This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Friday's six-game NHL slate begins at 8:00 PM Eastern time. Read on to see which players in this slate are primed to provide strong value and which ones should be avoided.
GOALIE
Jake Allen, STL at VGK ($22): This is a nice buy-low opportunity on Allen, who costs at least $4 less than every other projected starter in this slate. He allowed only one goal in his last start and sports respectable career numbers with a 2.54 GAA and .911 save percentage, suggesting improvement from his current 3.73 and .883 marks is very likely. Facing a Vegas team that ranks third from the bottom with 2.53 goals per game should help aid that improvement.
GOALIE TO AVOID
John Gibson, ANH vs. TOR ($35): Gibson's starting to crumble under the pressure of having to keep his subpar Ducks team in almost every game, as he's 1-3-0 with an ugly .897 save percentage in his past four appearances. A Maple Leafs team that ranks among the league's top three in scoring will likely add to Gibson's recent struggles.
CENTER
Carl Soderberg, COL vs. WAS ($17): Soderberg has a goal and three assists in the past three games, and has power-play points in two straight. Half of his 12 points this season have come with the extra man, putting Soderberg in position to exploit Washington's shoddy penalty killing. The Capitals are allowing goals on 27.5 percent of opposing power plays, and are likely to struggle even more with starting goalie Braden Holtby battling an upper-body injury.
CENTER TO AVOID
Jonathan Toews, CHI vs. LA ($24): Toews is clearly overpriced at $24 considering he's averaging 7.6 fantasy points and no other center priced at $22 or more sits below 8.9. He hasn't finished with more than three shots on goal in any of the past nine games and has a minus-5 rating over that span.
WINGS
Blake Wheeler, WPG vs. BUF ($28): After scoring 60 points in 41 home games last season, Wheeler already has 17 points in 11 home games this season. The visiting Sabres are going to have a hard time keeping him from building on that success further, as Buffalo's getting outscored 3.39 to 2.41 on average this season.
Alexander Radulov, DAL vs. BOS ($22): Radulov's available at a discount after recently battling a lower-body injury, but he looked completely healthy in his return with a goal, five shots and four blocks. Despite dressing for just eight games thus far, the talented Russian has six goals and 12 points. Five of those points have come with the extra man, which is notable given he'll face a Bruins team that's killing penalties at a bottom-10, 76.3 percent rate.
WINGS TO AVOID
Ilya Kovalchuk, LA at CHI ($21): Kovalchuk will be hard to trust even in what appears to be a favorable matchup. He's compiled minus-2.3 fantasy points over the past three games and has a minus-9 rating this season. Plus, Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford could be turning the corner after shutting out the Blues in his last start.
Brad Marchand, BOS at DAL ($29): Marchand has displayed a low floor for a player this expensive, scoring negative fantasy points three times in the past 11 games while breaking 6.0 only five times in that stretch. It's worth paying the extra $2 for teammate David Pastrnak, who leads the league with 17 goals.
DEFENSEMEN
Torey Krug, BOS at DAL ($21): With Zdeno Chara the latest casualty to the injury bug on Boston's beat up blue line, Krug's responsibility continues to grow. The offensive-minded rearguard flashed his defensive chops in Wednesday's loss to Colorado, blocking five shots in 25:22 of ice time. Add that own-zone production to Krug's six points in seven appearances coming off a 59-point campaign, and you get a tremendous all-around asset.
John Carlson, WAS at COL ($25): Carlson is in the midst of another fantastic offensive season after leading the league in points from the blue line last season, with 18 points in 17 games. With Colorado dressing Carlson's former teammate Philipp Grubauer (3.56 GAA, .893 save percentage) in net, the high-scoring defenseman's primed to make an impact on the scoresheet. He's also available at $25 after being priced at $26 for the past 13 games.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Rasmus Ristolainen, BUF at WPG ($19): The Jets are dominant at home and teeming with talented scorers. With an average ice time of 25:24, Ristolainen will give Winnipeg plenty of opportunities to pile onto his ghastly minus-11 rating.
Vince Dunn, STL at VGK ($18): Dunn's mired in a four-game point drought, and getting back on track will be tough in this matchup. Four of his seven points this season have come on the power play, but Vegas' fifth-ranked, 85.5 percent penalty kill is likely to nullify his production with the extra man.
