6 years agoWashington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (hip) will not participate for Team Sweden at the IIHF World Championship, declining the invitation and citing a need to rest his ailing hip. Backstrom registered 22 goals and 52 assists with a plus-two rating, and he added seven power-play goals and 25 points on the man advantage across 80 regular season games. He is still just 31 years old and he has registered 70 or more points in six consecutive seasons. Backstrom is as steady as they come and he'll be a tremendous early-round option in most fantasy pools again in 2019-20.--Daniel Dobish
Source: The Washington Post - Isabelle Khurshudyan