This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Thursday's 7:00 PM Eastern time NHL slate is a busy one, with 24 teams in action. While the player pool is large, certain guys stand out as options to target or avoid...
GOALIE
Roberto Luongo, FLA at SJ ($26): Luongo's finally rounding into form after a slow start during which he was plagued by both poor play and a hand injury. He opened with a 1-3-1 stretch, but has won consecutive starts while stopping 64 of 68 shots for a .941 save percentage over that span. San Jose ranks seventh from the bottom with just 2.69 goals per game, so Luongo will have a great opportunity to keep his momentum rolling while providing owners with an inexpensive yet effective option in net.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Matt Murray, PIT at OTT ($30): While Murray's racked up 10 wins in 16 appearances, it hasn't been pretty. His 2.98 GAA and .903 save percentage are unlikely to improve by the end of this road tilt against a Senators team that ranks third with 3.63 goals per game.
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CENTER
Lars Eller, WAS at COL ($14): Eller racked up just three assists without a goal while skating more than 15:07 only once in his first nine games, but he's compiled three goals, five assists and six games with over 15:07 in his past nine appearances. The veteran center is being asked to contribute more offensively than ever
Thursday's 7:00 PM Eastern time NHL slate is a busy one, with 24 teams in action. While the player pool is large, certain guys stand out as options to target or avoid...
GOALIE
Roberto Luongo, FLA at SJ ($26): Luongo's finally rounding into form after a slow start during which he was plagued by both poor play and a hand injury. He opened with a 1-3-1 stretch, but has won consecutive starts while stopping 64 of 68 shots for a .941 save percentage over that span. San Jose ranks seventh from the bottom with just 2.69 goals per game, so Luongo will have a great opportunity to keep his momentum rolling while providing owners with an inexpensive yet effective option in net.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Matt Murray, PIT at OTT ($30): While Murray's racked up 10 wins in 16 appearances, it hasn't been pretty. His 2.98 GAA and .903 save percentage are unlikely to improve by the end of this road tilt against a Senators team that ranks third with 3.63 goals per game.
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CENTER
Lars Eller, WAS at COL ($14): Eller racked up just three assists without a goal while skating more than 15:07 only once in his first nine games, but he's compiled three goals, five assists and six games with over 15:07 in his past nine appearances. The veteran center is being asked to contribute more offensively than ever before, as he's on pace to tie his career-high of 150 shots and set a new one with 50 points despite the slow start. Another strong performance looks to be in the cards against a Colorado team that's allowing the fifth-most goals per game at 3.44.
CENTER TO AVOID
Sean Couturier, PHI at WPG ($23): Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck has a sparkling 2.32 GAA and .930 save percentage despite the team's subpar 79.7 percent penalty kill. Couturier's one power-play point this season suggests he's unlikely to take advantage of Winnipeg's weakness, and scoring on the 6-foot-4 goaltender in other situations is quite literally a tall order.
WINGS
Alex Galchenyuk, MTL vs. ARI ($15): Galchenyuk's earned more trust from coach Claude Julien of late, topping 16 minutes of ice time in four of his past six games after coming up short of that mark in 10 of his previous 11 appearances. The talented forward should be able to reward that trust against a Coyotes club that's allowing a league-high 3.90 goals per game. While Galchenyuk's four goals and seven points through 19 games don't jump off the page, the 2012 third-overall pick has proven himself capable of much greater things with a combined 67 goals and 146 points over his past three seasons before this one, including a 30-goal campaign in 2015-16.
Jason Zucker, MIN vs. NSH ($18): It's tough to argue against Zucker considering he comes in with seven tallies during his active four-game goalscoring streak. This dominant stretch coupled with solid two-way play beforehand has Zucker averaging more fantasy points per game than any other winger priced at $18 or lower (8.9), thanks to 10 goals, five assists and a plus-8 rating in 17 games. Use him with confidence despite the seemingly tough matchup, as Nashville's 5-4-1 road record is much less intimidating than its 5-1-1 home mark.
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WINGS TO AVOID
Jamie Benn, DAL at TB ($28): Benn comes in riding a four-game point streak after lighting the lamp twice in his last game, but his momentum is likely to come to a halt against Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy, who coincidentally sports a 2.32 GAA and .930 save percentage equivalent to Hellebuyck's. The sniper's minus-1 rating is also in significant danger of dropping further considering Tampa Bay's outscored opponents by 25 goals in a 14-2-2 start.
Miles Wood, NJ at TOR ($17): Wood's price has spiked after a hat trick in just 13:00 of ice time during his team's wild 7-5 win over Chicago last game, but the bottom-six forward's five points in 15 games prior and season ice-time average of 11:38 per game suggest he's now substantially overpriced at $17. The rating risk that comes with playing a Toronto team that's second in the league with 3.74 goals per game further lowers Wood's stock.
DEFENSEMEN
Erik Karlsson, OTT vs. PIT ($31): Karlsson has recorded points in all but two appearances this season for a total of 17 in 11 games played. Considering Pittsburgh's 3.55 goals allowed per game are fourth-most in the NHL, the talented blueliner is more than capable of producing his seventh multi-point outing of the season here. Karlsson also averages over 2.5 shots and a block in 25 minutes per game, so both his floor and ceiling are among the highest for non-goaltenders.
Justin Faulk, CAR at NYI ($16): Faulk's been snakebitten in the early going with just three points in 16 games, but he's getting plenty of run with 23:15 of ice time per game and is unlikely to stay quiet offensively for long considering he's averaging a career-best 3.1 shots on net per contest. This matchup with an Islanders team that's allowing 3.18 goals per game provides a nice buy-low opportunity on a 25-year-old defenseman that averaged .56 points per appearance over the previous three seasons, which translates to 46 points over an 82-game campaign. Faulk's offensive potential isn't typically found in this price range and his career 6.5 percent shooting percentage suggests this year's 2.0 percent mark won't last.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Torey Krug, BOS at LA ($18): Krug's offensive ability masks his poor play in his own end, as illustrated by his 11 points and minus-7 rating through 15 games. While he'll remain a defensive liability here, getting on the scoresheet will be difficult against a Kings team that's allowing the second-fewest goals per game at 2.44 and killing off penalties at a league-best 89.2 percent rate.
Cody Ceci, OTT vs. PIT ($17): While Karlsson's built for matchups like this, the defensively-oriented Ceci carries all the rating-related uncertainty that comes with playing high-scoring games without the offensive upside. He's still sitting on just three points after being blanked in each of the past 12 games and shouldn't be counted upon to contribute outside of the blocks category after posting just two goals and 17 points in 79 games last year. If anything, Ceci's actually gotten lucky this year considering his 6.9 percent shooting percentage is well above his career 4.4 percent mark.
