Washington Capitals Prospect Review And Forecast – Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen

Photo: Saskatoon Blades

With the offseason now kicking into high gear we continue breaking-down the last 12 months for each of the Washington Capitals prospects and provide a forecast for each of the players for the coming season. We continue the series with a review and forecast for center, Kristian Roykas-Marthinsen. (You can access all of our Capitals Prospect Reports and player analysis on our “Prospects” page right here.)

VITALS
Roykas-Marthinsen is a 19-year-old left wing currently playing junior hockey for the Saskatoon Blades. The Loreskog, Norway native was drafted by the Capitals in the seventh round (#213 overall) of the 2018 NHL entry-level draft. He is currently unsigned by the Capitals.

CAREER
Roykas-Marthinsen played two seasons in the Almtuna IS Swedish league, primarily in the Under 20 League, but with occasional appearances for them in the Swedish 1 League.

During the 2018-19 season, he played for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League (WHL) where he was a teammate of fellow Caps draftee, Eric Florchuk. He scored 13 goals and earned 16 assists in 2018-19. He also contributed one goal and two assists in 10 playoff games this post season.

2018-2019 SEASON SUMMARY
Roykas Marthinsen played in 68 regular season games for the Saskatoon Blades and 10 playoff games. He had 21 goals and had 29 assists for 50 points overall, was +10, and also had 40 penalty minutes. The Saskatoon Blades finished in second place in the strong Eastern Division of the WHL and were eliminated in the second round of the WHL playoffs.

2018-2019 MONTH-BY-MONTH RECAP AND TREND ANALYSIS
The following month-by-month breakdown is an aggregation of our monthly prospect reports prepared during the 2018-2019 season. You can find all of our monthly prospect reports on our “Prospects” page in the top menu.

October
Like the other Caps draftees of 2018, Roykas Marthinsen was released from Capitals training camp on September 19, in time to rejoin the Saskatoon Blades for their season opener on September 21. Marthinsen potted his first WHL goal for the Saskatoon Blades on September 29, with a nice dangle and wrister from the top of slot. The Norwegian left winger was elevated to the top-line for the Blades in the middle of October, where he seems to be settling in. Marthinsen finished the month of October with five goals and three assists in 16 games played, good enough for a 0.50 points per game average. Marthinsen registered 45 shots on goal, for a 11.1 shooting percentage. He should see more scoring production after being elevated to the top-line.

Trending: Same

November
Martinsen started the month of November with a goal against Kootenay on 11/1 (here), his sixth of the season. Marthinsen potted an extra three goals and two assists in 11 games for the month of November. He started the season on the second-line where he put up most of his points but has unfortunately been on the third-line for weeks now. Even with the demotion, he is 10th in rookie scoring in the WHL, which is good news considering he is still trying to adapt to the North American game. To boot, he leads all rookie forwards in shots with 65 in 27 games. It’s a known fact Roykas-Marthinsen is a shooter from all of his seasons in every league he’s played because he always had more goals and assists. Nothing is different now as he has eight goals and five assists. His eight goals is second among all rookies.

Trending: Same

December
Roykas-Marthinsen had a point in every game in the month of December and is currently riding a six-game point streak. He also has points in nine of his previous 10 outings, posting four goals and nine points over that stretch. Roykas-Marthinsen scored two goals in as many games to end the month. He was fine defensively, earning an even rating this past month. The young Swede is currently tied for third in goals among rookies with 10 and tied for 13th with 18 points. He is ninth in the league among rookies and eighth among freshmen forwards with 73 shots on goal. Roykas-Marthinsen took only one shot in his first two games of December combined but has seven in his previous two. He is currently playing with the Norwegian under-20 team at the World Junior Championships and has posted two points, both goals, and a plus-1 rating in five games.

Trending: Up

January
After going on a seven-game point-streak, where he tallied three goals, eight points, and a plus-3 rating, Roykas-Marthinsen was held off of the scoresheet for four consecutive games and was limited to only four shots in that span. He was also held scoreless in eight of the final nine games of the month, though he posted a goal and two points on January 11 in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Calgary Hitman, the lone game he was able to contribute. Roykas-Marthinsen was sent to the penalty box only once and did not take any faceoffs during the month of January. He posted 21 shots and had at least three shots in a game four times this past month.

Trending: Same

February
Roykas-Marthinsen‘s scoring drought spilled into February, spanning over eight games in total. He was credited with only 15 shots and was a minus-1 in that span. Roykas-Marthinsen recorded assists in consecutive games after that. He was held off of the scoresheet four times in a span of five games, though he tallied two assists in that one game he was able to get a point. Roykas-Marthinsen finally ended a 15-game goal-drought in a 4-3 shootout win over the Kootenay Ice on February 23. He posted 12 penalty minutes, 12 shots, and won the lone faceoff he took this past month. Roykas-Marthinsen was held without a shot on goal in mid-February.

Trending: Up

March
Marthinsen was having a promising start to his North American career but his performance waned in the last couple months of the season. He finished March with one goal and one assist in seven games. He’s added just one goal in four playoff games as well, an overtime winner, as his team advanced to the second round, only to get eliminated there.. The lack of production to end the season shouldn’t be too worrisome, it’s difficult for young players to go from playing 20-something games a season in Europe to 60+ or even 70+ games in North America. He had a total of 1 goal and 2 assists in 10 playoff games.

Trending: Same

HIGHLIGHTS

PLAYER FORECAST
Last year could be Roykas Marthinsen’s last year in junior hockey as he is already 19 years old. With a birthday in 1999, he could possibly return to junior hockey as an overager for one more season. His main hope would be for a good performance in Development Camp which could result in him signing a professional contract.

By Diane Doyle