This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Friday's NHL slate features eight games and begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time. With the races for the playoffs heating up in both conferences, many of the best value plays in this slate come from teams jostling for postseason positioning. Read on to see which players to target and which ones to avoid at their respective valuations.
GOALIE
Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK at ANH ($32):Malcolm Subban started Thursday's game against the Panthers, leaving Fleury fresh for this one. While Fleury has done his best work at home, the veteran netminder has a great chance to improve on his road numbers against the league's least effective offense -- Anaheim comes in averaging a paltry 2.17 goals per game.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Pekka Rinne, NSH at WPG ($33): Rinne has found his game recently, with wins in four of his past five starts. Despite that positive development, the veteran netminder is best avoided in this difficult road matchup against a Jets team with a dominant 21-8-4 home record.
CENTER
Sean Couturier, PHI at NJ ($24): Known as a streaky producer, Couturier's been locked into a hot streak for quite a while now, with 10 goals and 30 points in his past 22 games. More of the same can be expected from him against a Devils team that's getting outscored 3.33 to 2.88 in the average game this season.
CENTER TO AVOID
Sebastian Aho, CAR vs. STL ($30): Aho's been good but not great recently, and that's not enough to justify picking him at $30 in this difficult matchup. The center has only one goal and one multi-point performance in his last nine games, and he's unlikely to double either of those totals against a Blues team that's 13-1-1 in its last 15 games.
WINGS
Joe Pavelski, SJ vs. COL ($23): Colorado's 77.5 percent penalty kill ranks among the league's most generous, so this should be a good day for San Jose's dangerous power-play unit. Look for Pavelski to lead the charge with the extra man, as he's tied for the team lead with 10 power-play goals while leading all Sharks forwards with 19 power-play points.
Jimmy Vesey, NYR vs. MON ($18): Vesey has been moved up to the top line alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider with the Rangers parting with a couple of their more established forwards at the trade deadline, and he's made the most of the opportunity. He has a goal and an assist in each of the three games since his promotion, averaging a robust 20:34 of ice time to boot. Depth is a major issue for the Rangers now, but the team's top guys have been delivering for a while and are showing no signs of slowing down.
WINGS TO AVOID
Alex Ovechkin, WAS at NYI ($35): Ovechkin's capable of scoring against anyone, but your $35 are better spent elsewhere given this difficult road matchup. The Islanders have tormented opposing offenses thanks to the sound defensive system implement by former Capitals coach Barry Trotz, allowing by far the fewest goals per game in the league.
Evander Kane, SJ vs. COL ($24): Kane has slumped recently, with a goal, an assist and a minus-6 rating over the past seven games. While his poor defensive play makes Kane an even-strength liability at times, he's also unlikely to take advantage of Colorado's poor penalty killing since he's not a member of San Jose's top power-play unit.
DEFENSEMEN
Justin Schultz, PIT at BUF ($18): With Kris Letang (upper body) and Brian Dumoulin (concussion) both out, Schultz has been tasked with picking up the slack on the top pairing and No. 1 power-play unit. He's done an admirable job thus far, totaling a goal and an assist in the past two games to go with four shots and a plus-2 rating while averaging a whopping 28:19 of ice time. A Penguins team that's desperately trying to claw its way into the playoffs should continue to ride its best healthy blueliner in this favorable matchup against a reeling Sabres club that's won only once in its last seven games.
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF vs. PIT ($17): Dahlin is starting to live up to his lofty pre-draft valuation -- the first overall selection in the 2018 draft has four goals and 17 points over his past 21 games. With Pittsburgh battling the injury bug, Dahlin should find enough room to build on his recent offensive success without burning a hole in your wallet.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Mattias Ekholm, NSH at WPG ($19): Ekholm has struggled to get on the scoresheet recently, producing just a goal and four assists in his past 17 games. Getting back on track will be exceedingly difficult against a Jets team that's dominated in its own building.
Tyson Barrie, COL at SJ ($19): The Sharks are primed to limit Barrie's strength (power-play production) while capitalizing on his weakness (defensive-zone play). Barrie has scored 20 of his 44 points with the extra man, but he's unlikely to pad that total against San Jose's seventh-ranked, 81.7 percent penalty kill. Meanwhile, the Sharks' third-ranked offense (3.58 goals per game) is a major threat to further lower Barrie's minus-5 rating.
