Week 4: Draisaitl scores twice, then twice, then twice — and the envelope leaves the IceCaps
Week 4 asked Edmonton to share. Leon Draisaitl filed two, then two, then two, and hung up. Then Adam Vanenwyck walked off with the five that had been living with the IceCaps, and Bill Blackburn had to watch somebody else Venmo the commissioner. Welcome back to We The Hockey People.
Player of the Week — Leon Draisaitl, two-two-two, 31.95
The honor this week goes to Leon Draisaitl, who put up 31.95 fantasy points and made First Star of the NHL week look like a formality. Two goals against Minnesota. Five points against Carolina. Both Oilers goals against Toronto. Six goals in three games. The NHL mailed him the star. We are mailing him the belt.
He did this for Josh D and Eagle Fang, who also beat Patrnak Attack 168.16 to 141.47 and sat 3-1 when the dust settled. McDavid was second at 29.30, still loud, still not first. Rantanen checked in at 27.97, some of it from the pine, which is how you know the rule still counts bench. Matthews at 27.96. None of them scored twice in three straight games. Leon did.
$5 to the high score — new mailbox, 177.77
The weekly win, and the $5 that comes with it, goes to Adam Vanenwyck and Keep My Puck OuchYo Mouth. 177.77 points. First in the room. Kaprizov, Rantanen, a box score that looked like a receipt from a nice restaurant. That is @Paul-Stojanovski if you are keeping score at home. Bill had been keeping score at home. Bill can sit this one out.
Raleigh IceCaps beat Return of the Mac 169.90 to 122.52 and sit 4-0, which is rude. That was their matchup. The five is a different pot — highest score in the league — and 169.90 finished second. Shooter McGavin finally found a W, 161.91 to 129.44 over Take Your Kaprizov, and the crease can take the rest of the night off. Shake and Blake edged Got That Stankoven On Him 162.82 to 161.11, which is a 1.71-point heartbreaker and a 161-point week from a 0-4 team that is not a lost cause. The Cat, The Rat and Sloth beat District 5 Ducks 144.87 to 84.33. James brought a roster. The Ducks brought a polite suggestion. Name under construction put up 161.50 and still lost to the high score, which is the week's most respectable way to miss the envelope.
Around the League — two sit-outs finally punch a clock
The biggest news this week was not a hat trick. It was two grown men agreeing to go to work. Connor Hellebuyck ended the Winnipeg holdout on Friday and landed in New Jersey, Vezina still attached, Devils sweater pending. Alexander Nikishin ended the Carolina stalemate on Sunday with a one-year, $3 million deal and a locker he had been avoiding since camp. In this league that is not trivia. The Ducks have been staring at Hellebuyck on IR at 0.00. Shake and Blake drafted Nikishin in the 14th round and have been staring at the same goose egg. The Front Office will allow a small parade when either one actually skates. Hellebuyck on Sportsnet · the Devils trade · Nikishin's one-year.
— The Front Office