This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Hockey series.
Wednesday's modest NHL slate begins at 7:00 PM Eastern time and features four games. There should be no shortage of exciting action despite the limited number of teams set to take the ice, so read on to see which players stand out as options to target and which ones should be avoided.
GOALIE
Mike Smith, CGY vs. PHI ($33): Smith has been hotter than the flame on his chest, winning each of his past six starts while holding his opponents to a combined nine goals over that span. He'll be favored to stretch that streak in a home matchup with a Flyers team that's 3-6-2 in its past 11 games. Philadelphia's also been held to zero or one goal in four of those 11 contests.
GOALIE TO AVOID
Corey Crawford, CHI at PIT ($27): Crawford sticks out like a sore thumb in a slate that's full of hot goaltenders. You really can't go wrong with any of the options priced above him, whereas even contrarian fantasy owners are asking for trouble by using Crawford against the high-powered Penguins considering he's dropped his past eight decisions, allowing at least three goals in each.
CENTER
William Karlsson, VGK at NYI ($19): The goals are starting to come for Karlsson. After lighting the lamp in just five of his first 24 games this season, he's back on a pace reminiscent to that of last season's 43-goal campaign with five in the past eight games. His price hasn't climbed at all during that stretch, so lock Karlsson in at $19 while you still can.
CENTER TO AVOID
Brock Nelson, NYI vs. VGK ($16): The production's drying up for Nelson, who has just one goal and four helpers in his past 11 games. With a 17.5 shooting percentage that's well above his career 12.7 mark, there's still room for Nelson to fall further, especially with league shutout leader Marc-Andre Fleury (five) coming to town.
WINGS
Jake Guentzel, PIT vs. CHI ($22): Guentzel will be brimming with confidence after scoring the shootout winner Monday against the Islanders. He's also been on fire over the past 11 games with six goals and 14 points. Staying hot shouldn't be a problem against a Blackhawks team that allows more goals per game than every team except the Senators and will be playing its second game in as many nights. It also helps that Guentzel is considerably cheaper than linemates Phil Kessel ($26) and Sidney Crosby ($34) despite comparable recent production.
Elias Lindholm, CGY vs. PHI ($23): Lindholm put up a dud with the rest of his teammates in Sunday's shutout loss to Edmonton, but he had been dominating in all phases with five goals, six assists, a plus-9 rating, four power-play points and 24 shots over a six-game point streak prior to that game. Thriving on the first line and top power-play unit with the Flames after coming over in an offseason trade with Carolina, the 2013 fifth-overall pick's primed for a bounce-back performance against a slumping Flyers team that features the league's most generous penalty kill (71.7 percent).
WINGS TO AVOID
Matthew Tkachuk, CGY vs. PHI ($21): This is a favorable matchup, but Tkachuk's been invisible far too often of late to trust against anybody at the moment. Only twice in his past nine games has Tkachuk managed to score more than 2.7 fantasy points, yet his price has dropped only $1 over that span.
Jamie Benn, DAL at ANH ($25): What's concerning about Benn's slow start -- the 66 points he's on pace for would be his lowest total since 2012-13 -- is that he's actually scoring on a high rate of shots. The veteran forward's 15.2 shooting percentage is the second-highest of his career, only eclipsed by the 16.6 from his 41-goal 2015-16. While Benn's still a very good player, he appears to have slipped out of the "great" realm, making him tough to justify using at $25 in what projects to be a low-scoring contest.
DEFENSEMEN
Hampus Lindholm, ANH vs. DAL ($18): Lindholm offers strong bang for the buck due to the immense minutes he's playing for the injury-riddled Ducks. He's eclipsed 25 minutes of ice time in each of the past 10 games while scoring 5.5 or more fantasy points in eight of the last nine, thus providing an excellent floor.
Shea Theodore, VGK at NYI ($17): Theodore's been a two-way stud over the past 13 games, more than making up for a slow start to the season. Not only does Theodore have 11 points in the last 13 games, but his plus-9 rating in this strong stretch has him back above even for the year. Lock the talented blueliner in at $17 while his slow start is still dragging his price down.
DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID
Nick Leddy, NYI vs. VGK ($18): You have to go all the way to the minimum $10 before you find a defenseman averaging fewer fantasy points than Leddy's 2.5, and even a number of those guys are outscoring the $18 blueliner. Leddy's been even worse in the past 11 games with an average of just 1.3 fantasy points, so there's little reason to pay up for him regardless of opponent.
Jamie Oleksiak, PIT at CHI ($18): Oleksiak hasn't been Leddy levels of bad, but every other defenseman priced at $15 or more is exceeding Oleksiak's average of 4.4 fantasy points. Even against this vulnerable opponent, Oleksiak's unlikely to get in on the offense considering he doesn't get power-play minutes and has just three assists without a goal over the past 15 games.
