This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Tuesday's busy NHL slate features 11 games beginning at 7:00 PM Eastern time. While Monday's trade deadline shifted the fantasy situation of many players, many of the value plays in this slate weren't directly affected by deadline deals. Read on to see which players to target and which ones to avoid at their respective prices in this slate.
GOALIE
Brian Elliott, PHI vs. BUF ($26): Prior to giving up three goals in Saturday's 4-3overtime win over the Penguins, Elliott had gone nine appearances without allowing more than two. He gets a great chance to maintain his strong recent form for the red-hot Flyers against a scuffling Sabres team that lost for the fifth time in its last six games Monday.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Juuse Saros, NSH at STL ($30): Saros seems like a good option at $30, but the talented backup has scuffled recently and draws a difficult road matchup here. After allowing five goals in each of his last two appearances, Saros' floor is very low against a Blues team that's 12-1-1 over its past 14 games in this second night of a back-to-back for Nashville.
CENTER
Jordan Staal, CAR vs. LA ($10): While not acquired via trade, Staal has been a recent addition to Carolina's lineup after returning from a two-month injury layoff. Playing his first game since Dec. 22, Staal hit the ground running with 7.8 fantasy points Saturday. His price should start to climb from the minimum $10 now that Staal's healthy, so take advantage of this bargain against a Kings team that's playing its second game in as many nights and has the worst record in the Western Conference.
CENTER TO AVOID
Mathew Barzal, NYI vs. CGY ($21): Barzal has just a goal and two assists along with a minus-5 rating over his past eight games. He's skated less than his 18:00 season average in every one of those games, bottoming out at 12:48 in his most recent outing. Getting back on track will be hard against a Flames team that limited him to minus-0.3 fantasy point when these teams met in Calgary last Wednesday.
WINGS
Alex Ovechkin, WAS vs. OTT ($34): The Senators are going to be the league's punching bag the rest of the way, as they were already the league's second-worst defensive team before selling off three of their best players ahead of the deadline. Ovechkin is as close to a lock to score as you get in this league with 44 goals already, and he'll have a great opportunity to light the lamp at least once, if not more, against an Ottawa team that's giving up 3.68 goals per game.
Jake DeBrusk, BOS vs. SJ ($18): DeBrusk had five-game goal and point streaks snapped in his last outing, but he's still accrued five goals, five assists and a plus-5 rating over his past six games. Look for him to get back on the scoresheet at home against a Sharks team that participates in extremely fantasy friendly affairs on the road, scoring 3.59 goals per game while allowing 3.50.
WINGS TO AVOID
Matthew Tkachuk, CGY at NYI ($22): Tkachuk has been frigid for over a month, delivering just two assists without a goal in 12 games starting Jan. 22. The physical forward's drought will likely continue against an Islanders team that's holding opponents to a league-low 2.31 goals per game.
Jonathan Drouin, MON at DET ($19): Drouin returned Monday after missing a game due to the flu, but he was unable to end a seven-game point drought. With some residual fatigue from his recent illness likely to take its toll on this second night of a back-to-back, its tough to trust the slumping Drouin despite the decent matchup on paper.
DEFENSEMEN
Ryan Pulock, NYI vs. CGY ($18): Pulock has put his diverse skill set on display over the past nine games, registering four goals, five power-play points and eight points while also recording as many as eight shots and six blocks in individual games over that span. He posted a plus-6 rating over those nine contests as well. The emerging blueliner makes for a strong value play, especially compared to his teammates on the back end -- the identically priced Nick Leddy averages 3.8 fantasy points to Pulock's 6.7.
Mike Green, DET vs. MON ($16): Green's a high-floor blueliner with a knack for chipping in offensively, and he's catching the Canadiens at a good time with Montreal finishing up a back-to-back set. With five points in his last five games, Green's up to 25 in 41 appearances. That's a 50-point pace over the course of a healthy season, and Green's been defensively responsible as well with a plus-3 rating. Not bad for a $16 defenseman.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Keith Yandle, FLA at DAL ($21): Yandle does his best work at home and relies heavily on the power play, so this isn't the time to look his way. Arizona's second-ranked penalty kill (85.6 percent) is likely to limit Yandle's effectiveness with the extra man, where he's scored 30 of his 47 points. The veteran blueliner has also been significantly worse on the road (17 points, minus-18 rating in 28 games) than at home (30 points, even rating in 32 games).
P.K. Subban, NSH at STL ($21): Much of the Blues' recent success can be attributed to the tremendous goaltending of Jordan Binnington (1.70 GAA, .934 save percentage). Subban has been having trouble scoring in far easier matchups, as his goal and assist Monday against the Oilers still give him only two goals and six points over his past 20 appearances. He'll need to string together a few efforts like Monday's to be worth paying up for at $21, especially against a stingy opponent like St. Louis.
