This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Welcome to the NHL playoffs. I'm genuinely really excited for the teams in the postseason and these matchups. The first round begins Monday with four games. Here are the players to target, and to avoid, for your DFS lineups.
GOALIE
Jake Oettinger, DAL vs. MIN ($31): Oettinger first turned heads for many in the playoffs last year, and he enters this postseason absolutely scorching. Over his last four starts he has a 0.80 GAA and .964 save percentage. Minnesota was actually a little lackluster offensively this season, ranking 23rd in goals per game.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Stuart Skinner, EDM vs. LOS ($33): Skinner also enters the playoff hot, but on the season he had a 2.75 GAA and .913 save percentage. The Kings finished the regular season ranked 10th in goals per game, so they offer up more of a threat than you might expect. I don't know if I want to shell out for this salary for a goalie as unproven as Skinner.
CENTER
Anze Kopitar, LOS at EDM ($25): Kopitar decided to go out there in his age-35 season and tally 28 goals and 74 points, his best numbers of his last five campaigns. He also hit 20 points on the power play for the fourth season in a row. The Oilers did bolster the blue line at the deadline, but they still ranked 20th on the penalty kill.
CENTER TO AVOID
Aleksander Barkov, FLA at BOS ($30): Sorry, Barkov. This matchup is brutal on paper. The Bruins had a 2.12 GAA. Carolina finished second, and it had a 2.56 GAA. Yeah, Boston paced the league defensively with gusto, and Linus Ullmark is going to win the Vezina, so Barkov could be in trouble.
WING
Zach Hyman, EDM vs. LOS ($26): Connor McDavid is the rising tide that lifts all boats, and Hyman is one of those boats. He tallied 36 goals and put 276 shots on net. Fifteen of those goals came on Edmonton's incredible power play. The Kings had the 24th-ranked penalty kill, which was the lowest of any playoff team, making this as good of a matchup as the Oilers could get.
Jake DeBrusk, BOS vs. FLA ($25): DeBrusk tallied a goal in each of the last two games of the regular season, sending him into the playoffs on a high note. There is some worry that Patrice Bergeron won't be ready, but Pavel Zacha is no slouch if he steps into the first-line center role. The Panthers had a 3.32 GAA, which was highest of the 16 playoff teams. Alex Lyon has taken over as the top goalie for the Panthers, and he had a .912 save percentage this season, but his career save percentage is .903.
WINGS TO AVOID
Kirill Kaprizov, MIN at DAL ($34): Kaprizov is expected to be healthy for the playoffs, but he's also on the road against the Stars. Oettinger had a 2.37 GAA and .919 save percentage this year, and the Stars also had the third-ranked penalty kill. That's a concern, as the Russian winger tallied 32 of his 75 points with the extra man.
Carter Verhaeghe, FLA at BOS ($26): Verhaeghe almost doubled his career high in goals, tallying 42 of them. Of course, Ullmark had an 1.89 GAA and .938 save percentage. Recently, Verhaeghe picked up four goals against the Blue Jackets. This is a bit trickier than that.
DEFENSE
Hampus Lindholm, BOS vs. FLA ($20): Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy swapped in and out of the top power-play unit as the season went on, but Lindholm was there when the regular season ended. He tallied 17 points with the extra man in his first full season with the Bruins. The Panthers had the 23rd-ranked penalty kill, so if the Swedish defenseman is still playing on the top unit that bodes well.
Evan Bouchard, EDM vs. LOS ($19): Bouchard turned what was shaping up to be a sophomore slump of a season into something impressive down the stretch. He finished the regular season with 16 points over his last 17 games. It seems the Kings will be turning to Pheonix Copley in net. He had a 2.64 GAA, but also a .903 save percentage. When shots get to Copley, he doesn't do well with them.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Brandon Montour, FLA at BOS ($24): Boston's defense gets in the way again. Montour tallied a whopping 33 points with the extra man this year, but guess what? The Bruins had the league's best penalty kill because of course they did.
Noah Dobson, NYI at CAR ($21): The Hurricanes are second only to the Bruins defensively, literally in case of GAA and penalty-kill percentage. However, Carolina actually ranked first in shots on net allowed per contest at a mere 26.0. Dobson put 206 shots on net, but good luck getting pucks on goal in this matchup.
