Washington Capitals 2014-2015 Previews -- The Reinforcements

“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.”

-- Benjamin Disraeli

Last season the Washington Capitals employed 21 forwards, 14 defensemen, and four goaltenders. In the abbreviated 2012-2013 season the numbers were 16/12/3; in 2011-2012 they were 17/10/3.

The point is, no team gets by with a 22- or 23-man roster. There will be occasions – poor play, player transactions, injury – that will necessitate bringing players up from the farm or, in one case, allowing one to play himself into the lineup. Those will be opportunities for which some players either will be ready or not, in which they will be successful or not.

For the Washington Capitals there are eight players that bear watching to see the extent to which they take advantage of the opportunities they earned or that circumstance will present to them, three forwards, four defensemen, and a goaltender.

The Forwards

Andre Burakovsky, the 23rd overall pick in the 2013 entry draft, has played himself onto the opening night roster. Not only that, he might very well start as the second line center against the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday. If so, he would be the first rookie to center a scoring line for the Capitals on Opening Night in at least a decade (in his first game with the Capitals in 2007, Nicklas Backstrom played right wing with center Michal Nylander and left wing Brooks Laich).

The early thinking (well, ours) was that there was no rush in putting a 19-year old prospect (he will be 20 in February) on the roster when he could gain experience in a lead role in Hershey. Instead, he played in six of the Caps’ eight preseason games, went 2-2-4, plus-3, averaged more than 16 minutes of ice time, and otherwise acquitted himself very well. If anything, he outplayed the odds-on favorite to win the second line center position, Evgeny Kuznetsov, the rookie who was getting some attention as a potential Calder Trophy finalist as the league’s top rookie.

Until now, his limited (if prolific) offensive numbers in one year of Canadian junior hockey might have been explained away as being the product of playing with number-one-overall-draft-pick-in-waiting Connor McDavid. In his first taste of NHL hockey, though, Burakovsky has given tempting glimpses of his ability to do it on his own. But that was preseason hockey, much of it facing players who will not be with the clubs he played against once the real games begin. That argues for tempering expectations for Burakovsky. The NHL is an 82-game grind for which 19-year olds generally have no frame of reference. There will be bumps in the road and walls to negotiate. For Burakovsky, the opportunity is one of demonstrating, not that he belongs (he has done that for the time being), but in being able to show steady improvement, to be a much more well-developed player in April than he is on Opening Night.

Projection: 66 games, 11-17-28, minus-1

*****

Casey Wellman was not drafted by an NHL team. After two years with the University of Massachusetts, he bounced around the AHL, playing for four teams, and getting the occasional call up to the NHL. In four seasons, Wellman has appeared in a total of 54 games, never more than 15 in any one of them (he appeared in 13 games for the Caps last season). He is, in every sense, a hockey “journeyman.” That is not necessarily a bad thing. In that journey, one learns how to play the game. And when called upon with an opportunity to play at the NHL level, it is important that such a player not be a liability. Wellman, arguably, was not. The Caps had a record of 8-4-1 in games in which Wellman appeared, and he was a “minus” player in only one appearance. He did not get much in the way of ice time (9:22 per game), but he played his role well. One can expect that Wellman will play a similar role this season, keeping sharp playing with the Hershey Bears until circumstance calls him.

Projection: 14 games, 1-2-3, even

*****

Chris Brown came late to the party last season, obtained from the Phoenix (now Arizona) Coyotes as part of the deal that sent disgruntled forward Martin Erat to the desert. Brown was a second round draft pick of the Coyotes in 2009 after spending four years in the U.S. National Team Development Program. Then, to complete his amateur resume, he spent three years at the University of Michigan. He was prepared enough to play 68 games with the Portland Pirates in 2012-2013 and recorded 29 goals, almost as many as he recorded in 125 games with the Wolverines over those three college seasons (34).

In Brown’s case, the issue is finding out just what it is the Caps have. Do they have a a guy they can call upon when needed by the parent club, a dependable fourth-liner who will stick with the club from the get-go (he is still with the team as we write this), or is that 29-goal season in Portland a hint of something more. Brown is going to get his opportunities. Perhaps not to crack the Opening Night starting lineup (they again, he might, with Jay Beagle and Tom Wilson still injured), but if he is on the roster to start the season, he would seem likely to be called upon before the Caps dip into the roster at Hershey for replacements. Brown is still young enough (23) to use his opportunities to show the club more of his game and expand his skill set.

Projection: 11 games, 2-1-3, minus-2

*****

The Defensemen

Connor Carrick will be spending his Opening Night of the 2014-2015 season where, perhaps, he should have spent his 2013-2014 Opening Night, with the Hershey Bears in the AHL. That is no knock on Carrick. Only eight 19-year old defensemen dressed for NHL games last season, and Carrick was fifth among them in games played (34), behind Olli Maatta, Seth Jones, Morgan Rielly, and Jacob Trouba. Not bad for a fifth round pick (137th overall) in the 2012 entry draft.

The immediate problem Carrick faces (as do the other defensemen we will discuss) is one of numbers. With the acquisitions of Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik, there is much less room for a prospect to work his way onto the parent roster. If the Caps carry only seven defensemen, one of two vets (John Erskine or Jack Hillen) are facing a squeeze, making it even more difficult for prospects like Carrick to distinguish themselves. However, the Caps did dress 14 defensemen in 2013-2014. There might not be a lot of opportunities to string together games, but is seems safe to say that there will be call-ups from time to time. Carrick’s opportunity, such as it is, is to pile up minutes in Hershey and proceed on the developmental path he seemed to be embarking on last season before he was thrust into a starting role. That will be the best preparation he can have for the unexpected instances when he has to make the trip to Washington.

Projection: 7 games, 0-1-1, minus-1

*****

Steve Oleksy is a nails and vinegar sort of defenseman whose relatively modest skills are made up for with a certain enthusiasm for playing the game. The odd part about his two seasons in the Capitals organization is the number of games he has played. Only four Capital defenseman have played in more games with the big club over the past two seasons than Oleksy (61): Karl Alzner (130), John Carlson (130), Mike Green (105), and John Erskine (67). That might speak to a certain level of turnover with the Caps, but Oleksy has spent a considerable amount of time battling with the big boys. And, his production cannot be sneered at, either. Over those two seasons, only Alzner (23), Carlson (59), and Green (64) have more points among defensemen than the 19 that Oleksy recorded. Oleksy’s opportunity here is to be an “instant” defenseman, one who has the experience not to require much by way of acclimating himself to the speed and pace of the NHL game. He’s seen this before.

Projection: 8 games, 1-2-3, plus-1

*****

Nate Schmidt is one those intriguing guys whose upside one wonders about. If you grow up in Minnesota, attend the University of Minnesota and play for three seasons, the last of which he was named an all-conference defenseman in the WCHA, chances are you’ve had as good an upbringing in the sport as you can get south of Canada. Then, after signing as a free agent with the Capitals, he appeared in 29 games in the 2013-2014 season. While his 2-4-6, plus-4 line might seem a bit modest, there are really two parts to it. There was the 0-0-0, minus-3 scoring line he recorded in his first eight games, and there is the 2-4-6, plus-7 he had in his last 21 games, more than respectable for a rookie and a demonstration of his improvement over the course of the season.

Schmidt benefits from the fact that he is a waiver-exempt player. That makes him a quick-response alternative for the Caps as circumstances dictate, and those 29 games of NHL experience over which he demonstrated he was not out of place makes him poised to be given opportunities over the course of the season.

Projection: 2 games, 0-0-0, even

*****

Patrick Wey is another of these rapid-response players who has strong development pedigree. Two years in the USHL (Waterloo) followed by four seasons at Boston College under Jerry York, perhaps the best hockey coach in NCAA history. Twice a member of NCAA championship teams (2010, 2012), he moved up through the Caps system in the ECHL and AHL to appear in nine games with the big club last season.

His brief stint was another “two-parter,” and not necessarily for the better on its surface (0-3-3, plus-4 in his first four games, 0-0-0, minus-4 in his last five contests), but if anything Wey withstood a trial by fire. Five of the last six games he played were against Los Angeles (twice), Anaheim, San Jose, and Boston. Quite an indoctrination for the rookie. Wey, who has only 45 games of pro experience to date (including the nine with the Caps), will benefit from a full year in Hershey. However, numbers suggest that the possibility remains that he will get the occasional call-up. The opportunities presented to him, rare though they might be, can be taken advantage of with his strong development history.

Projection: 2 games, 0-0-0, even

*****

The Goaltender

Philipp Grubauer is another of what is now a respectable number of prospect goaltenders having come through the Capitals system. Starting with the 2006 draft that number includes: Semyon Varlamov (2006), Michal Neuvirth (2006), Braden Holtby (2008), and Grubauer (2010). Since he was drafted in 2010, Grubauer has climbed steadily up the development ladder: a season in Canadian juniors, a season in the ECHL, and a season split among the ECHL, AHL, and two games with the Caps in 2012-2013. Last season he got a longer look – 17 games. While his win-loss record was modest (and somewhat odd: 6-5-5), his 2.38 goals against average and .925 save percentage suggested that talent was not the issue as much as getting more experience. His brief stay also had two distinct stages last season, his first 10 games in which he was good and generally consistently so (5-2-2, one no-decision, 2.02, .938), and his nine-game finishing stretch in which he faded and was pulled three times (1-3-3, 3.02, .901).

It might be said (ok, we said it)  that Grubauer is the de facto number two goaltender, the one who would jump into the number one spot, or get considerable playing time there, should circumstances dictate (which might be more true in the later stages of the season than in the fall). If he is “a heartbeat away,” in the figurative sense, the opportunity for him in Hershey is to play the number one role consistently and dependably. One never knows when one might be called upon to play that role on a bigger stage.

Projection:  8 games, 3-2-2, 2.49, .917

*****

In the end…

The simple arithmetic of there being roster spots for 21 skaters and two goaltenders, while generally teams might dress 30 skaters (29.5 on average last season, league-wide) and three or more goalies (3.2 last season, league-wide), it is a certainty that there will be opportunities for players we do not see on the roster at the moment to make an impact. We identified only a few here. None are likely to make a large impact, but they are a necessity – to buy time for injuries to heal, to let under-performing players get a chance to collect themselves and find their game, to give hard workers and good soldiers a chance on the bigger stage when their play down on the farm merits it. The opportunities will present themselves. They need to be ready.

Washington Capitals: 2013-2014 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Steve Oleksy

“Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.”

-- Lewis Carroll

OK, here is a quiz. Who does not belong in this group? Jonas Brodin, Justin Schultz, Dougie Hamilton, Danny DeKeyser, and Steve Oleksy?

Give up? It’s a trick question. They all belong. All five players are among the 10 defensemen in 2013-2014 who played in at least 61 games through their second season in the NHL and who in their first two seasons in the NHL and had at least 19 points. What is more, the Washington Capitals’ Oleksy has the best plus-minus of that group (plus-16) with the exception of Dougie Hamilton (plus-26).

Oh, Steve Oleksy? You forgot who he is? He was seventh among defensemen for the Capitals in games played (33), fifth in points (10), best in plus/minus (plus-7), third in penalty minutes (53), second in shooting percentage (7.4), and had one of five game-winning goals by defensemen for the Caps in the 2013-2014 season.

Oleksy also did not play in any of the Capitals’ last 40 games after January 4th.

The Capitals were 16-12-5 in games played by Oleksy in 2013-2014 (a .561 standings points percentage), 22-18-9 in games Oleksy was absent (.541 standings points percentage). We do not mean to suggest that Oleksy was a difference maker, but on a team whose depth chart at right defense looked like: John Carlson, Mike Green, Connor Carrick (with a sprinkling of Patrick Wey and Tyson Strachan); it is hard to fathom how it was that Oleksy was more or less banished for the last half of the season. It is made harder to reconcile when one notes that at the time he was relieved of his place in the lineup Oleksy was third among Caps defensemen in scoring (behind Green and Carlson, and only five points behind Carlson), and he led the team in plus-minus (plus-7).

Fearless’ Take… Steve Oleksy’s possession numbers were respectable, at least on this team. His Corsi-for and Fenwick-for percentages at 5-on-5 (46.6/46.9) are in the neighborhood of Karl Alzner (47.0/47.4) and John Carlson (46.9/46.7).

Cheerless’ Take… There seems to be a rambunctious streak in Steve Oleksy’s play that might have gotten him in deep with the coaches from time to time. He, John Erskine, and Tyson Strachan were the only defensemen for the Caps to have more penalty minutes than games played this season, and his penalties drawn to penalties taken differential was a minus-8, third worst on the team.

Odd Oleksy Fact… Despite that negative peanlties drawn to penalties taken differential, Oleksy led all Washington defensemen in penalties drawn per game (0.30).

Game to Remember… December 8th versus New York Rangers. Going into their game against the New York Rangers on December 8th, the Capitals suffered shutouts by Ranger goalie Henrick Lundqvist in each of their previous three meetings. Lundqvist would extend the shutout streak to 202:28 before Jason Chimera ended the drought 2:28 into the second period to give the Caps a 1-0 lead. Steve Oleksy picked up the secondary assist on that goal when he kept the puck in at the right point and fired it on net, Chimera finishing the play by batting in a loose puck at Lundqvist’s side. Oleksy called his own number just 25 seconds later, taking a feed from Jay Beagle and wristing a floater through a screen and over Lundqvist’s left shoulder. It would be the game-winning goal in the Caps’ 4-1 win over the Rangers, the first game-winning goal of Oleksy’s NHL career.

Game to forget… January 4^th versus Minnesota.  The Caps were in a slide when they set off for the Twin Cities to face the Minnesota Wild. Losers of three straight and five of their last six contests, the Caps were looking for their first win of the new calendar year in Minnesota.  It looked good early, Washington getting goals 13 seconds apart in the first period to take a 2-0 lead.  Then the roof fell in on them.  The Wild scored three goals in a 5:22 span of the second period to take a 3-2 lead.  Mike Green got the Caps back even at the 13:50 mark, but at 15:32 Mikhail Grabovski took a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass.  On the power play Keith Ballard sent the puck to the net where it was deflected by Jason Zucker.  The puck flipped up, fluttered, and dropped behind goalie Braden Holtby.  Steve Oleksy was at the top of the crease cleaning out Nino Niederreiter but was powerless to get into position to try to sweep the puck away.  It would be the game-winning goal in a 5-3 Wild win.  It would be Oleksy’s last game of the season with the Caps.

In the end…

Somewhere deep in the bowels of the Capitals brain trust (how’s that for generous use of anatomical imagery) it got in someone’s head that there were better options available than Steve Oleksy on the third defensive pair.  Connor Carrick, who was sent down to Hershey after playing in three games in October, was recalled and dressed in Oleksy’s place in the Caps’ first game after that loss to Minnesota.  Carrick finished the season playing in 31 more games with the big club while Oleksy was first a healthy scratch for seven games with the Caps, then was placed on waivers (where he was unclaimed) before being returned to Hershey to play 30 games with the Bears.

It made for something of an odd season for Oleksy in what was a very unsettled season on the defense.  Making it even stranger is the unsettling feeling that even though the Caps seemed to be better with Oleksy in the lineup than with many of the alternatives, there wasn’t just a feeling that he fit a profile of what the Caps wanted at that position.  Oleksy might not have been an answer to the defensive depth problems on the Caps if they were a contender, but on this team?  It is one of the puzzles of the 2013-2014 season.

Grade: B-

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals 2013-2014 Previews -- Defensemen: Steve Oleksy

Steve Oleksy

Theme:
“You go back Jack do it again

Wheel turnin' 'round and 'round

You go back Jack do it again”

-- Walter Becker, Donald Fagen (Steely Dan)

If you look up the word “whirlwind” in the dictionary, you will find that it can mean “a confused rush,” or “something that involves many quickly changing events.”  The last three seasons for Washington Capitals defenseman Steve Oleksy might qualify.  In the 2010-2011 season Oleksy split time between the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL and the Lake Erie Monsters of the NHL, teams in cities separated by more than 2,100 miles.  In the 2011-2012 season he split time between Idaho and the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, teams in towns separated by almost 2,600 miles.

In July 2012, Oleksy signed a free agent contract with the Hershey Bears.  With the National Hockey League in lockout lockdown, the Bears could get full and utter attention by the Capitals’ brain trust in player evaluation.  Oleksy made an impression.  In 55 games he recorded two goals and a dozen assists. But it was another number that might have left a lasting impression: 151.  That was the number of penalty minutes Oleksy compiled in his 55 games.  He had 11 fights with the Bears, four of them against their arch-rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  That brand of feistiness, along with his production from the blue line, earned him a three-year, two-way contract with the Caps in March.

Oleksy hardly found himself out of place with the big club.  In 28 games with the Caps he finished tied for third in total points (9), behind only Mike Green and John Carlson.  He was a plus-9, good for third among defensemen.  He was also third in total hits and was second on the club in fights.  His pugnacious character coupled with his surprising productivity made him a fan favorite in Washington.  Now…if he could just get a real player page at tsn.ca.

Fearless’ Take…

What sort of combination of productivity and feistiness did Oleksy bring last season?  If you look at all of the defensemen in the NHL, here is the complete list of defensemen who had at least nine points, finished plus-9 or better, and had three or more fights: Steve Oleksy.  That’s it.  In just 28 games.  And while the club as a whole finished the 2012-2013 season with a rush, the Caps were 19-8-1 in his 28 games with him in the lineup. 

His underlying numbers were pretty good, too.  His Corsi/on-ice per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 was second best among Caps defensemen playing in at least 20 games, and his relative Corsi (on-ice less off-ice) was best on the club among defensemen.  His PDO (sum of on ice team shooting percentage and save percentage) was third, just a few ticks behind John Erskine and Jack Hillen.  And for all the penalties he took (second among Caps defensemen in penalty minutes), he was the club’s best among defensemen at drawing penalties per 60 minutes (source: behindthenet.ca).

Cheerless’ Take…

Small sample size!  Small sample size!!  I heard that somewhere.  I don’t know what it means.  I just know that if I give our nephew Deerless a rifle and he shuts his eyes and plugs a 12-point buck, I ain’t gonna enter him in sharpshooting competitions right away.  I’m going to want to see him do it again.  Here’s what I’d be keeping in mind.  He had no points in his last six regular season games and only one assist in the seven-game playoff series against the New York Rangers.  He was 0-1-1, even in those last 13 games of the season.

The Big Question… What does Act II hold in store in “The Steve Oleksy Story?”

Steve Oleksy goes into the 2013-2014 season in somewhat rare company.  Since the 2004-2005 lockout, seven defensemen played in their second season in the NHL at the age of 28 or older (Oleksy will turn 28 next February):

• Jan Hejda
• Kent Huskins
• Mark Streit
• Jeff Finger
• Marek Zidlicky
• Deryk Engelland
• Petteri Nummelin

It is not a group with a lot of common elements.  Hejda, like Oleksy, finished with a 1-8-9 scoring line in his first season in 39 games (Oleksy played in 28 games).  His 0.23 points per game in his first season dropped in his second season (0.16), but his career level (0.22 points per game over seven seasons) is consistent with that first season.  Huskins had a rather meager first season on a points per game basis (0.09 in 33 games), but raised that to 0.21 points per game over his seven seasons.  Finger is in the same ball park (0.29 points per game), as is Engelland (0.19 points per game).

Streit is the class of this group in terms of his offense. But what might be noteworthy in his instance is how his offense has dropped off over his last four seasons (from 0.77 points-per-game to 0.56 last season).  For our purposes here, his second season represented a more than doubling of his offensive productivity (from 0.23 points per game to 0.47).  Zidlicky and Nummelin are between the poles of this discussion (0.53 and 0.32 points per game over their respective careers).

What it suggests is that Oleksy might be more Hejda than Streit, more Huskins than Zidlicky.  The thing to note about those seven defensemen is that all of them played in at least 63 games in their second season with the exception of Nummelin, and his problem was missing 18 games to injuries in the 2006-2007 season.  If Oleksy follows in this mold, his second act might not be spectacular, but he would be a contributing player for the Caps.

In the end…

Last season, Steve Oleksy was the very definition of the “pleasant surprise.”  He came out of nowhere to get a sweater every night and provided some timely production with a splash of in-your-face.  He comes into this season penciled in as a third-pair defenseman on the right side.  There is bound to be some lingering apprehension among Caps fans along the lines of “was last year for real?” 

The thing is, though, Oleksy is not just a banger, and he is not just an offensive defenseman.  At least he was neither of the "just" last season.  He was something of both, giving the Caps a dimension they lacked.  Mike Green and John Carlson might, in a certain light, be looked at as “two-way” defensemen (certainly Carlson more than Green), but neither have a pronounced physical dimension to their games.  John Erskine is physical, but has little in terms of offensive development.  Karl Alzner is more of a defensive defenseman who relies on the geometries of the game more than a physical edge.  Jack Hillen is more of an offensive type.  Even going down the developmental chain, it is hard to find a defenseman who brings the combination of abilities Oleksy demonstrated last season.

The operative phrase in the last sentence of the previous paragraph is “last season.”  The object of the exercise this season is to strike a balance between building on that without stepping outside the comfort level of his performance capabilities – of trying to do too much while trying to prove his value to the club.  He’s done that.  He just needs to take last year’s productivity and do it again.

Projection: 65 games, 4-11-15, plus-8

Photo: Joel Auerbach/Getty Images North America

Countdown to Opening Night by the Elements: Number 38

Fearless is down to number 38 on his curious countdown to opening night through the chemical elements.  What’s he got in the lab for this one?...

Strontium

Strontium is a rather unassuming, silver-white or yellowish metal that looks rather common, at least at first sight.  But it is a highly reactive element, especially with oxygen and water (things you might find, say, at an ice rink).  In its powdered form it will ignite spontaneously in air, which makes it a valuable commodity (when combined with other elements) in fireworks.  And, in that application strontium gives off a deep red color as part of the show.  It occurs naturally only in compounds.

It is also referred to as a “bone-seeker” in that it behaves similarly to calcium, which when ingested is taken up in bones and bone marrow.  Its radioactive isotope, (referred to as “Strontium-90”) has a half-life of 28 years, and it decays into Yttrium. 

So, Strontium occurs naturally only in compounds, sort of like a defensive pair.  It’s highly reactive, especially in the presence of oxygen and water.  It is a rather common element, but it is uniquely a “bone-seeker.”  Sounds like a former journeyman defenseman who might be more than a bit feisty on the ice, who hits opponents so they feel it down to their bones, who has a teammate relationship with the “Yttrium” of the Capitals, and who will turn 28 half-way through the 2013-2014 season.

Guess you could say Strontium is the “Steve Oleksy” of chemical elements.

Washington Capitals: 2012-2013 By the Tens -- Defensemen: Steve Oleksy

Steve Oleksy

“Diligence is the mother of good luck.”

-- Benjamin Franklin

He does not have a fancy hockey pedigree, having grown up north of Detroit, Michigan. He did not attend a hockey powerhouse, his Lake Superior State Lakers skating to a 42-59-18 record in his three years at LSSU.  He was not drafted, catching on with the Las Vegas Wranglers in the ECHL.  Then it was the Toledo Walleye, followed by the Port Huron Icehawks and the Idaho Steeheads, which was then followed up by stints in Lake Erie with the Monsters, back to Idaho with the Steelheads, and then to Bridgeport with the Sound Tigers.

Oleksy played 50 games in Bridgeport in the 2011-2012 AHL season, then was signed as a free agent by the Hershey Bears for the 2012-2013 season.  He made an impression.  In 55 games with the Bears he displayed a combination of the occasional offensive contribution (2-12-14, plus-5) and the frequent physical presence (151 penalty minutes, 52 of which were earned against the archrival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins).  When Mike Green went out of the lineup with a recurrence of groin problems, Oleksy was called up.    

He was never sent back down.  Playing the last 28 games of the regular season for the Caps, Oleksy tied for third among Caps defensemen in points (nine), tied for third in plus-minus, was second in penalty minutes (33), and was third in hits (58).  And, in the “announcing his presence with authority” file, he recorded an assist in his first NHL game, two more in his second game, then his first NHL goal in his fourth contest on his way to a 1-8-9, plus-9 finish.

There was something of a good luck charm quality to Oleksy’s play.  Most of Oleksy’s ice time at 5-on-5 was spent with Jack Hillen (30.7 percent) and Karl Alzner (24.9 percent).  Both of these players realized better GF20 (goals scored by team per 20 minutes of ice time) and GA20 (goals scored against per 20 minutes of ice time) when paired with Oleksy than when playing apart from him (numbers from stats.hockeyanalysis.com).

There was a certain “adrenaline rush” aspect to his game, too.  In his first 15 games he was 1-5-6, plus-4, 17 shots on goal, and 29 penalty minutes, 15 of them coming in three fights.  In his last 13 regular season games he was 0-3-3, plus-5, eight shots on goal, and four penalty minutes. More disciplined, or did the rush wear off?

Odd Oleksy Stat… The Caps were 11-3-0 in games in which Oleksy did not register a shot on goal, 8-5-1 in games in which he did (only six of those wins coming in regulation).

Game to Remember… March 14^th vs. Carolina.  The Caps were in a tough spot on a mid-March night in Raleigh.  Mike Green was out with a groin injury.  Tom Poti was playing in just his third game after missing the better part of two seasons to injury.  Tomas Kundratek would play only 3:14 in this game before goingout with a leg injury.  Guys had to step up on the blue line.  Oleksy did.  He logged 27:55 in ice time (his high for the season, the game after getting just 11:50 in ice time against these same Hurricanes), and while he did not record a point, he had two shots on goal, two hits, a takeaway, and four blocked shots.  More important, Carolina did not score a goal when he was on the ice.  The Caps won, 3-2.

Game to Forget… March 16^th vs. Boston.  Wouldn’t you know it, in his next game, Oleksy was the guy burned whenever he was on the ice.  The Caps were missing Mike Green and Tomas Kundratek on the blue line, so Oleksy got a ton of ice time again (24:01).  And he was more active in the offensive end than in his previous game – eight shot attempts, four of them on goal.  But he was on ice for Boston’s first three goals, and on each of them, he was the closest Capital defenseman to the goal scorer.  It was a 4-1 win for the Bruins.

Post Season… The Caps used only six defensemen in the post-season, and as one might expect, Oleksy had the lowest average ice time (15:09 per game).  Then again, only Karl Alzner was on ice for fewer even strength goals (two) than Oleksy (three).  But all of them came in Capital losses, two of them game-winners, one of them when he got lost at the top of the circle and could not get back into the play before Derek Stepan’s game-winner in Game 4, and again in Game 6 when Derick Brassard’s slap shot hit his arm on the way through, the puck angling under goalie Braden Holtby’s glove for the game’s only goal.

In the end…

There is a certain ambivalence that attaches to Oleksy’s season.  On the one hand, his is quite a story – an undrafted, unheralded player (he doesn’t have his own player page at tsn.ca, despite playing 28 games this season, and neither his NHL.com page nor his hockey-reference.com page have any of his history other than with the Caps) who is not exactly a youngster (27 years old), getting his shot after years of hard work and performing admirably.  On the other hand, is he a top-six defenseman, not just on this team, but one that aspires to a championship?  That is the uncertainty that comes from a 28-game stint after four years split among three different minor leagues (IHL, ECHL, and AHL).  One is left to wonder if he has reached his upside.  But that is a matter to ponder in September’s training camp.  His 2013 season has to be considered a pleasant surprise, perhaps even lucky.  But that luck comes after a lot of hard, diligent work.

Grade: B

Photo: Paul Bereswill/Getty Images North America