Welcome to the FanDuel Fades where we highlight players that we think you should avoid tonight. It's worth emphasizing that this is meant exclusively for daily leagues and the players are being weighed against their FanDuel prices. This is NOT meant to provide any insight into how we view these players in season-long fantasy leagues. After the recommendations you'll find today's list of probable goaltenders, which we update during the afternoon.
Editor's Note: This is your chance to try FanDuel risk free! Sign up today and if you lose your first contest, you’ll be refunded the entry fee up to $10. Play now.
Taylor Hall LW (Edmonton) - $6,300
Over Hall's last 10 games, he's only recorded at least a point in two of them. On top of being cold, he'll be facing the Anaheim Ducks tonight, which is one of the best teams defensively in the league. Keep Hall in the back of your mind going forward as he'd be good value at that price if he starts to rebound or is at least up against a more favorable opponent.
Mikael Backlund C (Calgary) - $5,300
If you've bet on Backlund lately, you haven't enjoyed the results. He has no points and a minus-five rating in his last five games. In three of those five contests he's finished with a negative FanDuel points total, which means that he did worse than a player who didn't play at all. The other two contests he was an unimpressive 0.2 and 0.4 FanDuel points. Wait for this cold streak to play out before taking him again.
Jakub Voracek RW (Philadelphia) - $7,100
Voracek's contributions have been fairly light lately with no goals and three assists in his last seven contests. That's not terrible, but it's far from ideal given his price point. On top of that his 3.1 FanDuel points per game this season isn't great compared to his competition either as Blake Wheeler ($6,900) is at 3.6 points per game while James Neal ($6,900) is at 3.7.
Gustav Nyquist LW (Detroit) - $4,900
Nyquist has recorded no goals and two assists in his last nine games. If you're looking for an inexpensive left winger tonight, you might be better off with Andrew Cogliano ($4,700), who has two goals and seven points in his last seven games, or Jamie McGinn ($4,600), who has five goals and six points in his last six contests.
Craig Smith RW (Nashville) - $5,500
Smith did find the back of the net on Saturday, but he still looks unappealing at that price point. Keep in mind that even with that goal, he still has just two points in his last eight contests. On top of that, his RW peers today includes Tyler Toffoli ($5,300), who is coming off of a four-point game and T.J. Oshie ($5,800), who has four goals and five points in his last six games.
Petr Mrazek G (Detroit) - $8,500
Not a lot to this one. Mrazek has been less than ideal lately given that he's allowed at least three goals in each of his last four contests, but the reason I'm recommending avoiding him is because it looks like Jimmy Howard will start on Monday instead.
Logan Couture C (San Jose) - $6,100
It's incredible how many of the centers available tonight are on hot streaks. In fact, just about every healthy center price above Couture tonight, with the exception of Evgeny Kuznetsov, who is on a four-game point drought, has been doing pretty well lately. And that just makes Couture's no goals and two assists in his last nine games stand out all the more. If you want to take a Sharks center tonight, spring for the extra $400 to go with Joe Thornton.
Alexander Ovechkin LW (Washington) - $9,300
Ovechkin has been a bit quiet lately with a goal and no assists in his last five games. Part of my concern though is one of motivation. The Washington Capitals have nothing left to play for until the postseason starts, so there's the danger that Washington might underperform compared to teams still fighting for a playoff berth or even just postseason positioning.
Goaltenders
Winnipeg (Ondrej Pavelec) confirmed @ Philadelphia (Steve Mason) confirmed
Columbus (Sergei Bobrovsky) confirmed @ Washington (Braden Holtby) confirmed
Buffalo (Chad Johnson) confirmed @ Detroit (Jimmy Howard) confirmed
Toronto (Garret Sparks) confirmed @ Tampa Bay (Ben Bishop) confirmed
Colorado (Semyon Varlamov) confirmed @ Nashville (Pekka Rinne) confirmed
Anaheim (John Gibson) confirmed @ Edmonton (Cam Talbot) confirmed
Calgary (Joni Ortio) confirmed @ Arizona (Louis Domingue) confirmed
Los Angeles (Jonathan Quick) confirmed @ San Jose (Martin Jones) confirmed