This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
There are 13 games in the NHL on Thursday. Buffalo plays in Boston, Detroit hosts San Jose, LA travels to Montreal, Toronto takes on Ottawa, Columbus plays the Islanders in New York, A tired Dallas team travels to Washington, Nashville hosts Tampa Bay, who hosted Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Anaheim is in Chicago, Philadelphia plays Arizona, Carolina travels down the highway in Alberta after getting whipped 6-1 by the Oilers on Wednesday, as they take on the Flames in Calgary, Colorado hosts Winnipeg, Minnesota travels to Vancouver and New Jersey plays in Seattle. Below, you'll find suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.
GOALIE
Ville Husso, DET vs. SJ ($23): Husso will take on the lowly Sharks. Husso is 8-4-1 with a 3.47 GAA and .891 save percentage this season. He has won three of his last four games and won both his starts against San Jose last season. The Sharks are averaging only 2.00 goals per game, but they have been scoring of late with 16 goals in their last three road contests.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Ilya Sorokin, NYI vs. CLS ($31): Sorokin has been a top-three NHL goalkeeper in each of the last two seasons, but he has slumped this season. Sorokin is 6-4-6 with a 3.19 GAA and .911 save percentage. He has given up 13 goals in his last three games and has allowed less than three goals in only two of his last 11 contests. I fully expect the Russian netminder to break out of his slump, but until he does, his value is certainly not in line with his price.
CENTER
Auston Matthews, TOR at OTT ($34): Matthews has been a scoring machine in his career versus the Senators, finding the back of the net 23 times while adding 21 assists in 30 games. Matthews has two goals and four points in his last two games, after going seven games with only a goal and an assist. Overall, Matthews has 16 goals and 25 points in 22 games this season, including five goals and three assists on the power play.
CENTER TO AVOID
Ryan Hartman, MIN at VAN ($17): Hartman had been seeing top-six minutes, but his lack of scoring has dropped him to the fourth unit. Hartman has seven goals and 11 points in 20 games, but most of his production was early in the season as he has only an assist in his last nine games. Hartman is two seasons removed from his career year in 2021-22 when he scored 34 times while adding 31 assists in 82 games. Don't expect a lot as he is averaging only 13:19 in his last three games after averaging almost 17 minutes per contest in his first 17.
WING
Travis Konecny, PHI at ARI ($23): Konecny has been the Flyers' top offensive threat since the start of the 2022-23 season as he managed 31 goals and 61 points in 60 games last season. He has continued his fine play this season with 12 goals and 19 points in 25 games. Konecny sees first-line minutes as well as first-unit time on the power play. He has a goal and four points in his last four tilts.
Jared McCann, SEA vs. NJ ($20): McCann is showing that last season's 40-goal effort was no fluke as he has 12 goals in 26 games in 2023-24. His assists total is off as he has only five this season, compared to 30 in 79 games last year. McCann has five goals and seven points in his last seven games.
WINGS TO AVOID
Alex Ovechkin, WAS vs. DAL ($32): Ovechkin has really fallen off the face of the Earth as far as his goal scoring is concerned as he is on pace for only 19 goals this season. He has managed at least 40 goals on 13 occasions in his NHL career and looked like a lock to best Wayne Gretzky's career mark of 892 goals, but that is in doubt at this time. Ovechkin has only two assists in his last seven games and has five goals and 14 points in 22 contests this season.
Filip Forsberg, NAS vs. TB ($29): Forsberg is having a great season with 13 goals and 29 points in 25 outings, but has only a goal and an assist in his last four games. While his overall production has been great this season, I would look elsewhere considering the value assigned to Forsberg on Thursday.
DEFENSE
Josh Morrissey, WPG at COL ($21): Morrissey is having another big season with four goals and 20 points in 24 games. The 2022-23 season saw a career-year for the defenseman as he smashed his previous bests with 16 goals and 60 assists in 78 games. While Morrissey in not close to his scoring feats of last season, he still is worthy of a roster spot in Yahoo on Thursday.
Noah Dobson, NYI vs. CLS ($24): Dobson is having his best season in the NHL thus far, scoring five times while adding 17 assists in just 24 games. Dobson has been hot of late with six assists in his last four games. He quarterbacks the Islanders' power play and has a goal and 11 points with the man-advantage. Dobson is only 23 and should only improve over the next few seasons.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Brent Burns, CAR at CGY ($20): Burns can get hot at times and has three assists in his last four games, but the 38-year-old blueliner has only five goals and 12 points in 25 games, his lowest production per game since the 2011-12 season, his first with the Sharks. Don't expect a lot from Burns, especially in the back half of back-to-back games on the road.
Tyson Barrie, NAS vs. TB ($14): Barrie has been granted permission to talk to other teams regarding a trade out of Nashville. Barrie is a power-play specialist, but after being a healthy scratch for a pair of games on the weekend, he saw only 52 seconds of time with the man-advantage Tuesday. Barrie has 10 assists in 23 games this season with three helpers coming in his last 10 contests.
