This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Thursday's 10-game NHL slate offers plenty of interesting games to choose from, even though the Rangers-Blues and Predators-Blackhawks contests are surprisingly the only ones featuring a pair of playoff-bound teams. Just because other teams haven't been successful doesn't mean they don't have talented players, as Devan Dubnyk and Henrik Sedin make for tremendous DFS plays despite being surrounded by mediocre teammates. Those two are joined by the rest of the players below as the night's top value plays.
GOALIE
Devan Dubnyk, MIN at PHI ($34) - Dubnyk has recovered nicely under interim head coach John Torchetti, winning three of his last four starts following a prolonged skid with Mike Yeo behind the bench. He should find no problem keeping the good times rolling against a Flyers team that has won just three of its last 10 games, as its 25th-ranked offense has failed to top two goals seven times in that span.
Goalie to Avoid:
Cory Schneider, NJ at CLS ($38) - Although his phenomenal play all season has earned him this high price, Schneider hasn't lived up to it recently with just 26.0 combined fantasy points over his previous four starts. The Blue Jackets seem like a logical choice to get back on track, but they've been far from pushovers lately, going 5-2-3 in their last 10 games.
CENTER
Henrik Sedin, VAN vs. OTT ($19) - Sedin has nine points in his last six games heading into Thursday's matchup with one of the five NHL teams allowing 3.00 or more goals per game. The veteran center is still an elite distributor who thrives in the kind of open-ice environment the risk-taking Senators create, so it'd be shocking to see him kept off the board considering how locked in he's been offensively the last two weeks. It's hard to find another player less than $20 with such a high likelihood of getting on the scoresheet.
Center to Avoid:
Ryan Johansen, NSH at CHI ($19) - Johansen's recent skid has worsened, as he now has just one assist in his last seven games and 6.0 total fantasy points in his last five. Facing the second-best team in the West tends not to help slumping forwards break out.
WING
Jason Pominville, MIN at PHI ($22) - Devan Dubnyk wasn't the only member of the Wild fired up by Mike Yeo's firing, as Pominville has three goals, three assists and a plus-6 rating in five games under interim head coach John Torchetti. Pominville's line with Nino Niederreiter and Erik Haula has been torching lesser competition, and his presence on the power play gives the veteran an alternative means of racking up points. Until other teams prove capable of following the Islanders' blueprint for limiting Pominville and Torchetti's Wild as a whole, keep throwing them out there.
Jaromir Jagr, FLA vs. ARI ($20) - After a quiet game against the Penguins on his birthday, Jagr has three goals in two subsequent games as a 44-year-old. The ageless winger's two-goal game Saturday came against a Jets squad that ranks as the NHL's sixth-worst defensive team, but Arizona's league-high 3.07 goals allowed per game blow Winnipeg's 2.93 mark out of the water. Look for the savvy veteran to capitalize on Arizona's defensive ineptitude and put the puck in the net as he has on 742 previous occasions at the NHL level.
Wings to Avoid:
Jakub Voracek, PHI vs. MIN ($28) - Voracek's recent play has hardly warranted his exorbitant $28 price, as he has two goals, four assists and a minus-6 rating in his last 10 games. Things don't project to get much better against the surging Wild.
James Neal, NSH at CHI ($22) - Neal has just 20.0 total fantasy points during a five-game goalless drought, and a matchup with the elite Blackhawks doesn't figure to help him find his groove. There are better uses for $22.
DEFENSEMEN
John Klingberg, DAL vs. WPG ($18) - The offensively-gifted defenseman posted three assists in Winnipeg on Tuesday, giving him 41 in 61 games played. If the Jets had no answer for Klingberg at home, don't expect them to contain him much better in Dallas just two days later. Considering he's the team leader in assists on a roster that features Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, Klingberg is well worth his $18 price in this fruitful matchup.
Drew Doughty, LA vs. EDM ($22) - Doughty has been a workhorse for the Kings lately, playing at least 31 minutes in each of his last four contests. Those huge minutes translate to more opportunities to accrue fantasy points, and he should find chances aplenty against an Oilers team with a league-worst minus-37 goal differential. Doughty already has three points and a plus-2 rating in three games against the Oilers this season, and those totals only figure to grow the more he plays against them.
Defensemen to Avoid:
Dan Girardi, NYR at STL ($18) - Girardi unsurprisingly has been held off the scoresheet since recording a pair of assists on Valentine's Day to raise his point total to 15. The veteran defenseman just doesn't have the offensive upside to be much of a difference-maker in DFS.
Dougie Hamilton, CGY vs. NYI ($18) - Hamilton has picked up 11 of his 26 points this season with the man advantage, but that part of his game figures to be neutralized by New York's top-ranked penalty kill. The former Bruins' minus-3 rating over the past four games and minus-8 mark on the season indicate that his even-strength game isn't quite up to snuff for an $18 defenseman.
