ll see on FanDuel is probably 4-4 or 4-3-1. Is that the way to go? Not necessarily. The bigger your stacks, the more risk you’re taking, but the bigger the upside. The smaller the stacks, the less risk you’re taking, but it comes with less upside.
The approach I am recommending EVERYONE takes this season is to start with a 3-2-1 stack and go from there. This means entering a 3 man stack, a 2 man stack, and a standalone player (doesn’t matter if it’s a C, W, or D), and then go from there. There’s a lot of different combinations you can go with after those six players are locked in. The possibilities are endless.
Please be sure to keep an eye on late news by looking at our NHL Team Beat Writers lists on Twitter by clicking here.
Beyond that, you should also absolutely use Left Wing Lock for lines by clicking here and goalie confirmations by clicking here.
Stacks to Consider
With 4 lines and 2 power-play units per team, there are a lot of different options. I am listing eight (8) stacks that I think are very much in play today This does not include numerous VIABLE stack options. Please feel free to go outside of these stacks, but I promise you, I’ve narrowed down my list, and I do feel these are my favorite.
*These stacks are listed in order of my early guess at the overall popularity (chalkiness)
VGKPP1: Max Pacioretty/William Karlsson/Mark Stone/Cody Glass/Shea Theodore
I think it makes a ton of sense for VGK1 to be the highest owned, but I also think if we’re basing everything on what happened on Friday night, we have to consider how fortunate it was for them to be able to face Jonathan Quick instead of Cal Peterson to start the game. I have been a Jonathan Quick hater since I started my DFS NHL career (that’s a long ass time) and at this point, it’s just sad. His positioning has never been good, but at this point, it’s going to cost him more than before because he’s just not as athletic as he was in his prime. All of this may end up being just another long rant on Jonathan Quick for no reason. Cal Peterson SHOULD start today’s game. You can definitely gain heavy leverage from fading VGK1. The underlying stats were much, much closer than you’d probably imagine, but the biggest difference was that VGK got more opportunities on the power-play, and were able to convert. I think it’s more likely for the power-play to convert multiple times again than VGK1 at 5v5.
FLA1: Carter Verhaeghe/Aleksander Barkov/Anthony Duclair
Possible add-on: Keith Yandle or Aaron Ekblad
It’s going to be very difficult to fade FLA1 every single slate given how great they’ve looked from day 1, and the great price point (Barkov is the only expensive piece). The only scary part about targeting against the Red Wings is that they tend to play with the slower pace.
VGK2: Jonathan Marchessault/William Karlsson/Reilly Smith
Possible add-on: Alec Martinez or Nicholas Hague
I think VGK2 is so affordable that they may be higher owned than this, but because they’re so affordable, we need to take a strong look at them given the possibility that they are overlooked due to the dominance of Pacioretty/Stone.
DALPP1: Denis Gurianov/Joe Pavelski/John Klingberg/Roope Hintz/Alexander Radulov
The Stars have put together the 2nd best power-play in the league (right behind the Hawks), and a big reason for that is this top power-play unit. They actually have not been together every game due to injuries, but if you’ve watched them in action, I think you can see why they are so successful. Joe Pavelski is one of the best net-front guys in the league because of his hand-eye coordination (deflections galore). They are also one of the best in the league once the top unit gets set up properly. “Shoooooootttt the puckkkkk” is something you’ve probably all said out loud when watching a hockey game on TV or in person, but you generally don’t have to worry about the Stars, because they will definitely shoot the puck or look for a redirection when it’s there.
CAR1: Andrei Svechnikov/Sebastian Aho/Brock McGinn
Possible add-on: Dougie Hamilton
The Blue Jackets just do not put their opponents away. They’ve played 12 games this season, winning FIVE of them. Each of those five victories were by a margin of ONE goal. For whatever reason, it just doesn’t look like the Blue Jackets have been able to put together a consistent 60 minutes of hockey. I think CAR1 will do some damage today. In their limited time together this season, this new CAR1 line that includes Aho with McGinn and Svechnikov have been outstanding. 80% GF% that’s pushed through a 60% CF% and a 62.5% HDCF%.
PHIPP1: James van Riemsdyk/Claude Giroux/Kevin Hayes/Jakub Voracek/Ivan Provorov
One thing I’ve definitely realized this season is that there are a lot of really bad penalty killing units throughout the league. This is a big reason why I feel like targeting top PP units is the way to go right now. The Capitals are usually MUCH better shorthanded then what we’ve seen from them this year, but their goaltending woes, and COVID issues probably don’t really help. I think Philadelphia is a pretty good team, but they’re a team that you can rarely count on for offense at 5v5. I have to learn on their top power-play unit, which has been bolstered by JVR playing some of the best hockey in his career. Keep in mind, there’s a chance that Sean Couturier will be back on this unit, and if that’s the case, I would imagine that Kevin Hayes would be the odd man out.
LA1: Alex Iafallo/Anze Kopitar/Dustin Brown
Possible add-on: Drew Doughty or Mikey Anderson
As I mentioned in chat, the Kings are historically actually very good against the Golden Knights, and LA1 tends to be the one line that always brings it. That was still the case on Friday, even though the scoreboard would suggest otherwise. I think if the Kings win this game, there’s no chance for it to happen without some offensive production from LA1. This could happen at 5v5 or the power-play, but ultimately, they should be able to make their mark, and they should be able to do so at very low ownership.
DET3: Sam Gagner/Vladislav Namestnikov/Frans Nielsen
The Red Wings performed admirably against the Lightning and were able to get some very good scoring chances in a slow-paced game, but scoring goals is always going to be hard to come by against one of the best goalies in the NHL (Vasilevskiy). They actually generated 10 HDCF to the Lightning’s 3, which I feel says A LOT. They are on the right track, and if they keep that up agains the Panthers, they’ll be able to put 3-4 in the net. Per usual, Dylan Larkin’s a guy who constantly puts the pressure on his opponents, but he’s going to have a tough time against the Barkov line, and I don’t know if I want to go there today. If I’m playing Detroit, my first look is an off the wall play in DET3, who were outstanding against the Lightning, and are comprised of three guys who all have shown scoring abilities in the past.
GPP Goalie Pool
*I think all goalies are in play today, so I would correlate them with your lines, but these are the ones who I think have the biggest upside)
Cal Peterson
Kevin Lankinen
Thomas Greiss
Robin Lehner
Favorite Individual Plays
Top Studs: Max Pacioretty, Aleksander Barkov, Joe Pavelski (possibly a little contrarian)
Top Defensemen: Shea Theodore (in his own tier), John Klingberg, Aaron Ekblad
Top DraftKings Values below $4k: Vladislav Namestnikov, Alex Tuch, Dustin Brown, Mattias Janmark, Kale Clague, David Savard
Top FanDuel Values below $5k: Cody Glass, Reilly Smith, Alex Iafallo, Vladislav Namestnikov, Keith Yandle, Alec Martinez
Cash Game Core Four
DraftKings: Aleksander Barkov, Vladislav Namestnikov, Max Pacioretty, Kale Clague
FanDuel: Aleksander Barkov, Max Pacioretty, Denis Gurianov, Shea Theodore
