Fantasy Hockey Tournaments

If you are a fan of daily fantasy sports and daily fantasy hockey, then you certainly know something about the tournaments you can participate in.

Even though the NHL DFS market, arguably the largest fantasy hockey market, is small compared to some other fantasy sports markets like football and basketball, it’s one that features exciting opportunities for seasoned fantasy players.

That’s precisely why we wanted to take a closer look at the tournaments and contests in daily fantasy hockey and fantasy hockey in general. Keep reading if you want to learn everything you need to know about them and how to win the top tournaments in fantasy hockey.

In this piece, you’ll learn about:

Top Fantasy Hockey Tournaments

There are many real-life hockey tournaments all across the world as the sport is played in many nations. However, the most popular contest is certainly the National Hockey League, better known by its acronym the NHL.

The NHL is the professional ice hockey league covering North America, or more specifically, 31 teams from the United States and Canada. Of these, 24 come from the US and seven from Canada. The NHL is also considered to be the leading ice hockey league in the world, which is why this competition and the Stanley Cup are the most popular tournaments in fantasy hockey.

Naturally, you can participate in other tournaments on DraftKings, FanDuel, and other betting sites. Here are the top ones:

  • Hockey at the Olympic Games
  • Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup (held every four years)
  • Commonwealth Games (every four years)
  • Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament (held every year in Malaysia)

Naturally, there are other tournaments as well, mostly regional ones. It’s best to check the contests the major fantasy betting sites offer, like FanDuel, luckbox, GG.Bet and others. These sites are typically the best places to draft teams and play daily fantasy hockey and other fantasy sports.

So, if you want to join the contest DraftKings organizes, you can do so by paying the entry fee for the qualifiers. It can certainly be worth it to do so as the guaranteed prize pool is $500,000, and it’s reserved for the finalists. You have the chance to apply during several windows scattered throughout the regular NHL season.

How to Win Fantasy Hockey Tournaments

If you want to play and win in any of the tournaments, you’ll have to draft a dream team in accordance with your salary cap and score enough fantasy points to advance through the rankings.

It’s all about creating the right lineup that stands to win any contest. One of the best lineups you can make is by stacking two even-strength lines. That’s because centers and wingers who play on these lines tend to yield you the most points in any game.

On the other hand, you can always use a power-play combination from several even-strength lines. Some prefer this method, but most pros typically use two even-strength lines.

Also, it’s important to remember that any form of stacking is vital if you want to gain many goals and assists. There are several ways to make a stack and you should look into them if you want more diversity.

Outside of stacking, you can also pick players who shoot the puck. It’s useful as shots can also quickly add more than just a point or two. If that weren’t enough, players who shoot a lot will eventually score, so you’re practically looking at a long-term strategy by choosing these players.

When it comes to defense, you should have one or two prolific defense players on the roster for your lineup as several defensive actions can give you a good number of points.

In the end, you should take into account that many things in the NHL don’t go as planned. NHL games often end differently from what was anticipated by the majority. That’s why you shouldn’t focus too much on recent player performance.

The Scoring System

When it comes to points, you can score per game and per the entire tournament, which is why you also need to learn how the scoring system tends to work. The exact number of points tends to differ from site to site and from league to league, but the actions your players make during every game are the same. In most leagues, you can win the most points for these actions:

  • Goals and assists
  • Shots on goal
  • Short-handed goal
  • Power play goal
  • Plus/Minus
  • Wins
  • Shutouts
  • Minutes played and shots against (for goalie only).