Hello and welcome back to Geek of the Week! In this week's article, I am going to take a look at some trends in hits lately. Some players have emerged from the minors as great banger options, while some have just flipped a switch lately and have started to hit much more than when they started the season. I'll review their latest stats and take a look at the value they can bring in multicategory leagues.

Radko Gudas

Gudas is a very familiar name to anyone in a banger categories league. He's always provided great coverage in Hits and PIM. He started the season a little slow, but has really come into his own lately in Hits. In the last 25 games played, he hasn't had a game where he registered less than 2 hits. He is very consistent and should pick up 8-14 Hits per fantasy week. He also gets a big boost to blocks playing for the Ducks and provides plenty of PIM as well. I like to target the peripheral stats with defenseman, as their offensive production tends to lack productivity anyways compared to forward positions. Gudas is a great option that brings plenty of peripheral value in multicategory leagues. Another boost is his shots on goal of late, where he's averaging two per game in the past month.

Jeremy Lauzon

Lauzon is currently injured, but that is great to keep him under-the-radar. Prior to injury, he led all defenseman in Hits per game, with 4.54 per game. That is much more than the next best, which is his teammate Luke Schenn with 3.67 per game. If Lauzon comes back healthy, he should be back to his old ways, picking up 4-5 hits per game. He alone can secure the hits category week-in-week-out. He's worth a stash on your IR if he's available.

Marc Gatcomb

You may not have heard of this undrafted rookie, but Gatcomb has carved out a fourth-line role for himself in the past five games for the Islanders. It remains to be seen if this will stick, but he is quite the smasher. With very limited ice time (only 8:33 per game so far), he leads the league in hits per 60 minutes. This is good enough to average over five hits per game so far! If he ever gets trusted with even 10-11 minutes of ice time per game, he could have league-leading hit potential. Keep an eye on Gatcomb and use him for a stream if you're chasing hits. Just make sure you track if he is a healthy scratch or gets sent back down to the minors before you make an add.

Mitchell Chaffee

Chaffee has also had limited ice time, but has actually carved out a small role on the power play lately. This has amounted to three (of his four total goals) goals on the power play in his last 24 games. Aside from his power-play usage, he plays bottom-six minutes at even strength, averaging less than 10 minutes a game at even strength. Lately he has been putting up impressive hit numbers in the limited role, averaging over three per game in the last month, which is much higher than his season average of under two per game. Chaffee may be worth an add in deeper banger leagues and worth keeping an eye on in others. If he were to be moved up to the middle-six, he could up his hit numbers further while providing more offensive production too.

Sam Colangelo

The Ducks' prospect has been up and down this season between the NHL and the AHL. He's played well this season with the San Diego Gulls, picking up 14 goals and 24 points in 25 games. It hasn't translated to the NHL yet, as he has only one goal in his 12 appearances. His per 60 chance generation is not bad for a rookie and shows some promise to come as he develops. It is his hit numbers lately that really stand out though. On the season he's averaging just over two hits per game with bottom-six minutes. In his latest four-game stint with the Ducks, he averaged three hits per game. If he gets called upon to fill a top 9 role on the Ducks, he could provide some offensive production to go along with over three hits per game. Keep an eye on Colangelo.

Casey Cizikas

Cizikas has always hovered around two hits per game the last few seasons in his checking role on the Islanders. On the season, he's still averaging 2.5 per game. Looking at his play recently though, suggests an uptick in hits. He's averaging over three per game in his last 25 games and a whopping 6.25 in his last four games played! If he keeps up this crazy hit production, he may be worth a hold just to secure this category, similar to Kiefer Sherwood and Jeremy Lauzon.

Hope you enjoyed this week’s breakdown!

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