This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
For you NHL DFS fans, Friday, well, Friday's slate starts at 8 p.m. ET at least! That means an extra hour to get your lineups in. On the other hand, there are only two games on the schedule. Even so! You can play in some DFS contests, so why wouldn't you? Here are my players to target, and to avoid, for your DFS lineups.
GOALIE
Carter Hart, PHI at MIN ($33): These teams are neck-and-neck offensively, though not in a good way. The Wild rank 24th in goals per game, while the Flyers rank 25th. However, Philadelphia has held opponents to 28.8 shots on net per contest, and the Wild don't have Kirill Kaprizov. Advantage: Hart.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Juuse Saros, NAS at DAL ($27): If you think of Saros as a reliable, above-average goalie, that makes sense. He can into this season with a career .919 save percentage. The problem is that this year he has an .899 save percentage, and that's across 32 appearances now. It's going to be a down year for Saros, and the Stars have averaged 3.68 goals per game.
CENTER
Sean Couturier, PHI at MIN ($22): It's the shot totals that stand out for me when it comes to Couturier more than anything else. Sure, he has five points over his last seven games, but he's also put 26 shots on target in that time. Philly's first-line center is locked in, and Marc-Andre Fleury, well, he has a .901 save percentage over his last eight outings.
CENTER TO AVOID
Marco Rossi, MIN vs. PHI ($14): Rossi is having a good rookie season, but Joel Eriksson Ek is playing first-line center currently. Marcus Johansson and Ryan Hartman aren't bad wings, but they aren't Mats Zuccarello and Matt Boldy. Rossi is also not the most-prolific shooter, with 78 shots on net in 40 games. As I noted, the Flyers have only given up 28.8 shots on goal per contest.
WING
Tyler Seguin, DAL vs. NAS ($22): The Stars' second line has soared this year, and Seguin has been a key part of that. He has three multi-point games in his last six outings. As I mentioned earlier, Saros has an .899 save percentage this season, so this home game looks good for Seguin and company.
Gustav Nyquist, NAS at DAL ($20): Nyquist has a nine-game point streak! Sure, his track record makes that a surprise, but skating on Nashville's top line with Ryan O'Reilly and Filip Forsberg (plus throw in Roman Josi on the first power-play unit) has benefited him clearly. Jake Oettinger has been called a "possibility" for this game by Stars coach Pete DeBoer, but that sure sounds like Scott Wedgewood in net to me. Wedgewood has an .885 save percentage over his last 13 starts.
WINGS TO AVOID
Mats Zuccarello, MIN vs. PHI ($22): Zuccarello has tallied literally half of his points on the power play, including the two points he's scored since returning from injury. The problem here is that the Flyers have the second-ranked penalty kill. Zuccarello is happy to see certain penalty kills out there, but not Philly's.
Cam Atkinson, PHI at MIN ($12): With only four teams in action, and yet still a few dodgy goaltending situations, finding players to avoid boils down to notable names that are cold. Atkinson has a 40-goal season to his name. Last year he tallied 23 goals in 73 games for the Flyers. However, he only has eight goals this year, and zero in his last 25 games. Yeah, unless you think he's "due," and to be fair his puck luck has been poor, I'd avoid Atkinson for now.
DEFENSE
Thomas Harley, DAL vs. NAS ($18): Esa Lindell has produced in the wake of Miro Heiskanen's injury, but it's the 22-year-old Harley who has seen the biggest uptick in his potential. Harley has averaged 23:33 per game in ice time over his last four outings, and he's on the first power-play unit. Nashville has a bottom-10 penalty kill, and that's another point in Harley's favor.
Jamie Drysdale, PHI at MIN ($14): The Flyers have good reason to give Drysdale every opportunity to succeed (Cutter who?). In his first game with Philly, the young defenseman played 19:46, including 1:01 on the power play, and picked up an assist and two shots on net. Fleury, who is 39 now, has a 3.12 GAA and .892 save percentage, and is really just hanging out, adding wins to his resume to pad his Hall of Fame case.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Brock Faber, MIN vs. PHI ($19): Faber has played a ton of minutes for the Wild, and he's going to be a Calder finalist because of his key role. For us fantasy-minded folks, though, his production is not exactly upper echelon just yet. He has only two goals on the season, and while he has four assists over his last nine games, three of them came in one night against the Blue Jackets. The Flyers, in the top eight in GAA, shots on net allowed per game, and penalty-kill percentage, are a far different matchup.
Travis Sanheim, PHI at MIN ($14): Finding a second defenseman to avoid proved difficult, but earlier this year Sanheim was hot and got buzz. You may have him still filed away in your brain as a result, but things have changed. He has no points in his last six games, and no goals in his last 12.
