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EDM claims Zykov
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 30, 2018
Yesterday the Carolina Hurricanes put Valentin Zykov on waivers. The 23 year old right shot winger had 3 assists in 13 games this season... a disappointment after the 10 games he played last season where he went 3-4-7 in 10. All three of his goals came at even strength.
Today Edmonton claimed the young winger. It's a no brainer move for a team lacking proven top 6 talent. Zykov may start in the bottom six but he should absolutely get a chance to play with RNH, Draisaitl, or McDavid.
On top of a solid start in the NHL in the 2017/2018 season, Zykov also put up 33 goals in the AHL shooting lights out at over 20%. Those are not sustainable NHL numbers but he clearly liked to shoot the puck and should fit in nicely with fellow SH% master Alex Chiasson.
To quote myself for a moment...
Last season Zykov had 3 goals and 4 assists in 10 games. All 3 of his goals came at EV strength. His most common linemates were Aho and Terevainen. This season through 13 games it's been McGinn and Necas.
— Sean Maloughney (@SMaloughney) November 29, 2018
For whatever reason Zykov got Puljujarvi'd in Carolina and just wasn't going to fit. He will likely start in the bottom 6 but it's my opinion the team should give him a look in the top 6 as he has shown he can produce when paired with skilled players. Long term I could see a top 6 group that looks something like this.
Chiasson-McDavid-Draisaitl Zykov-RNH-Puljujarvi Lucic-Brodziak-Kassian Caggiula-Spooner-Rattie Khaira
The Oilers are now in an interesting position where Rattie, Chiasson, Puljujarvi, Caggiula, and Zykov could all make an argument to be in the top 6. Competition is good but hopefully some of these players can lock down a spot and seperate themselves from the pack.
For a team with cap troubles like Edmonton, having a potential top 6 winger for 675,000 signed for this season and next could have massive upside. Additionally this signing does mean Edmonton does have to shed one contract so I will continue to follow that closely.
These are the teams that passed on Zykov. For some of them - it doesn’t make sense. pic.twitter.com/BgKELJ3T70
— Aivis Kalniņš (@A_Kalnins) November 30, 2018
Hopefully Zykov can make all of these teams regret not picking him up.