This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
The NHL season is still fresh, as most teams have not played their first games yet. That changes Thursday, as there are 10 games on the slate, and 18 teams will be in action for the first time. Here are my players to target and avoid Thursday.
GOALIE
Ben Bishop DAL vs. ARI ($34): Bishop looked solid in his first year with the Stars, posting a 2.49 GAA and .916 save percentage. However, based on his time in Tampa, we know he is capable of more. We also know that the Coyotes were awful offensively last season, as they only scored 2.51 goals per contest.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Braden Holtby, WAS at PIT ($35): Did Holtby pitch a shutout Wednesday versus the Bruins? Sure, but that also means he's on the road for the second night of a back-to-back, and he's the only goalie pegged to be starting their second game Thursday. That's concerning, as is a matchup with the Penguins, who scored 3.29 goals per game last year.
CENTER
Jack Eichel, BUF vs. BOS ($22): The only thing that has slowed down Eichel in his career is staying healthy, as evidenced by his 25 goals and 64 points in 67 games last year. He also averaged a whopping 3:44 per game with the extra man, and the 21-year-old has the most talent around him he's ever had. The Bruins are on the second night of a back-to-back, just allowed seven goals Wednesday and are scheduled to start backup goalie Jaroslav Halak, who had a .908 save percentage last year.
CENTER TO AVOID
Eric Staal, MIN at COL ($22): Staal stunned everybody by scoring 42 goals last season. However, it was stunning because he was 32 and hadn't scoring over 30 goals since the 2010-11 campaign. He had a 17.4 shooting percentage, which will almost assuredly regress to the mean. Semyon Varlamov will be in net for the Avalanche, and he's coming off a season where he had a .920 save percentage.
WING
Sebastian Aho, CAR vs. NYI ($20): Aho built upon an impressive rookie season last year with 29 goals and 64 points. He saw his ice time go up by more than a minute per game, and he played 2:41 per contest with the extra man. Meanwhile, the Islanders were the worst team in the league defensively last season. They had a 3.57 GAA, allowed 35.6 shots on net per contest, and had the worst penalty kill. Barry Trotz isn't going to turn that around in one game.
Kevin Fiala, NAS at NYR ($15): Fiala started 64.2 percent of his shifts in the offensive zone last season, second most on the Predators. Similar deployment this year would bode well for him. He showed his talent in his first full season at the NHL level as well, tallying 23 goals and 25 assists. The Rangers gave up 35.3 shots on goal per game last year, and they are a team on the rebuild that's not likely to get much better this season.
WINGS TO AVOID
Vladimir Tarasenko, STL vs. WPG ($28): It seems like Tarasenko is healthy enough after his shoulder injury, but will he be fully recovered? At this price, any lag in his play could be costly. Having to try solve Connor Hellebuyck, who had a .924 save percentage last year, doesn't help either.
Jakub Voracek, PHI at VGK ($24): Nobody is in a slump right now, obviously, so these choices are about matchups. Marc-Andre Fleury had a .927 save percentage last year, and the Golden Knights had the 10th-ranked penalty kill. The latter is of particular concern with Voracek, as 35 of his 85 points came with the extra man last season.
DEFENSEMEN
Tyson Barrie, COL vs. MIN ($23): The Wild were a very different, which is to say worse, team on the road last year. In fact, they had a 3.41 GAA in away games, bottom five in the NHL. Barrie had 57 points in 68 games last year, and his offensive potential was certainly helped by the fact he averaged a whopping 3:44 in power-play time.
Zach Werenski, CLM at DET ($19): Werenski's point totals were down last year, but he increased his goal total from 11 to 16 and put 207 shots on net. The 21-year-old still has room to grow, as well. The Wings are banged-up defensively and Jimmy Howard had a .910 save percentage last season.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Alex Pietrangelo, STL vs. WPG ($26): Pietrangelo is the most expensive defensemen Thursday, which is not unreasonable. However, it will be hard for him to live up to that in this matchup. As previously noted, Connor Hellebuyck had a .924 save percentage last year. On top of that, the Jets ranks ninth on the penalty kill.
John Klingberg, DAL vs. ARI ($22): This is for anybody who looks at the Coyotes' 3.06 team GAA last year and views this as a favorable matchup for Dallas. A lot of that came with Antti Raanta injured. When Raanta was healthy, he posted a 2.24 GAA and .930 save percentage. Those are Vezina-winning numbers over a full season, so exercise caution about using Klingberg here.
