NHL Thursday: Kirill Kaprizov leads daily fantasy hockey plays

There are nine games on tap Thursday in the NHL with only one game involving a tired team versus a rested squad. Calgary, coming off a 6-3 victory over Arizona, travels to Vegas. In other games, Buffalo visits Tampa Bay, New Jersey hosts L.A., Edmonton travels to Pittsburgh, Columbus is home to Minnesota, the Rangers are in Detroit, Vancouver plays in St. Louis, Boston heads to Seattle and Nashville knows the way to San Jose. Below, you'll find suggested options for crafting an effective lineup.

GOALIE

Jeremy Swayman, BOS at SEA ($40): Linus Ullmark has started the last two games, so this looks like a good spot for Swayman. The 24-year-old shut out the Predators in his last start, stopping 28 shots. He is 13-4-4 with a 2.21 GAA and .918 save percentage, and the Bruins are the top team in the NHL. Swayman will face the Kraken, who are the fifth-highest scoring team in the NHL, averaging 3.46 goals per game.

GOALIE TO AVOID

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, BUF at TB ($21): Luukkonen was pulled in his last start Tuesday, giving up four goals on 10 shots in a loss to Toronto. He is 14-8-2 with a 3.55 GAA and .893 save percentage this season. His peripherals have been mediocre and his season has been saved by the fact the Sabres are the third-highest scoring team in the NHL. However, Luukkonen will face the fourth-highest scoring team Thursday, as the Lightning are averaging 3.55 goals per game.

CENTER

Boone Jenner, CLS vs. MIN ($19): Normally I would suggest taking Connor McDavid as the superstar leads the NHL in scoring, but he has a $37 salary. Jenner is almost half the price and has been quite strong of late, scoring three times and adding three assists in his last five games. Taking the cheaper option would allow you to stock the rest of your lineup with better players. Jenner has 17 goals and 32 points in 46 games this season. He sees first line time, as well as being on the top power-play unit with Patrik Laine as his linemate in both situations.

CENTER TO AVOID

Steven Stamkos, TB vs. BUF ($31): Stamkos has been in a big slump of late, scoring only once and adding an assist in eight February contests. Overall, Stamkos has 25 goals and 59 points in 56 games this season. He sees second line action with Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn as well as first unit power-play time. Stamkos will snap out of his slump, but avoid him until he does.

WING

Artemi Panarin, NYR at DET ($26): Panarin saw his seven-game point streak come to an end Monday, a stretch in which he'd scored six goals and nine assists, giving the Rangers star winger 18 goals and 65 points in 57 games. His game has gone up a notch since New York dealt for his friend Vladimir Tarasenko six games ago. Panarin has three assists in two games against the Red Wings this season.

Kirill Kaprizov, MIN at CLS ($32): Kaprizov is having another great season with 33 goals and 67 points in 57 games, good for 15th in NHL scoring. He was fifth last season with 47 goals and 108 points, as the Wild superstar continues to show why he is one of the best players in the world. Kaprizov has been especially great with the man advantage this season, scoring a career-high 15 goals, and his 30 points is just one shy of last season's career best with 25 games left in his season.

WINGS TO AVOID

Jonathan Marchessault, VGK vs. CGY ($21): Marchessault had a two-goal game Saturday versus Tampa Bay, but that has been an anomaly of late. He has not found the back of the net in 15 of his last 16 contests, and he has only four points in his last eight games. Overall, Marchessault has 17 goals and 36 points in 51 games, but he will not come close to the 66-point effort from 2021-22.

Matt Duchene, NAS at SJ ($19): Duchene has just one goal in his last four games. He has 17 goals and 43 points in 54 games this season, which is solid production, but he had 43 goals and 86 points last season — a mark that he will not come close to in 2022-23. Duchene also just lost his center, as Ryan Johansen is likely gone for the season after suffering a leg injury which requires surgery.

DEFENSE

Moritz Seider, DET vs. NYR ($18): Seider got off to a bad start this season but has come on strong of late, as he has two goals and 14 assists in his last 18 games. Seider has four goals and 30 points in 56 games (he had two goals and 17 points in his first 38 contests), as he has returned to his 2021-22 form, when he won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie.

Erik Karlsson, SJ vs. NAS ($27): Karlsson is having a season for the ages with 18 goals and 58 assists in just 58 games. He is on pace for 107 points, which would be the 10th-best season by a blueliner in NHL history, as only Bobby Orr (five times) and Paul Coffey (on four occasions) have bettered the mark. Karlsson has three assists in his last two games after he was held off the scoresheet in his previous two outings. He has four goals and 19 points on the power play and is only six PP points away from tying his career high, set in the 2015-16 campaign.

DEFENSEMEN TO AVOID

Kris Letang, PIT at EDM ($21): Letang has a goal and three points in his last eight games, giving the veteran defenseman five goals and 23 points in 38 games. It has been a tough season for him — he suffered a stroke earlier in the season, and had to deal with the death of his father (and a lower-body injury) after Christmas. Letang quarterbacks the first power-play unit and has nine of his 23 points with the man advantage.

Hampus Lindholm, BOS at SEA ($19): Looking at his season stats, it seems like it would be a no-brainer to take him, but a deeper look shows that Lindholm was hot while Charlie McAvoy was out of action at the start of the season. Lindholm has six goals and 36 points in 56 games, but has only five assists in his last 10 contests. He is quarterbacking the second power-play unit not the first, which has David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, McAvoy and Jake DeBrusk. There are better choices on the blue line.