This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Tuesday was a taste of NHL action. Wednesday kicks things into high gear. There are six games on the slate, including the season opener for the defending champs, the Colorado Avalanche. It's a little easier to make DFS roster selections when you aren't relegated to making your picks among only four teams. Here are my players to target and avoid for your DFS lineups.
GOALIE
Alexandar Georgiev, COL vs. CHI ($35): The Avalanche start the season with back-to-back games, so count on Pavel Francouz starting one of these two. Whoever gets Chicago on the first leg is the one with the great opportunity. Not only is the game at home, but the Blackhawks were 29th in goals per game last season and signaled a full rebuild with some of their offseason moves, such as dumping Alex DeBrincat.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Thatcher Demko, VAN at EDM ($32): Demko is getting a little Vezina buzz, owing in part to just how much he plays. Quantity doesn't matter in a single-game scenario, though. The Oilers, frankly, underperformed by averaging 3.48 goals and 34.0 shots on net per game last season. A team led by Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl should be threatening to be the top offensive team in the NHL.
CENTER
Alex Newhook, COL vs. CHI ($12): It looks like Newhook is getting a big promotion this season. Nazem Kadri is gone, and Newhook is slotted in to be the new second-line center for the Avalanche. He had 33 points in 71 games as a rookie in a smaller role. Petr Mrazek is the new top goalie in Chicago, but he's coming off a season with an .888 save percentage in Toronto.
CENTER TO AVOID
Boone Jenner, CLM at CAR ($19): Jenner is getting a promotion as well, centering Columbus' new top line with Patrik Laine and Johnny Gaudreau. He missed most of the preseason, though, and begins the campaign on the road against a foreboding matchup. Last season the Hurricanes were tops in the league in shots on net allowed per game, and Frederik Andersen had a 2.17 GAA and .922 save percentage as a result.
WING
Troy Terry, ANA vs. SEA ($19): A new era dawns in Anaheim, and Terry is at the forefront of it. He's what qualifies as veteran presence now, and he's coming off a breakthrough campaign where he had 37 goals, admittedly with a 19.3 shooting percentage that may regress. Phillipp Grubauer also had an outlier season in 2021-22, but in a bad way. In his first campaign in Seattle, the German goalie had a 3.16 GAA and .889 save percentage.
Michael Bunting, TOR at MON ($17): I'm going back to a well I drank from many times last season. Bunting plays the wing alongside Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner on Toronto's top line. It helped him rack up 23 goals and 40 assists in his first full taste of MLB action. In his two seasons with the Canadiens, Jake Allen has a 3.01 GAA and .906 save percentage.
WINGS TO AVOID
Jake DeBrusk, BOS at WAS ($17): DeBrusk turned his season around last year when he moved to Boston's top line alongside Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. Well, Marchand is currently on long-term injured reserve, and the 37-year-old Bergeron flirted with retirement this offseason. What was Darcy Kuemper, Washington's new goalie, doing last season? Oh, just posting a .921 save percentage with the Avalanche and winning a Stanley Cup.
Anthony Mantha, WAS vs. BOS ($16): When Mantha was healthy last season, he really impressed with the Capitals. The problem is that injuries to the Capitals' lineup has their roster all jumbled at the moment. Mantha is slated onto the second line alongside Dylan Strome at center and Alexei Protas as his other wing. Jeremy Swayman had a .914 save percentage last season, good if unremarkable, but had a 2.41 GAA because the Bruins only allowed 28.7 shots on net per contest.
DEFENSE
Bowen Byram, COL vs. CHI ($18): I don't think Byram is going to be the next Cale Makar – you can count the defenseman on Makar's level in a given generation on one hand – but I expect a breakthrough campaign from him. Last year in his age-20 season he had 17 points in 30 games, and he showed his skills in the playoffs. I expect a sizeable increase in role this year. Meanwhile, I expect the Blackhawks to be one of the worst defensive teams in the NHL, and Mrazek and his .888 save percentage last year are a part of that.
Vince Dunn, SEA at ANA ($17): Sure, playing for an expansion squad last season, Dunn had a minus-21 rating. However, that'll happen when you average 20:41 in ice time for an inexperienced team, and Dunn had 35 points to his name, including 11 on the power play. It seems the Ducks are primed to shrug and make John Gibson the guy in net again. Over the last three seasons he has a 3.07 GAA and .904 save percentage.
DEFENSE TO AVOID
Zach Werenski, CLM at CAR ($22): I mentioned earlier the Hurricanes allowed the fewest shots on net per game. Additionally, I could have mentioned they had the league's lowest GAA and the league's best penalty kill. It's a new season, sure, but the same starting goalie and the same head coach. This matchup still bodes poorly for Werenski.
Darnell Nurse, EDM vs. VAN ($17): Demko could be in trouble in this one, but the fact is he also has a .915 save percentage over the last two seasons. Last year, Vancouver's issue was the penalty kill, as it ranked 30th there. Nurse, though, played all of 1:06 per game on the power play last year. If the Canucks' still struggle to kill penalties, it may not impact Nurse at all.
