With both the NHL season and season long fantasy leagues winding down, now's as good of time as any to dabble in daily fantasy where every slate is a new beginning that has its own independent contests. As a reminder, we've recently launched our own DFS subscription service, complete with our lineup optimizer and currently we're running a promotion if you want to check it out:

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Recapping last Saturday, you won't believe it but another 4-3-1 stack took down the first-place prize in the DraftKings Kick Save Contest.

Unfortunately for us, St. Louis and Columbus were not on my list of targets for that slate, so this was a lineup I was not close to duplicating. However, it checks all the boxes in the style of lineup I've been trying to build consistently. Those boxes being a four-man stack under $25,000 in salary, a top tier three-man stack to go with it, a one-off power play defenseman, and at least six players on a top power-play unit. I'll continue focusing on that type of build going forward in the hopes of landing on two stacks that can combine for a tournament winning score.

For tonight's action we've got nine games on the slate so let's find some places to attack. All players and prices are from DraftKings but can be applied to any site.

Four-Player Stacks under $25,000

Tampa Bay – All but out of the playoffs at this point, Winnipeg comes into Saturday's contest also down Mark Scheifele from the lineup. With it being a back-to-back and Connor Hellebuyck having started Friday (and getting chased), the Lightning will likely see Eric Comrie, who hasn't started a game since March 31 where he allowed six goals. It's a recipe that has all signs pointing to Tampa in this one. Look at the big three of Nikita Kucherov ($7,700), Brayden Point ($6,900), and Steven Stamkos ($7,200) with a cheap option like Nick Paul ($3,000) or Erik Cernak ($2,600) to round out the stack and stay under the threshold.

Dallas – The top line for the Stars has been one of the best in the league all season and that's only been magnified on home ice, which is where they'll be tonight. The price tags on this trio of Roope Hintz ($5,700), Joe Pavelski ($5,300), and Jason Robertson ($5,500) is at one of the lowest points it's been all season which makes them a great value for stacks tonight. You can add in John Klingberg ($4,400) to extend it out to four. The matchup is pristine as well, as the Sharks have lost eight straight games.

Buffalo – While neither the Flyers nor the Sabres have anything left to play for, Buffalo at least seems to still be putting forth a complete effort, picking up wins against playoff teams like Toronto, Carolina, and Nashville over the past two weeks. The Flyers, meanwhile, have allowed 18 goals over their past three games including four or more in eight of their last ten. The Sabres top line of Tage Thompson ($6,500), Alex Tuch ($5,600), and Jeff Skinner ($5,800) have shown the potential over the past few weeks for producing slate winning scores. Add in Rasmus Dahlin ($4,600) to complete the stack.

Three-Player Stacks to Mix In

Washington – The Canadiens are on a back-to-back here and have lost four straight games. Meanwhile the Capitals have won four of five in a stretch where they scored 23 goals in those four wins, three of which came against playoff teams. You're not going to stack the Capitals without Alex Ovechkin ($8,200) so you can start there and build in T.J. Oshie ($3,000) and one of Nicklas Backstrom ($3,900) or Evgeny Kuznetsov ($6,300) pending what you can fit.

Los Angeles – The Kings are fighting for their playoff lives after losing four of their last five and desperately need a win tonight. The Blue Jackets come to town having dropped seven straight road games against teams with winning records. With an above-average matchup, plenty of motivation, and reasonable price tags, I like the idea of targeting Kings stacks to pair up with some of the more high-powered options listed above. Look at Anze Kopitar ($5,600), Adrian Kempe ($5,700), and Phillip Danault ($5,300) as the core three to target.

Toronto – We all know the top line for the Leafs is in play every slate and for good reason, but so does everyone else and they typically come with heavy ownership. Consider zagging to the secondary scoring options of John Tavares ($6,200), Ilya Mikheyev ($3,700), and William Nylander ($6,100), who come in at a significant discount in terms of both ownership and price. The trio has been productive as well outscoring the top line five goals to four over the past three games.

By using the four-player stacks from the first section (or plucking three of the four from those) combined with the three-player stacks from above, you can build yourself 4-3-1 or 3-3-1-1 constructed lineups which are two of the most successful large field tournament strategies.

Cheap Power Play 1 Plugs

C – Alex Wennberg ($2,500), Casey Mittelstadt ($2,800), Dawson Mercer ($3,300)

W – Alexander Radulov ($2,500), Nick Ritchie ($2,500), Jordan Eberle ($2,900)

D – Erik Brannstrom ($2,700), Vince Dunn ($3,100), Rasmus Andersson ($4,200)

Goalie Picks

Andrei Vasilevskiy ($8,200)

Jake Oettinger ($8,100)

Darcy Kuemper ($7,900)

Craig Anderson/Dustin Tokarski ($7,800)

Jonathan Quick/Cal Petersen ($8,000)

Be sure to double check your lineups before lock for any last-minute scratches or goalie changes. If you follow me on Twitter @SteveDotzel you can subscribe to my "DFS-NHL" list which is comprised of several team beat writers tweeting the most recent news in real-time. You can also reach out to me personally and I'll do my best to answer any questions I can. Hope to see you on top of the leaderboards!