This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Tuesday's NHL slate features nine games and begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time. There are plenty of value plays to be found all across the price spectrum, so read on to see which players to target and which ones to avoid in this slate.
GOALIE
Henrik Lundqvist, NYR vs. MON ($28): After stonewalling the Sabres with 39 saves on 40 shots Sunday, Lundqvist now sports a 2.61 GAA and .923 save percentage. The Rangers are getting hot in front of him with wins in each of their past three games, and a matchup with a Montreal team that's playing its second road game in as many nights presents a good opportunity to keep rolling.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Cory Schneider, NJ at OTT ($28): Schneider has stopped just 32 of 36 shots through one start and one short relief appearance. After posting a 2.82 GAA in 2016-17 and a 2.93 mark in 2017-18, improvement from Schneider is far from guaranteed with New Jersey playing the second leg of a back-to-back.
CENTER
Elias Pettersson, VAN at DET ($19): Nicknamed "the Alien" for his otherworldly skills, Pettersson has lived up to the moniker with nine goals and six assists in his first nine NHL games. He remains priced at just $19 despite this incredible start, and a Red Wings team that's giving up 3.71 goals per game will be hard-pressed to keep him from outperforming that valuation.
CENTER TO AVOID
Leon Draisaitl, EDM at TB ($19): Power-play production has been a major part of Draisaitl's success, with six of his 15 points coming with the extra man. That part of his game is likely to be neutralized by a Tampa Bay penalty kill that's operating at 90.4 percent, and Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy (1.98 GAA, .935 save percentage) should make scoring tough in general.
WINGS
Ilya Kovalchuk, LA vs. ANH ($21): Kovalchuk has come alive on this home stand, getting on the scoresheet in each of the first three games for a total of two goals and six points. The talented Russian's scoring ability has never been in question, but his weakness comes in his own end, as illustrated by a minus-7 rating. That rating risk is minimized in this matchup, however, as the Ducks sport the league's third-worst offense at 2.40 goals per game.
Mikael Granlund, MIN at SJ ($19): Granlund is criminally underpriced at $19 considering he's currently riding a 10-game point streak that's featured six goals and seven assists. It's not like this level of production is a major outlier for the Finnish forward, either, as he's coming off back-to-back campaigns of 67-plus points.
WINGS TO AVOID
Zach Sanford, STL vs. CAR ($18): Sanford has an impressive seven points in seven games, but that pace will be tough to sustain given his paltry ice time average of 11:52. He also doesn't see any power-play time for the Blues, meaning Sanford won't have an opportunity to capitalize on Carolina's 69.4 percent penalty kill.
Evander Kane, SJ vs. MIN ($25): Kane's defensive warts have been exposed recently, as he's posted a minus rating in each of his past five games, going minus-6 over that span. His offensive output is predictably slowing down, too, as the winger who has exceeded 43 points in only two of his previous nine seasons is in the midst of a four-game point drought after sustaining a point-per-game pace over the first 10.
DEFENSEMEN
Will Butcher, NJ at OTT ($13): After Monday's three-point effort against the Penguins, Butcher now has eight points, seven of which have come on the power play. Reliance on the extra man for his production is nothing new for the sophomore blueliner, whose 44-point rookie season featured 23 power-play points. This next matchup with an Ottawa team that's killing off only 68.8 percent of penalties presents a great opportunity for Butcher to add to his impressive accolades on the man advantage.
Vince Dunn, STL vs. CAR ($18): The Blues believe in Dunn's power-play prowess, seeing as he's been handed the reins to the top extra-man unit while pushing established veteran Alex Pietrangelo down to the second unit. He's rewarded that decision, with two of Dunn's three goals and four of his seven points coming in that advantageous special teams situation. Since Carolina's penalty kill is among the league's worst at 69.4 percent, Dunn's primed to deliver some offense from the blue line here.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Erik Karlsson, SJ vs. MIN ($26): Karlsson had a terrific opportunity to break out against the defensively-challenged Flyers on Saturday, and he still couldn't do it. Still searching for his first goal with the Sharks while displaying pathetic defense with a minus-9 rating, Karlsson hasn't provided value close to that of a $26 player, and that's unlikely to change against a Wild team that boasts Devan Dubnyk (2.07 GAA, .937 save percentage) in net.
Kevin Shattenkirk, NYR vs. MON ($18): Like Karlsson, Shattenkirk's an offensive defenseman that hasn't been doing much of either with three points and a minus-4 rating through 13 appearances. He's a weak choice at the moment regardless of opponent, especially with cheaper Rangers defensemen Neal Pionk, Brady Skjei and Tony DeAngelo all easily outperforming him.
