This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Happy Halloween! Monday sees three NHL games on the schedule in the evening, alternatives to handing out candy or what have you. Here are some players to target, and to avoid, for your DFS lineups. Kids dressed as Minions shouldn't be the only ones having a good time Monday night.
GOALIE
Ville Husso, DET at BUF ($32): Husso has alternated between great and bad starts this season with the Red Wings, and, in theory, he would be in line for a bad outing. I don't think the former Blue is destined to do the Jekyll-and-Hyde thing all season long, though. Monday he gets to face a Sabres team that has averaged 2.87 goals per game since the start of last season.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Darcy Kuemper, WAS at CAR ($31): Kuemper got off to a slow start with the Capitals, but after two strong outings he has a 2.48 GAA and .919 save percentage. This is going to be a tricky road outing, though. The Hurricanes are known for their stout defense, but they've also averaged 3.37 goals and 34.3 shots on net per contest since the beginning of last year.
CENTER
Robert Thomas, STL vs. LOS ($19): I don't know what to make of a guy who has put six shots on net in seven games, but Thomas has five assists to go with his one goal. Last year he managed 20 goals on 115 shots on target, but he also had 57 assists. Playmaking centers still exist, and they can still have DFS value. Jonathan Quick has provided effectively no value to the Kings, as he has a 3.81 GAA and .878 save percentage.
CENTER TO AVOID
Evgeny Kuznetsov, WAS at CAR ($17): Unlike Thomas, you expect goals from Kuznetsov, but he has zero of them. He has five assists, but three of them came in one game against the Canucks. The Hurricanes are a tougher matchup, especially in one particular way. Carolina has the league's best penalty kill since the start of last year, and Kuznetsov relied on the man advantage for 27 of his 78 points last season.
WING
Pavel Buchnevich, STL vs. LOS ($22): Buchnevich picked up two points in the Blues' opener then proceeded to miss a chunk of time with injury. Now, though, he's back in the lineup, and last season he had 30 goals and 46 assists in 73 games. Meanwhile, over the last five seasons, Quick has an .899 save percentage. He's basically only an NHL goalie at this point because of those Cup wins that get further in the past by the day.
Lucas Raymond, DET at BUF ($15): Raymond just potted his first two goals of the season, which were a long time coming. He still only has a 9.5 shooting percentage after having a 12.5 shooting percentage as a rookie. Guys who score 23 goals as a teenager in the NHL tend to have bright futures. The Sabres allow a ton of shots, and Eric Comrie has a 3.41 GAA and .909 save percentage.
WINGS TO AVOID
Alex Ovechkin, WAS at CAR ($29): I don't think I want to have to work around Ovechkin's salary with the Capitals as banged up as they are currently. The matchup is also not to Ovechkin's liking. He does so much of his damage on the power play, and since the start of last year the Hurricanes' have the league's top penalty kill. Carolina also has allowed the fewest shots on net per game in that time.
Viktor Arvidsson, LOS at STL ($17): Arvidsson is one of those guys who tends to have a lower shooting percentage, and his 9.5 shooting percentage this year is not that far off from his career number of 10.9. Jordan Binnington got off to a great start to the season, but he just had a disastrous game against the Canadiens. However, it was one night, the Blues are at home, and the Blues also have the fourth-ranked penalty kill since the start of last year.
DEFENSE
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF vs. DET ($23): Dahlin has come out of the gate on fire. Sure, his 17.9 shooting percentage is going to regress, but he has 10 points and 28 shots on net through eight games. The Swede has also played a whopping 4:01 per contest on the power play. While the Wings revamped a lot this offseason, since the start of last season they have the 30th-ranked penalty kill. That's a big hole to climb out of, no matter how many changes you make.
Justin Faulk, STL vs. LOS ($20): Faulk has at least one point in six of St. Louis' seven games this season, and in each of his last two outings he has two points. The defenseman also has a power-play point in three-straight games, and since the start of last season the Kings have the 22nd-ranked penalty kill.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Drew Doughty, LOS at STL ($17): Last year, 13 of Doughty's 31 points came on the power play. This year, it's three of his four points. As I noted, the Blues have the fourth-ranked penalty kill since the beginning of last season, which plays against Doughty's strength.
Jaccob Slavin, CAR vs. WAS ($16): Slavin has 21 shots on net in eight games, but he only has two assists. Also, changes to the roster have left him effectively never seeing time with the extra man, which removes a potential source of easy offense. Kuemper has a .919 save percentage this season, so while Carolina's overall offenses concerns me vis-à-vis Kuemper, Slavin is not part of that.
