This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Wednesday is a fairly brisk day of NHL action. Only four games are on the docket. With that in mind, here are my players to target, and to avoid, for all your DFS lineups. Best of luck!
GOALIE
Logan Thompson, VGK at STL ($33): With Adin Hill out for a few days, Thompson is the guy for the Golden Knights for now. Fortunately for the team, and DFS players, he has a 2.33 GAA and .919 save percentage. This is not a day where bad offenses are in action by and large, with the Blues being the closest thing to that. They have scored 2.88 goals and put 29.4 shots on net per game.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Tristan Jarry, PIT at TAM ($31): The Lightning are as good as any offense in action Wednesday, and they are at home. That means Jarry has to try and pick up a win, and to play well, on the road against Nikita Kucherov and crew. The Penguins are middling in terms of allowing shots on goal, which means Jarry is not likely to have a light night of work by any means.
CENTER
Sebastian Aho, CAR at EDM ($25): Aho is performing at his usual point-a-game pace, with 22 points in 21 games. He's also put 70 shots on goal, and he actually only has an 11.4 shooting percentage. That's not low in a vacuum, but over his prior four seasons the Finn posted a 17.0 shooting percentage. The Oilers are playing better, but Stuart Skinner hasn't necessarily been part of that. He has an .881 save percentage on the season, and in 12 appearances since the start of November his save percentage is all the way up to .888.
CENTER TO AVOID
Roope Hintz, DAL at FLA ($28): Hintz is also on a point-a-game pace, but his minutes are interesting. While he's a first-line center and on the top power-play unit, he's averaged 16:57 per game in ice time and 2:26 with the extra man, unusually low for such a role. The Panthers have surprisingly been one of the top teams in the league defensively, posting a 2.54 GAA and allowing a mere 27.6 shots on net per contest.
WING
Bryan Rust, PIT at TAM ($22): Rust has enjoyed a nice rebound season (mostly thanks to a stabilizing of his shooting percentage), notching 10 goals and 10 assists in 21 games. He did miss a few games recently, but since then he has four points in four contests. Even if the Penguins catch Andrei Vasilevskiy on the first night of a back-to-back for Tampa, he has an .887 save percentage in five starts since returning.
Mark Stone, VGK at STL ($20): Stone has always had a key role on the Vegas power play (when healthy), but this year his role has been sizable. The veteran has averaged 4:04 per contest with the extra man and responded with eight power-play points. Hey, given his age and issues with staying healthy, maybe such a role is to his benefit. The Blues have a below-average penalty kill, and Jordan Binnington has an .888 save percentage over his last seven outings.
WINGS TO AVOID
Sam Reinhart, FLA vs. DAL ($30): Players don't sustain 26.7 shooting percentages over a full campaign, for starters. Additionally, Reinhart is one of the foremost power-play specialists among forwards. This year nine of his 29 points have come with the extra man, and seven of his 16 goals. The Stars have a top-five penalty kill, making this a tough matchup for him.
Jordan Kyrou, STL vs. VGK ($19): Yes, Kyrou's 4.9 shooting percentage is bound to improve, but he also doesn't have a goal in his last 10 games. The Golden Knights are not the matchup for turning things around, even with Thompson in net. As I noted, Thompson has a 2.33 GAA and .919 save percentage.
DEFENSE
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK at STL ($22): Pietrangelo has hopefully put his cold spell behind him, as he does have three goals over his last three games. His 1.9 shooting percentage is also likely to improve, especially now that he has a role on the first power-play unit with Shea Theodore out. The Blues have allowed 32.5 shots on net per contest, which isn't good with Binnington's play regressing.
Brady Skjei, CAR at EDM ($18): Skjei has two goals over his last five games, but it is his shooting that sticks out to me. In four of his last five outings he's put at least three shots on target. I mentioned Skinner has an .888 save percentage in 12 starts since the start of November, if you were wondering if he's been better recently, he has an .889 save percentage over his last seven games.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Miro Heiskanen, DAL at FLA ($19): On October 19, Heiskanen had a goal and two assists against the Ducks. Since then he has added 11 more helpers…but no goals. Just getting a shot on net is hard against the Panthers, who have given up only 27.6 shots on goal per game.
Torey Krug, STL vs. VGK ($18): Krug, usually good on the power play, was really struggling on that front. He has tallied all three of his power-play points over his last six games. I don't think he continues to right the ship there, though, as Vegas has a top-eight penalty kill.
