The Alex Ovechkin watch continued on Thursday, but unfortunately, he did not score a goal in the Capitals' 2-1 loss to Dallas. In case you haven't been following, Ovie has reached 800 career goals and needs just one goal to pass Gordie Howe for second on the all-time goals list. Even without a goal, Ovechkin had a nice game roto-wise with an assist, plus-1, five shots, and two hits. He's also red-hot with 10 points in his last five games while taking at least five shots in five of his last six games. A couple seasons ago, I didn't think it was possible for Ovechkin to pass Gretzky as the all-time goals leader. Ovie was getting up there in age, he’d lost valuable games from two seasons due to COVID, and Gretzky has records that may never be broken in our lifetime. Now at the rate he's going, it's just a matter of time.  

Find out where Ovechkin ranks on the Top 100 Roto Rankings. Teaser: I have a hard time moving him down. Remember, the rankings are for single-season leagues, in case you think he's ranked too high.

To no one's surprise, Ovechkin far and away leads the Capitals with 20 goals. What if I told you that Conor Sheary is second on the Caps with 10 goals? Sheary scored the Capitals' only goal on Thursday, giving him four points in his last three games.

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If you don't care about Ovie's ranking that much, perhaps you care about Tage Thompson's. After bagging another two points on Thursday, Thompson is currently on a 126-point pace. Say what? I'm certain none of us predicted before the season that he would reach that number, nor should we assume that he will reach that pace either. His advanced stats don't necessarily scream sell high, although the 4.9 PTS/60 and 1033 PDO and even the 17.5 SH% suggest it's not off the table.

Given what I've seen in fantasy hockey questions and discussion over the past few days, I get the sense that numerous Thompson owners are trying to sell higher than Thompson's real-life 6-6 frame. If you're offered Thompson, I would treat him as a point-per-game player and not much more, given his previous track record and previous susceptibility to injury prior to last season. He's third in league scoring right now, but that's over a 30-game sample and not an entire season. If he scores at a point per game the rest of the way (assuming no games missed), he'll finish with 98 points because of the 46 points he's already banked.

Thompson's ADP in Yahoo was 140. For him to make the leap to top 10 in the span of two months would be unprecedented. I'm taking a wait-and-see approach to see if he's there yet, although definitely showing he's at least a top 50 player. 2/2

— Ian Gooding (@Ian_Gooding) December 15, 2022

Another Sabre I'm taking a wait-and-see approach with is Dylan Cozens. With an empty-net goal on Thursday, Cozens is on fire with 16 goals in the last nine games. There's more bright red on Cozens's advanced stats in Frozen Tools than Thompson's, indicating a stronger sell high. Based on pedigree as a seventh overall pick, I'd only heed that advice if you added Cozens recently in a single-season league. He appears to be headed in the right direction if you've been waiting on him in a keeper league since 2019.

The Sabres might not be one of the top teams in the standings, but at least they're having a lot of fun. Dahlin scored a goal and added an assist on Thursday, giving him 35 points in just 29 games. Only Erik Karlsson has more points among defensemen.  

Rasmus Dahlin has the same amount of points as Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes & Alex Ovechkin.

35 points in 29 games.

— Jason Gold (@JayGold85) December 16, 2022

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Earlier in the day, Trevor Moore signed a five-year contract extension worth $4.2 million per season. Moore has been earning less than $2 million per season, so this represents a hike in pay that you'll need to account for in cap leagues after the season. Moore has been cold with no points in his last five games, but he scored the shootout winner in the Kings' 3-2 win over Boston on Thursday.

My Zero G strategy on one of my teams consists of starting Ville Husso and another goalie that is either hot or has favorable matchups. Pheonix Copley was the G2 that I decided to roll with this week. Copley has started three of the last four games for the Kings, posting wins and quality starts in three of his own four games this season. The other game was a really bad start (RBS) in Buffalo on Tuesday in which all of his six goals allowed were in the third period after it looked like he would cruise to another quality start. Cal Petersen has a 2.01 GAA and .939 SV% in four AHL games, so Copley will probably be back in the AHL if he struggles for even just a few games. It seemed surprising that the Kings turned right back to him instead of Jonathan Quick after the RBS.  

After a so-so first two months of the season, Adrian Kempe is starting to heat up. With two goals on Thursday, Kempe has four goals over his last three games. Remember that he scored goals in bunches last season, so now might be the right time to add him if he's somehow become available in your league.

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Mitch Marner's point streak has finally ended at 23 games. He's managed to pile up 32 points over those games.

At least Michael Bunting was able to continue his point streak, which has now reached 10 games. With a goal on Thursday, Bunting also has goals in three consecutive games. He was one of my picks in the Tim Horton's Hockey Challenge, for those of you who play. He's been a great find for the Leafs at a super-low cap hit.

Bunting's past 82 regular season outings:

23 goals
43 assists
66 points#LeafsForever

— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) December 16, 2022

Conor Timmins recorded another assist on Thursday. He's off to a solid start with the Leafs with four helpers in his past two games and five points in five games as a Leaf. He's also been given second-unit power-play time. Timmins is just 1% rostered in Yahoo and 13% rostered in Fantrax, so he could be worth taking a flier on. Just keep in mind that some of that value could disappear once Morgan Rielly returns to the lineup.

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Here’s another reminder to add Brandon Hagel if you can, as he's just 24% rostered in Yahoo leagues. Hagel scored twice and added an assist on Thursday, giving him six points and a plus-7 over his last four games. Oh yeah, he's also still on that line with Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, where he has been for the majority of the season. Hagel still takes under two shots per game, but he's managed to score 35 goals over the last two seasons by shooting at around 19%.  

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Eeli Tolvanen has been one of the most top-searched players on Frozen Tools this week after being claimed off waivers by Seattle. However, Tolvanen was not in the lineup on Thursday and has yet to make his Kraken debut. He seems like a low-risk pickup for Seattle, since he is only 23 and already in need of a fresh start. Feel free to add him to your watch list to monitor his progress with his new organization.

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With both Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore out, relative unknown Daniil Miromanov has suddenly been thrust into first power-play duties. The Golden Knights are getting hammered with absences again this season, as Theodore is listed as week-to-week with a leg injury while Pietrangelo is out indefinitely due to personal reasons. Miromanov followed up a three-point game on Tuesday with an assist on Thursday after he was held without a point in his first five games.

Miromanov available in fewer than 10% of leagues in both Yahoo and Fantrax, so now is the time to go get him. He's had decent AHL numbers over the past two seasons (53 PTS in 70 GP) so he could easily stick around once Pietrangelo or Theodore return. That being said, don't expect him to unseat either for power-play time or other prime opportunities, so you're adding him with the view that he may only benefit your team in the short term.

Reilly Smith scored a pair of goals in Vegas's 4-1 win over Chicago. He now has multiple points in back-to-back games.

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John Klingberg's one-year bet on himself hasn't gone as planned so far. Klingberg entered Thursday's game with no points over his last seven games, which when interrupted by injury dates all the way back to mid-November without a point. Klingberg snapped that slump with a pair of goals on Thursday, which gives him just three goals and 10 points in 24 games as a Duck. Moreoever, Klingberg is a minus-16 this season, which marks the fourth consecutive season that he is a double-digit minus player (combined minus-69 – not nice). Klingberg's shot total has also gradually fallen from 2.5 SOG/GP in 2017-18 to 1.5 SOG/GP this season. It's gotten to the point where Klingberg is currently available in my salary cap league. Twenty teams in that league, and not one of them has bothered to find the available space.

The Ducks won just their second game in regulation all season. Yes, you read that right. Two wins that did not require overtime in 31 total games. If the rebuilding Ducks trade Klingberg at the deadline, perhaps he can salvage some of his value.  

With a win and quality start on Thursday, Lukas Dostal has two quality starts in three games this season. Even though Ducks goalies are situationally hard-pressed to earn wins, quality starts aren't so difficult to come by. John Gibson (who was out of the lineup on Thursday) has 11 quality starts but just five wins in 22 games.  

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Just another day at the office for Connor McDavid.

Just casually dropping another unbelievable Connor McDavid (@cmcdavid97) goal to the timeline. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/jmDFnw6yNc

— NHL (@NHL) December 16, 2022

McDavid now has 27 goals and 60 points, which means he's in the lead for both the Rocket Richard and Art Ross race. I think winning those two awards would earn him the Hart Trophy as well. At least it should. Hopefully the voters don't try to get cute with some other trendy pick if that happens.  

You make the call. Was McDavid really offside here?

leon draisaitl's overtime goal is negated after it was ruled connor mcdavid put himself offside. pic.twitter.com/ib7GkTgfDL

— zach (@zjlaing) December 16, 2022

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Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.