Yahoo DFS Hockey: Saturday Picks

Yahoo DFS Hockey: Saturday Picks

This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.

Saturday's All-Day NHL slate is a massive one, with 14 games on tap after 1:00 PM Eastern time. Read on to see which players should be targeted among the multitude of available options and which ones should be avoided.

GOALIE

Martin Jones, SJ vs. LA ($30): Jones has played better of late, holding five of his past eight opponents to two goals or fewer while allowing just 16 total goals over that span. He's also heavily favored to win this matchup given that San Jose ranks eighth with 3.31 goals per game while the opposing Kings rank last in the league at 2.23 goals per game.

GOALIE TO AVOID

John Gibson, ANH at BUF ($32): Gibson had a four-game winning streak snapped Thursday in Boston, and getting back in the win column won't be easy against a Sabres team that ranks among the best in the East. Even if he plays well, Gibson's unlikely to pick up the win given that the offense in front of him ranks third-worst in the league with just 2.49 goals per game.

CENTER

Nazem Kadri, TOR vs. NYR ($17): Kadri's been terrific over the past five games, scoring double-digit fantasy points four times in that span. Matched up against a Rangers team that's remarkably yet to record a non-shootout road win this season, Kadri should keep producing here. If you can't afford Toronto's more expensive stars, Kadri's an excellent alternative at just $17.

CENTER TO AVOID

Evgeni Malkin, PIT at CAR ($30): Malkin continues to slump heavily. In his past 13 games, he has just two goals, five assists and a minus-13 rating. You can do much better in this price range.

WINGS

Cam Atkinson, CBJ at PHI ($27): Atkinson has already reached the 20-goal mark for the sixth consecutive season, with 14 of those tallies (along with 10 assists) coming in the past 18 games. The prolific scorer should have no problems maintaining his recent success against a Flyers team that's battling the injury bug in net and allowing 3.61 goals per game -- third-most in the league.

Bryan Rust, PIT at CAR ($17): Rust is as hot as anybody in the NHL, as his two goals in Thursday's 2-1 win over the Wild gave him eight markers in the past six games. Skating on a dangerous top line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel, Rust is primed to keep rolling against a Hurricanes club that's won just twice in its past nine games.

WINGS TO AVOID

Jonathan Drouin, MON at VGK ($21): Drouin has fallen into a slump of late, averaging just 3.4 fantasy points per game over the past seven. He's unlikely to get back on track against a Golden Knights team that's 11-3-1 in its past 15 games.

Kyle Okposo, BUF vs. ANH ($18): Okposo's been awful over the past 11 games, totaling just 8.9 fantasy points. That level of production would make him an unappealing option at the minimum $10, let alone $18.

DEFENSEMEN

John Carlson, WAS at OTT ($26): Between his 35 points and plus-21 rating, Carlson offers a tremendous offensive ceiling coupled with excellent two-way reliability. It's the former trait that makes him worth paying up for in favorable matchups such as this one -- Ottawa's 3.86 goals allowed per game are easily the most in the league.

Dennis Cholowski, DET vs. FLA ($11): Cholowski's a strong choice for owners chasing affordable upside on the blue line. The talented rookie is skating on the top power-play unit with Mike Green (lower body) on injured reserve, and Cholowski's already lit the lamp with the extra man in one of the four games since Green went down, giving him eight power-play points this season. That prowess on the man advantage could well pay off against Florida's 77.2 percent penalty kill.

DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID

John Klingberg, DAL at MIN ($22): This isn't the right time to look Klingberg's way given how understandably rusty he looked in his return from a hand injury Thursday. He scored minus-3.2 fantasy points in his first action since Nov. 8 and will be tough to trust at $22 after that effort. Six of Klingberg's 13 points prior to getting hurt came on the power play, but getting on the scoresheet with the extra man won't be easy against Minnesota's second-ranked, 86.1 percent penalty kill.

Roman Josi, NSH at BOS ($25): With such a large selection of options, it's best to target players from games that will likely be high-scoring, especially when it comes to expensive lineup cornerstones. This Predators-Bruins affair is likely to be anything but high-scoring considering these are the two teams that allow by far the fewest goals per game in the league at 2.47 (Nashville) and 2.54 (Boston).

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Sasha Yodashkin plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: Youngsash, DraftKings: Yashdogg,Yahoo: Sasha, Fanball: Yashdogg.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sasha Yodashkin
Sasha has been contributing NFL, NHL, NBA, MLB and Tennis content to RotoWire since 2015, with an emphasis on DFS. He is a huge New York sports fan who has been playing fantasy sports since middle school.
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