Welcome to FanDuel Fades where we focus on players that we think you should avoid tonight. Be sure to check out the list of probable goaltenders below as well. We'll update it during the afternoon, so please keep that in mind.
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Scott Hartnell LW (Columbus) - $6,200
This article skips over a lot of injured players because avoiding them goes without saying. However, we will highlight players that aren't playing for other reasons because that information is easier to miss. With that in mind, be sure to pass on Hartnell tonight as he will be a healthy scratch. He's tied for the team's scoring lead with 31 points, but it seems John Tortorella wants to send a message to the team after Hartnell took some bad penalties in recent games.
Craig Smith RW (Nashville) - $4,700
Even at that low price, I wouldn't take Smith right now. He hasn't recorded a point in his last seven games and he has just nine goals and five assists in 45 contests this season. I would need to see significantly more from him for a decent period of time before thinking about gambling on him.
Sean Monahan C (Calgary) - $7,300
Monahan isn't having a bad season with 13 goals and 28 points in 43 games, but for that price it's reasonable to expect more. On top of that, he's in a slump with a goal and an assist in his last nine games.
Drew Doughty D (Los Angeles) - $5,800
Doughty is having another great season, but he's gone quiet lately with just one assist in his last seven games. He'll bounce back, but for now it might be best to evaluate your other options, especially seeing as this will be Los Angeles' third game in four days.
Ondrej Palat LW (Tampa Bay) - $5,500
Palat's first two full NHL campaigns went well, but this season has been quite the disappointment. He has three goals and 11 points in 25 contests in 2015-16. He hasn't inspired a lot of confidence recently either as he's been held off the scoresheet in five of his last six games.
Brandon Saad LW (Columbus) - $6,200
Although this certainly hasn't been the way the Blue Jackets' envisioned their 2015-16 campaign would go, at least Saad has performed as advertised for the most part. Lately though, he's been limited to two assists in six games. In the long run it will also be interesting to see how the trade of Ryan Johansen impacts him, given that the initial hope was that the two would be playing together for years to come. Saad did get plenty of ice time with Johansen prior to the trade and the bulk of Saad's current cold streak has occurred since that trade happened.
Ryan Callahan RW (Tampa Bay) - $4,400
Callahan has gone from recording 54 points in 2014-15 to scoring five goals and registering nine assists in 44 contests this season. He hasn't gotten any better lately either as he's recorded just one assist in his last eight games.
Andrei Markov D (Montreal) - $4,300
Markov is obviously not one of the more expensive defenseman and in other circumstances I would actually consider him good value. Lately though he's posted two assists and a minus-five rating in eight games. That plus/minus rating is of particular importance because it ate into what little value he would have otherwise had recently in FanDuel leagues. Montreal is a team that's been falling hard since basically the start of December and unless the Canadiens can turn their campaign around, Markov is likely going to continue to be a shaky bet.
Goaltenders
Calgary (Jonas Hiller) confirmed @ New Jersey (Cory Schneider) confirmed
Vancouver (Ryan Miller) @ NY Rangers (Henrik Lundqvist)
Toronto (James Reimer) confirmed @ Philadelphia (Steve Mason) confirmed
Washington (Braden Holtby) confirmed @ Columbus (Sergei Bobrovsky) confirmed
Boston (Tuukka Rask) @ Montreal (Mike Condon) confirmed
Edmonton (Anders Nilsson) confirmed @ Tampa Bay (Andrei Vasilevskiy) confirmed
Chicago (Corey Crawford) confirmed @ Nashville (Pekka Rinne) confirmed
Dallas (Kari Lehtonen) confirmed @ Los Angeles (Jonathan Quick) confirmed