This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
No tricks, just treats (hopefully) from me this Wednesday as we near Halloween. It's a busier Wednesday than usual in the NHL, as there are five games taking place. Granted, it's not as action-packed as a Saturday, but I have a handful of options nonetheless for your Yahoo lineup.
GOALIE
Jack Campbell, TOR at CHI ($35): Campbell has a 2.39 GAA and .915 save percentage, and that includes a game on the road against the Penguins when his team was on the second leg of a back-to-back, which is his one real blunder thus far. The Blackhawks have only scored 2.00 goals per game, and right now both Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are dealing with COVID-19 protocols that seem likely to keep them out.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Carter Hart, PHI at EDM ($25): Hart is tentatively off to an improved start to this season, as he has a 2.64 GAA and .914 save percentage. He has also yet to play a road game. His first will likely come against an Oilers team that has scored 4.60 goals per game after finishing seventh in that category last year.
CENTER
John Tavares, TOR at CHI ($25): Tavares, like many Maple Leafs, is struggling right now. He's scored one goal despite putting 25 shots on net for a 4.0 shooting percentage that's bound to improve. Maybe that will be the case against the Blackhawks. Marc-Andre Fleury has not helped thus far, as Chicago has a 4.50 GAA.
CENTER TO AVOID
Aleksander Barkov, FLA vs. BOS ($33): It'll cost a pretty penny in salary for the Finn, and there are nine other teams playing. Linus Ullmark is getting his third start in a row, and he managed a 2.63 GAA and .917 save percentage last year even though he was playing for Buffalo. Plus, Boston has been good at suppressing shots on goal again (28.8 per game) after they finished second on that front last season.
WING
Zach Hyman, EDM vs. PHI ($22): Hyman went from being the guy who got to play with Auston Matthews to being the guy who gets to play with Connor McDavid. It's a good life. He has five goals in five games, and even though his 41.7 shooting percentage is going to regress he has two 20 goal seasons to his name. Also, consider this a bet that the team that finished with the highest GAA in the league last year (Philly) isn't going to turn it around entirely overnight.
Anthony Mantha, WAS vs. DET ($16): Mantha has the vibe of a guy who would like to show up his former team. As a Wings fan, that's just the sense I get from him. More concretely, he has four points in six games and has played 3:06 a night on the power play. Thus far, the Wings have posted a 3.50 GAA and have allowed 33.3 shots on net per game, both worse than last year's already-poor numbers.
WINGS TO AVOID
Alex DeBrincat, CHI vs. TOR ($24): All three of DeBrincat's points have come on the power play, where he has averaged 4:34 per game. Even if he plays every single second with the extra man for the Blackhawks those minutes will almost definitely go down once we get a larger sample size. Campbell has a 2.39 GAA as I previously mentioned, and also like I mentioned Chicago has some COVID-19 chaos going on.
Jonathan Marchessault, VGK at DAL ($19): Since scoring in the opener, Marchessault has not registered a single point. Now he's on the road for the second leg of a back-to-back, and Denver to Dallas isn't necessarily a short jaunt. While Dallas is allowing more shots than it did last season, it still has a 2.50 GAA as a team.
DEFENSE
Tyson Barrie, EDM vs. PHI ($21): Barrie joined the Oilers and got that prized spot on the top power-play unit. Unsurprisingly, he tallied 23 power-play points in 56 games. Last year, the Flyers finished 30th on the penalty kill. They've been middle-of-the-pack this season, but it's still early, and that's not a huge uptick anyway.
Miro Heiskanen, DAL vs. VGK ($19): Heiskanen has been a driving force for the Stars offensively thus far. It's not just his six points in six games, but the fact he's put 19 shots on goal. The 22-year-old has also been asked to play a whopping 26:31 per night, which he's shown himself to be up to. Vegas has not played like the team that won the Jennings last season, and it is on the road for the second day of a back-to-back. Plus, a Vezina-winning Fleury is not there anymore either.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK at DAL ($22): Pietrangelo will get a point eventually, but it's a slow start after his first year in Vegas saw him manage 23 points in 41 games, only four of which came on the power play. The Stars only allowed 27.1 shots on net per contest last year, so I expect their defense to start playing better. Of course, their goalies have managed a 2.50 GAA anyway.
Charlie McAvoy, BOS at FLA ($19): McAvoy had a game with two assists against Philadelphia, but that represents all his points thus far. Now, it's only been four games, but it's also notable he hasn't had more than one shot on net in any of his last three outings. Coming into this year, a lot of people were thinking Spencer Knight would take over for Sergei Bobrovsky. Instead, "Bob" has an 1.99 GAA and .942 save percentage in four starts.
