This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
The first Friday of the 2018-19 NHL season is a tame one, with just two games on tap beginning at 7:00 PM Eastern time. Read on below for the best values from the Hurricanes-Blue Jackets and Sharks-Kings games.
GOALIE
Jonathan Quick, LA vs. SJ ($37): Quick's coming off a strong 2017-18 campaign that featured 33 wins, a 2.40 GAA and .921 save percentage. The Kings team in front of him projects to be stout as always on defense and should score more as well with offseason acquisition Ilya Kovalchuk ($21) in the fold. In his first start of the season, Quick's primed to find success against a Sharks team that lost its first game 5-2 at home to Anaheim on Wednesday.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Sergei Bobrovsky, CLS vs. CAR ($38): While preseason results aren't the world's most meaningful statistic, it's still tough to justify pouring $38 into a guy that posted a 4.33 GAA and .822 save percentage in three appearances over the exhibition slate. Until Bobrovsky proves to be in serviceable form, he's best left on the bench at his price.
CENTER
Pierre-Luc Dubois, CLS vs. CAR ($20): Dubois is locked into a juicy role on Columbus' first line and top power-play unit -- a distinction he shares with Artemi Panarin ($29) and Cam Atkinson ($24). The cheapest member of the trio chipped in a power-play helper in the team's opener Thursday, and he should continue to produce at a high rate given the immense talent around him.
CENTER TO AVOID
Logan Couture, SJ at LA ($23): Couture struggled in San Jose' opener with just one shot and a minus-1 rating. Teammates Tomas Hertl ($19) and Joe Thornton ($17) are playing similar top-six roles but can both be had much cheaper than Couture.
WINGS
Sebastian Aho, CAR at CLS ($20): Aho's career trajectory has been outstanding so far, as he backed up a 24-goal, 49-point rookie season with 29 goals and 65 points as a sophomore in 2017-18. The 21-year-old standout led all Carolina skaters with 21:30 of ice time while contributing an assist and four shots on goal in the team's opener, suggesting he's primed to produce even more in Year 3.
Tyler Toffoli, LA vs. SJ ($14): It looked like Toffoli was going to be locked out of a top-six role with Kovalchuk and Dustin Brown ahead of him on right wing, but Brown is now sidelined indefinitely after breaking a finger. Now operating on the second line alongside Jeff Carter ($19), Toffoli's primed to return excellent value at $14 as long as Brown's sitting.
WINGS TO AVOID
Andrei Svechnikov, CAR at CLS ($19): Svechnikov has plenty of offensive ability, but the rookie isn't being given many opportunities to showcase it early on. He skated just 11:48 in his NHL debut Thursday, and it will be nearly impossible to live up to a $19 valuation on a consistent basis if he continues to receive so little ice time.
Boone Jenner, CLS vs. CAR ($18): Jenner's another bottom-six forward that's overpriced relative to his current role. Even though Columbus' first game went to overtime, he skated just 13:52 in the contest.
DEFENSEMEN
Derek Forbort, LA vs. SJ ($13): Forbort should benefit from being paired with superstar defenseman Drew Doughty, just as he did en route to a plus-18 rating last season. Grabbing Forbort at $13 clears plenty of salary to spend on top players elsewhere, and Forbort provides a nice floor with his strong defensive play and high blocked shot totals -- his 156 blocks last season ranked 19th in the NHL.
Zach Werenski, CLS vs. CAR ($19): Werenski's being asked to play an even larger role with fellow blueliner Seth Jones (knee) on injured reserve, and that extra workload should result in massive fantasy production given Werenski's extensive offensive capabilities. In Columbus' opener, he finished with 10.3 fantasy points in 28:27 of ice time without even producing a goal or assist.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Erik Karlsson, SJ at LA ($24): Karlsson failed to score in his Sharks debut, but the risk-taking blueliner did manage to carry his defensive woes over to his new club, finishing with a minus-2 rating to put himself well on the way to replicating last season's minus-25. With offense likely hard to come by against Quick and the Kings, the reward doesn't justify the risk at $24.
Paul LaDue, LAA vs. SJ ($18): It's unclear why LaDue costs $18 considering he may not even be in the lineup. Even if he plays, it's likely to be in limited minutes.
