Jamie Oleksiak will have hearing with Player Safety after ugly, predatory hit on Capitals defender

NHL hockey is played at a very fast pace, which, at times, doesn't leave a whole lot of room for error. There are questionable hits almost every nights. Some, you give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Others, you simply shake your head and wonder what the offender was thinking.

Chalk this one up under the "what the hell were you thinking?" column for Seattle's Jamie Oleksiak, who delivered an illegal check to the head of Washington Capitals defenseman Alexander Alexeyev.


This was, without a doubt, a predatory hit. This wasn't one of those "last second decision"-type hits. Oleksiak comes in from a good distance away, lining up Alexeyev for the hit before nearly taking his head off.


The play happened during the 2nd period of last night's Kraken/Caps game and neither Alexeyev nor Oleksiak saw another shift. Alexeyev was injured on the play and Oleksiak received a match penalty, which is absolutely the right call.

It will be interesting to see what Player Safety has to say about this one, as Oleksiak also earned himself a hearing with the DoPS later today.