NHL Monday: Jamie Benn leads daily fantasy hockey picks

Welcome back! The NHL All-Star break is over, and Monday brings us six games. It's a nice way to ease back into the action. Here are the players to target, and to avoid, for your DFS lineups.

GOALIE

Ilya Sorokin, NYI at PHI ($34): Sorokin didn't have the best day at the All-Star Game, but who cares? When the games count, the Russian has a 2.38 GAA and .923 save percentage. There's a bottom-five offenses that have "separated themselves," and the Flyers are just above that. Even so, being 27th in goals per game at 2.78 is not exactly impressive.

GOALIE TO AVOID

Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM at FLA ($33): Vasilevskiy doesn't even have to leave town, as he follows up the All-Star Game with a road outing against the Panthers. The problem, though, is that the Panthers provide a tricky matchup that throws the Russian right into the fire. Florida may "only" be seventh in goals per game, but it is first with 35.7 shots on net per contest.

CENTER

Nico Hischier, NJD vs. VAN ($23): Hischier has already tied his career high with 21 goals, and with 46 points in 48 games he's well on his way to a new personal best on that front as well. He just happens to have an emerging star in Jack Hughes pulling focus. The Canucks have a 3.92 GAA, second highest in the NHL, and the Bo Horvat trade was a clear indication that this is a team planning for a revamp.

CENTER TO AVOID

Elias Lindholm, CGY at NYR ($21): Lindholm has ceded some of his responsibilities to Nazem Kadri, and as such has averaged his fewest minutes per game since the 2017-18 campaign, but his 45 points in 49 games is certainly impressive. Having said that, the Rangers have a 2.59 GAA, third lowest in the league. Igor Shesterkin's 2.45 GAA and .918 save percentage only seem less than foreboding because of how incredible he was last year, but since the start of December he has a 2.34 GAA and .922 save percentage in 19 appearances.

WING

Matthew Boldy, MIN at ARI ($19): Boldy has built off his impressive rookie campaign with a larger role and a more-active place in the offense. While he has 36 points through 48 games after having 39 in 47 last season, this year he's put 148 shots on net to 113 last year. That bodes well, as the Coyotes have allowed 34.8 shots on net per contest.

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Jamie Benn, DAL vs. ANA ($19): Benn went into the break hot with seven points and 24 shots on net in his last eight games. However, he's the kind of veteran who probably benefits from a few days off, and anybody can benefit from this matchup. The Ducks are last in GAA (4.06) and shots on net allowed per game (38.8).

WINGS TO AVOID

Andrei Kuzmenko, VAN at NJD ($19): The rookie Kuzmenko has 21 goals through 48 games, but it is going to be quite difficult for him to keep up this pace. He has a 24.7 shooting percentage, and there is effectively no NHL player who has shown they can consistently convert goals at that rate, much less 26-year-old rookies fresh from the KHL. It's hard enough to get shots on net against the Devils as is, as they've only given up 28.4 shots on goal per game.

Troy Terry, ANA at DAL ($19): Anaheim's only all-star steps into arguably the toughest matchup of anybody Monday being on the road against a Stars team that ranks second in GAA. Plus, Jake Oettinger has a 2.26 GAA and .923 save percentage.

DEFENSE

Miro Heiskanen, DAL vs. ANA ($22): Heiskanen already has a career-high 40 points, though an increased role on the power play has been a significant part of that. Eighteen of the Finn's points have come with the extra man. The Ducks have the 30th-ranked penalty kill, though, so I am not worried about that.

Mikhail Sergachev, TAM at FLA ($19): Sergachev's slowed down, but he still has 33 points in 46 games, including 15 with the extra man. What's going to be the situation in net for the Panthers, who have a bottom-10 GAA as is? Heading into the break, both Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight were dealing with injury, leaving Alex Lyon to tend the goal.

DEFENSE TO AVOID

Rasmus Andersson, CGY at NYR ($19): Andersson has been even better than last year, but I think there are enough options to avoid this matchup. The Rangers are at home and are ranked third in GAA and ninth on the penalty kill. Shesterkin also has a career .925 save percentage for good measure.

Tony DeAngelo, PHI vs. NYI ($17): Always a power-play weapon, half of DeAngelo's 30 points have come with the extra man. However, the Islanders have the fourth-ranked penalty kill, and don't forget about Sorokin's .923 save percentage on the year.