This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Welcome to the NHL playoffs! The first round picks off Monday with four games. There are no "easy" matchups anymore, but some are better than others. To help you gets things off on the right foot, here are some players to target and avoid for your DFS lineups.
GOALIE
Mike Smith, EDM vs. LOS ($37): Picking a goalie was tricky for Monday. Obviously, there are a lot of high-powered offenses in action. Frederik Andersen is day-to-day, so I don't want to risk him. As such, I am going with Smith. The Kings ranked 20th in goals per game, the only of these eight teams below the league average. Smith is a bit of a gamble, but he's been red hot for a while. Over his last 15 starts, the veteran has a 2.13 GAA and .936 save percentage. At home, with arguably the easiest matchup of Monday, I'm going with Smith.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM at TOR ($26): Vasilevskiy has a track record of being one of the best goalies in the NHL. However, this year there was, if not a slip, a slight step down. The Russian's .916 save percentage is his lowest since the 2015-16 season, when he only played in 24 games. Toronto finished second in goals per game at 3.80, and the only concerns about its offense are well-worn narratives.
CENTER
Ryan O'Reilly, STL at MIN ($19): O'Reilly enters the playoffs hot, with two three-point games in a row. Over his last 16 games he's tallied 15 points in total. The Wild are heading into the playoffs with two viable goalies, but it seems like playoff veteran Marc-Andre Fleury will be the first choice. Well after he joined the Wild he had a 2.74 GAA and .910 save percentage.
CENTER TO AVOID
Vincent Trocheck, CAR vs. BOS ($17): Trocheck also enters the playoffs with points in each of his last two games, but unlike O'Reilly he wasn't hot before that. Over his last 15 games he has five points. The Bruins had a 2.66 GAA this year, fourth lowest in the NHL, and they also only allowed 28.7 shots on net per contest.
WING
Zach Hyman, EDM vs. LOS ($19): Hyman moved from Toronto to Edmonton and locked into being Connor McDavid's wing. Playing alongside the Art Ross winner, Hyman finished with 27 goals and 27 assists. The 29-year-old also put 213 shots on net in 76 games. That could help Hyman overcome a Kings defense that only allowed 28.5 shots on goal per contest, and if he does that, Jonathan Quick had a .910 save percentage.
Ondrej Palat, TAM at TOR ($17): Even though he's spent basically the entire season on Tampa's top line, he got off to a slow start. Eventually, playing alongside the likes of Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point paid off, as he finished the year with 49 points, his most in five seasons. Jack Campbell started the season playing well, but he finished with a .914 save percentage.
WINGS TO AVOID
Mats Zuccarello, MIN vs. STL ($21): Head coach Dean Evanson has said he's "optimistic" that Zuccarello will return for the playoffs, so I think it's fair to act as if he'll be in the lineup. Will he be able to get up to full speed, though? Also, 28 of Zuccarello's 79 points came on the power play this year, and the Blues had the fifth-ranked penalty kill.
Alex Iafallo, LOS at EDM ($14): If I am going to believe in Smith's hot play recently to some degree, that makes me skeptical about Iafallo. A big part of that is Iafallo struggled down the stretch, and his shooting percentage fell to 7.9 by the season's end. The Oilers may have allowed 32.3 shots on net per game, but this year, getting pucks on net didn't necessarily work for Iafallo.
DEFENSE
Morgan Rielly, TOR vs. TAM ($22): Rielly was performing at a peak level this season, notching 68 points – 23 with the extra man – and 221 shots on net. This season, Vasilevskiy was also notably worse on the road. He had a 2.77 GAA and .912 save percentage in away games, and the Leafs get the home-ice advantage in this series.
Tyson Barrie, EDM vs. LOS ($17): Barrie ended the regular season on a four-game point streak. He was also his typical self on the power play, as he tallied 21 points with the extra man. The Kings, meanwhile, had the 22nd-ranked penalty kill, and they don't have Drew Doughty at their disposal right now.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Charlie McAvoy, BOS at CAR ($21): Even if Andersen doesn't return, the Hurricanes have an elite defense. They allowed the fewest shots on net per game (28.2) and also had the league's best penalty kill. McAvoy went from never being a key cog on the power play to notching 21 of his 56 points with the extra man. This isn't the matchup for a power-play specialist.
Jared Spurgeon, MIN vs. STL ($19): Spurgeon was the top points producer for the Wild on their blue line, but his 40 points isn't exactly on the Roman Josi level. Ville Husso had a 2.56 GAA and .919 save percentage, and the Blues had the fifth-ranked penalty kill. Fourteen of Spurgeon's 40 points came with the extra man.
