NHL Yahoo Cup: DFS Strategy, lineups for Round 3

Round 3 of the free-to-enter NHL Yahoo Cup gets underway on Thursday night, which means it costs you nothing to join and try to win a share of the $5,000 available in prizes!

With 10 games on the slate for Thursday, there's an action-packed schedule for fans to pick and choose their lineups from.

Here are three lineup options I suggest playing for the contest.

Option 1: The Super Sens Stack

The NHL Yahoo Cup has thousands of entries, but only the top-60 finish inside the money. This means you're going to need a little bit of variation in your lineup, and stacking the Ottawa Senators on Thursday is a good way to do it.

After inking a major contract extension one week ago, Brady Tkachuk will be making his season debut. In a points format like this, where each shot on goal is worth 0.9 points, Tkachuk is a nice value at $19. With 220 shot attempts last year, the winger finished second in the league in the category. Additionally, I've stacked his linemates, Drake Batherson and Josh Norris, as the trio is featured on the first line and top power-play unit. I added Thomas Chabot on the blue line, also, as he's the one manning the point on the power play.

The reason why I'm stacking Sens is due to the fact that James Reimer will be making his first start of the season. Reimer posted a shaky .906 save percentage on a stout Carolina Hurricanes team last year, and he's now on a San Jose Sharks squad that doesn't boast nearly the same level of talent on the back-end.

The player I really paid up for was Connor McDavid, and you'll notice he's on two of the three listed lineups. He will likely wind up being heavily rostered, but it's too hard to turn down the best player in the league when he's going up against arguably the worst team in the NHL, the Arizona Coyotes.

Bang for buck, there aren't many players that offer more value than Eeli Tolvanen. The second-year forward just peppers pucks on goals, as he's registered 16 shots through three games. At $14, there isn't a better play at that price.

Also, I targeted Mario Ferraro on defence. His $11 price tag is too good to overlook, as he has a pretty high floor given his willingness to block shots. Through two games this season, he's stepped in front of an impressive five shot attempts. He's also added an assist and a respectable plus-four rating.

In net, I've gone with Frederik Andersen and Ilya Sorokin. Andersen is on the road, but he faces a Montreal Canadiens team that has scored just three goals through four games. Sorokin will likely start for the New York Islanders as Semyon Varlamov continues to work his way back from injury but monitor the situation closely. The Isles' opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets, has mustered just three goals in its last two games.

Option 2: A Seismic Avalanche-Panthers Stack