This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
There are 12 games in the NHL on Thursday. Toronto plays in Buffalo, Florida hosts St. Louis, Columbus is home to Washington, Nashville travels to Philadelphia, Carolina takes on Pittsburgh, Vegas plays the Lightning in Tampa Bay, Edmonton travels to New Jersey, Dallas hosts Vancouver, Montreal is in Minnesota, Ottawa plays Colorado, Anaheim hosts Calgary and Arizona plays in San Jose. Below, you'll find suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
GOALIE
Filip Gustavsson, MIN vs. MON ($23): Gustavsson was terrible through the first month of the season, culminating in a Nov. 4 start in which he gave up three goals on four shots before being pulled. The netminder has since turned his season around, giving up more than three goals on only one occasion. Gustavsson is 8-8-2 with a 2.91 GAA and .906 save percentage, a huge improvement over the 4.89 GAA and .871 save percentage he was sporting Nov. 5. The Canadiens have found the back of the net 84 times in 31 games, good for 28th in the NHL.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Ilya Samsonov, TOR at BUF ($22): Samsonov has been horrible of late, as a matter of fact he has been so bad the Maple Leafs have started Martin Jones (who was a backup with AHL Toronto before his recall) the previous two games. Samsonov has given up 10 goals on 64 shots over his last two starts and while his record is 5-1-5, he has a 3.51 GAA and an .878 save percentage. The Sabres are 20th in NHL scoring, with 94 goals this season.
CENTER
Auston Matthews, TOR at BUF ($35): Matthews leads the NHL in goal scoring with 25 in just 28 games, including nine goals in his five-game goal-scoring streak. Matthews totaled 100 goals in his previous two campaigns and is in line for his second 60-goal season in his career. That would make Matthews only the ninth player in NHL history to accomplish that goal. Matthews is on a hot streak and I recommend that you jump aboard the bandwagon while he is hot.
CENTER TO AVOID
J.T. Miller, VAN at DAL ($35): Miller has been held off the scoresheet in two of his last three games. He is having a fabulous season offensively with 15 goals and 45 points in 33 games, but he has only 76 shots on goal which is below his pace over the last two seasons. Miller is pricey and I would rather take Matthews or MacKinnon at their prices than Miller. Miller was held without a point against the Stars in their only game this season.
WING
Nikita Kucherov, TB vs. VGK ($36): Kucherov has been outstanding this season as he leads the NHL with 54 points. Kucherov is excelling on the power play with seven goals and 24 points thus far. He is the early favorite for the Hart Trophy and should be a great addition to your DFS lineup Thursday.
Yegor Sharangovich, CGY at ANA ($19): Sharangovich saw his five-game goal-scoring streak come to an end Monday, but he has really come into his own after a rough start to the season. Sharangovich has 11 goals and 19 points in 32 games in his first season with the Flames after he was the main piece coming back in the Tyler Toffoli trade to New Jersey. Sharangovich is on the first power-play as well as seeing first-line action at even strength.
WINGS TO AVOID
Alex Ovechkin, WAS at CLS ($32): Ovechkin continues to struggle as the 38-year-old has managed to score only five times in 29 games and has not lit the lamp in his past 14 games. This is the longest goalless drought of Ovechkin's career and after five straight 42-plus goal seasons (not counting the 2020-21 shortened campaign when he managed 24 goals in only 45 contests), it is possible that Ovechkin is finished at being an elite scorer.
Matthew Tkachuk, FLA vs. STL ($30): There are plenty of things that Tkachuk does right, but scoring this season has been a challenge for him. Tkachuk has five goals and 22 points in 31 games after back-to-back 100-plus point seasons. He is having no trouble getting shots away as he has 112 in 31 contests, but he is scoring at a 4.5 percent clip and that is easily the worst in his career (the previous worst was in his rookie season when he scored at a 9.2 percent rate). Tkachuk will eventually snap out of his slump, but until he does, he is not worth selecting.
DEFENSE
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF vs. TOR ($21): Dahlin has six points in his last five contests, giving the 23-year-old budding superstar, eight goals and 27 points in 32 games. He has shown why he was selected first overall in 2018 as Dahlin is an elite defenseman. He had an assist in his lone game versus Toronto this season.
Evan Bouchard, EDM at NJ ($23): Bouchard saw his 13-game point streak come to an end Saturday and he's failed to record a point in his last two games. You can't count him out though, as he has eight goals and 32 points in 29 games, including four goals and 16 points on the vaunted Edmonton power play. Bouchard had a goal on the power play in the Oilers' only game versus New Jersey this season.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Erik Karlsson, PIT vs. CAR ($24): What a difference a year makes. Karlsson has six goals and 22 points in 30 contests this season with the Penguins, but he had 11 goals and 34 points in his first 30 games with San Jose last season. Karlsson has only a goal and five points in his last 14 games, a great reason not to take the veteran defenseman Thursday.
Noah Juulsen, VAN at DAL ($10): Juulsen has not had a point in his last 20 games and has only one assist in 22 games for the Canucks, the highest scoring team in the NHL with 125 goals in 33 games. Enough said.
