The Washington Capitals have used the break to lock up Dylan Strome to a long-term deal, signing him to a five-year contract worth $25 million. After not being qualified by the rebuilding Blackhawks, Strome was able to leverage a one-year "show me" $3.5 million deal with the Capitals into something more secure. With the Capitals facing numerous injuries this season, Strome has filled in admirably with his 36 points (11 G, 25 A) currently third on the team.

I've made a point to retain Strome in a salary cap league because his current deal is efficient, rejecting multiple trade offers for him. That being said, I also figured that a raise would be forthcoming. Strome is ranked 141 on the current Top 200 Cap League Rankings, but that ranking will probably fall a bit this offseason. Not an inefficient cap hit by any means and perhaps the term was stretched out more than expected, but you might have to think a little harder about keeping Strome this offseason.

Although Strome is known as being wildly inconsistent, his scoring rates actually show quite the opposite. Over four of the last five seasons, Strome has averaged between 0.65 and 0.75 points per game. That's an 82-game pace of between 53 and 60 points. Whether you keep him or drop him might depend on what pace you consider replacement-level in your league, but I also have Strome in a single-season league where I've streamed him a couple times and consider him a bubble player in that format. Rostering Strome in two leagues has allowed me to perhaps expand on him in my writing a bit more than I would on some other players.

Since January 8, the day that both Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson made their season debuts, Strome has five points (3 G, 2 A) in 10 games, so his production has already dipped slightly now that the Caps have a fuller roster. Not surprisingly, he has also been bumped to the second power-play unit. You may also remember that Strome was a healthy scratch on January 14, which was reportedly simply a game of numbers. Yet that shouldn't be an issue going forward now that he has the contract in hand. Expect Strome to be given priority over players like Conor Sheary, Marcus Johansson, and Sonny Milano, all of whom are UFAs after the season. Yet with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie, and Backstrom all under contract for two more seasons after this one, breaking onto PP1 could be an issue for Strome going forward.

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I had a prior commitment while the Skills Competition was taking place (not to mention that I lost power for a few hours due to a windstorm), so you'll have to check some of the other hockey media for a full recap.

Whether Canucks fans liked it or not, Bo Horvat wore the jersey of his new team. At least the Reverse Retro version. The original/current Islanders jersey is a thousand times better, though.   

Okay, I'll share this as well. Ovi Sr. and Ovi Jr… kinda cute…

… and Elias Pettersson was the hardest shot winner…

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I'll admit that this tweet from Cliffy got my attention about William Carrier being more than just a banger.

We all know that the Vegas Golden Knights have overplayed their hand (LOL) these past few seasons in a continual attempt to upgrade their roster. Now with Mark Stone undergoing back surgery again, the Golden Knights will need to find a replacement that can click with Jack Eichel. With Stone out of the lineup for the past eight games, Eichel has no goals and just a single assist over that span. That's a serious problem. Assuming Stone can't return this season, the available cap space ($9.5 million) is there for a potential top-6 forward. But could the Golden Knights look in-house and potentially save themselves from more future cap issues?

Carrier has not been on a line with Eichel recently, but he has been hot recently with four points over his last four games on a pseudo-scoring line with Chandler Stephenson and Phil Kessel. Carrier has never been much of a scorer prior to that, topping out at 20 points in 63 games last season. He's only two points shy of that total now and may even hit 30 points if he can make it through the rest of the season without injuries. Moreover, he's already scored a career-high 12 goals this season, his first season in double-digit goals. At 28 years of age, Carrier seems to have found a new gear when it comes to scoring. Maybe a power-play point is next, as he's never had one in his career, but he's just starting to receive power-play time.

Hits have always been Carrier's specialty, as he has reached 100 hits in every one of his seven NHL seasons – even ones where he has played a partial number of games. Over the past five seasons, Carrier is in the top 10 in the league in hits (896 Hits), so bangers leagues may already be familiar with him. Yet he's a long way away from being rostered in standard leagues (2% Yahoo/12% Fantrax), so there's a real opportunity to get on board now – particularly in bangers leagues.  

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Just as Eichel headlines the cold list on Frozen Tools, Zach Hyman headlines the hot list. Hyman is into the second year of his seven-year contract with the Oilers, and so far, it's looking like one of the best free agent signings. Hyman is on pace for his first point-per-game season (60 PTS in 49 GP), and he's been especially hot recently with 16 points in his last seven games. We knew his production could climb in Edmonton, but Dobber has had to adjust his long-term upside from 65 points before the season to 85 points for the Midseason Guide.

It’s easy to suggest that Hyman is a product of teammates like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, and that the Band-Aid Boy trainee will be sidelined at some point before the season ends. Yet his advanced stats show that his current scoring pace is sustainable, perhaps with the exception of the 3.6 PTS/60, which is over a point per 60 higher than it has been in previous seasons. As long as one of McDavid or Draisaitl is his linemate, and as long as he's on the first-unit power play, Hyman has the potential to continue at his current pace. Hyman is taking over a shot per game more (3.9 SOG/GP) than any previous season, and he's averaging career highs in power-play time (67.4 %PP) and overall minutes (20:36).

All in all, I don't think you need to sell high. In fact, if all continues to go right for Hyman, Dobber might need to make another adjustment to that long-term upside.  

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Quick… drop Connor Bedard in your draft rankings! His 35-game point streak and 11-game goal streak in the WHL ended on Friday night.

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Don't forget about the Midseason Guide, if you haven't purchased yours already.

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Follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding for more fantasy hockey.