Washington Capitals 2018-2019 Previews -- Forwards: T.J. Oshie

T.J. Oshie

“I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms…”

-- Henry David Thoreau

As much as any player in recent memory not drafted by the Washington Capitals, T.J. Oshie has become a fixture with the club – on the ice, in the locker room, in the community, and with the fan base.  On the ice he found a level of production in his three seasons in Washington that he could not find with the St. Louis Blues, the team that drafted him.  He played with the ferocity of a larger player than the 5’11”/195 pound Oshie.  He had a special moment in the first glow of a Stanley Cup win.   And, after the championship was won, he partied the way a lot of us imagine we would in that situation.  T.J. Oshie seems to have a gift for sucking out all the marrow of life.

It did have its price on the ice in 2017-2018, though.  Playing with the abandon with which Oshie plays has its risks of harm, and it is one reason he has never dressed for every game of an NHL regular season (he has two seasons with 80 games).  He appeared in 74 games in 2017-2018, bringing to 24 the number of games he missed for the Caps over his three years in Washington.  This season, six of the eight games he missed were the result of a concussion suffered in December when colliding with the backside of San Jose Shark center Joe Thornton.  It was his fourth such injury in his career. 

It likely played a part in his goal production falling off from 33 in 2016-2017 (tied with Alex Ovechkin for the team lead) to 18 in 2017-2018, fewest in his three seasons in Washington.  He had just two goals in 35 games upon his return before finishing with six goals in his last 11 regular season games.

Odd Oshie Fact…

In his three seasons with the Caps, T.J. Oshie is one of four players in the NHL over that span to record at least 75 goals, at least 350 hits, and at least 150 blocked shots (77/353/166).  The others are Wayne Simmonds (87/483/158), Jamie Benn (103/385/164) and Joe Pavelski (89/370/210).  The oddest part about this?  While the other three recorded at least 629 shots on goal (Simmonds), Oshie had only 455 and had the best shooting percentage (16.9). 

Fearless’ Take…

T.J. Oshie’s goal scoring fell off quite a bit this past season, from 33 to 18, but he remains one of the most productive goal scorers in this generation of Capitals, despite that drop off.  Since 2000-2001, only five players have more seasons with at least 18 goals than Oshie – Alex Ovechkin (13), Nicklas Backstrom (8), Alexander Semin (6), Peter Bondra (4), and Troy Brouwer (4).  His 0.35 goals per game over the past three years equals that of James Neal and Jack Eichel, and it exceeds that of the likes of Phil Kessel (0.34), Eric Staal (0.34), and Nathan MacKinnon (0.33).  His relative possession numbers last season, expressed as Corsi-for percentage on ice-minus-off ice, was the best of his career (plus-3.1), and was the first time he was a plus player in this category as a Capital (source: hockey-reference.com).

Cheerless’ Take…

Relative Corsi….sounds like the weird uncle who shows up on Thanksgiving clutching a can of cranberry sauce because he thinks the stuff you make out of whole cranberries is a terrorist plot.  But his Corsi-Corsi, while it is consistent in his three years with the Caps (50.4 – 50.9; average of 50.6), is a step down from what he posted with the St. Louis Blues (average of 52.9 over seven seasons).  And, his shots per game dropped last season to 1.72 shots on goal per game, the lowest of his career.  Even in what has been a signature skill of his game – the Gimmick – was something of an off year.  Over his first nine seasons, no player taking a total of 20 shootout attempts had a better shooting percentage than Oshie (39-for-71/54.9 percent).  He was 1-for-4 in 2017-2018; 44 players with four or more shots had better shooting percentages.

Potential Milestones:

• 200 goals (he needs 13)
• 300 assists (he needs 23)
• 500 points (he needs 36)
• 150 power play points (he needs 11)
• 100 power play assists (he needs 11)

The Big Question…  Is there a “15 Percent Premium” that the Caps have to pay in return for Oshie’s production?

First, let’s define that “15 Percent Premium.”  T.J. Oshie has played 10 years in the NHL and has dressed for 665 games.  That represents 84.6 percent of all of the games in which he could have dressed.  He missed about 15 percent of those available games.  The percentage of games missed is lower in his three years with the Caps (9.8 percent), but the point remains the same.  Missing chunks of games has been an unfortunate attribute of Oshie’s history in the NHL.

But here is where it gets complicated.  Oshie plays bigger than his size.  Put another way, he’s a feisty sort of player, unafraid to mix it up (within the rules) with opponents.  But the feistier he is, at least by one measure, the more games he plays.  Oshie has played in at least 74 games five times in his 10-year career.  His top four years in hits per game came in such seasons.   Two of those seasons came with the Caps, his top two seasons in games played.

But those hits per game and games played do not track well with what his preferred contribution on the ice is – goal scoring.  In three of those four seasons that were his top hits per game seasons, he had three of his lowest goals-per-game seasons.

To further muddy the waters here, looking at his top three goals per game seasons, one of them (2015-2016 with the Caps, when he averaged 0.33 goals per game), one of them was his third-highest hits per game season (1.68), while another (2013-2014, when he averaged 0.27 goals per game) was among his lowest hits per game, in fact his very lowest of his 10 seasons (0.97). But (did we say this is complicated?) his top three seasons in hits plus goals per game are among his five seasons with at least 74 games played. 

The moral of this story might be that when Oshie is “leaning forward” mode – being the “hitter” rather than the “hittee,” he stays in the lineup more and is more productive.  But it does not come without risk.

In the end…

T.J. Oshie plays the game a bit closer to the edge than most players, and sometimes it costs him chunks of games.  Having moved into his early 30’s (he will be 32 in December), this is a concern, especially with his four-concussion history.  But players are not a la carte menus.  If you want “goal scorer,’ you might have to accept “susceptible to injury” with respect to Oshie.  While there have been those intermittent absences in three seasons with the Caps, he answered the call for each and every one of the 49 postseason games the Caps played, and he is tied for second on the team in goals scored over that span (18, with Evgeny Kuznetsov), behind Alex Ovechkin (25).  It paints a picture that resembles Thoreau, a player who cuts a broad swath and shaves close, who drives life into a corner, and reduces it to its lowest terms – goals, wins, and losses – with far more wins than losses.

Projection: 75 games, 25-34-59, plus-3

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals 2018-2019 Previews -- Forwards: Evgeny Kuznetsov

Evgeny Kuznetsov

“Do not be in a hurry to succeed. What would you have to live for afterwards? Better make the horizon your goal; it will always be ahead of you.”

-- William Makepeace Thackeray

It took eight years, but Evgeny Kuznetsov arrived in 2017-2018. Taken 26^th overall in the 2010 entry draft (the same one in which Brett Connolly was taken sixth overall), it took that long for Kuznetsov to become one of the best offensive centers in the NHL.  In his fifth NHL season he set career highs in goals (27), points (83), power play goals (7), power play points (30), time on ice (18:49 per game), and shooting percentage (14.4 percent).  On his way to a 27-56-83, plus-3 season, he was a model of offensive consistency, only twice in 79 games going as many as three consecutive contests without a point.

His 83-point season gave Kuznetsov 219 points over his last three seasons, 17^th highest in the league over that span, one fewer than John Tavares, and seventh among centers (source: NHL.com).  In that same span he is one of 11 players (oddly enough, only three full time centers, joining Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid) to post at least two seasons of at least 75 points (Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane are the only ones to do it in each of the three seasons).

And, Kuznetsov took a big step up in the games that matter most.  After three lackluster postseasons in which he went a combined 11-8-19, minus-9, in 39 games, he went 12-20-32 (leading the league in playoff assists and points), plus-12.  It was good enough to earn him five of 18 first-place votes for the Conn Smythe Trophy as to the postseason’s most valuable player. 

But what moment that will be most vivid in the minds of Caps fans in 2018 might be that moment when he took his place alongside Dale Hunter, John Druce, Brian Bellows, Joe Juneau, Joel Ward, and Marcus Johansson – players in Capitals history who clinched a playoff series with a game-winning goal in overtime:

Odd Kuznetsov Fact…

Evgeny Kuznetsov is one of four centers over the past four seasons to take more than 3,500 faceoffs and have a winning percentage under 46 percent. 

Bonus Kuznetsov Odd Fact…

Kuznetsov’s overtime game-winning series-clinching goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins doubles the population of game-winning series-clinching goal scorers in Caps postseason series against the Pens.  He joined Calle Johansson, who had the game-winner in a 6-3 series-clinching win over Pittsburgh in Game 6 of the first round in 1994.

Fearless’ Take…

Evgeny Kuznetsov is one of 11 players in Capitals history to record at least 75 goals and at least 250 points in his first five years with the club.  And the list includes a lot of Capitals royalty.  He is one of seven centers in team history recording at least 0.50 assists per game (minimum:  250 games with the Caps). 

At age 26, he is entering what should l be his prime productive years.  One thing he has done along the way is become more efficient and, to a degree, more assertive as a shooter.  His shooting percentage has increased in each of his four full seasons in the league, from 8.7 percent in his rookie season to 14.4 percent last season, while posting 187 shots on goal (six short of his career high).  He has become, if not the 1-A choice on the power play, than the 1-B choice.  His power play ice time (3:27 last season) was almost equivalent to that of Nicklas Backstrom (3:31), and his 30 power play points was only one fewer than Alex Ovechkin for the team lead.  He is the only center other than Nicklas Backstrom with as many as 30 power play points in a season since Robert Lang did it in 2003-2004 (35 points).

Cheerless’ Take…

Before we go all ga-ga over Evgeny, there has been a bit of yo-you quality to his last four seasons – 37 points in 80 games in 2014-2015, followed by 77 points in 2015-2016, down to 59 points in 2016-2017, and then 83 points last season.  Then there are the on-ice performance numbers.  Over the three seasons before this one, his goal differential on-ice versus off ice were plus-13, plus-27, and plus-19 in 2016-2017.  This past season it was plus-7 (numbers from hockey-reference.com).  This might be a product of his becoming the first line center, with all the added attention that (and being Alex Ovechkin’s center) brings.  But that, and his being underwater on shot attempts-for on ice at 5-on-5 (48.6 percent) might make one wonder if he didn’t lean a bit too heavily on power plays (30 of 83 points last season).

Potential Milestones:

• 400 career games (he needs 60)
• 100 goals (he needs 20)
• 200 career assists (he needs 15)
• 300 career points (he needs 35)
• 200 penalty minutes (he needs 44)
• 20 power play goals (he needs one)
• 100 power play points (he needs 23)
• 6,000 minutes played (he needs 400)

The Big Question… Is Kuznetsov ready to take his place among the elite centers in the league?

Centers like Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid spring fully formed (or as fully formed as a teenager can be) on the NHL landscape.  Most others, even those achieving elite status, need a bit of time to get there.  Evgeny Kuznetsov did not enter the league ranks as a teenager, delaying his entry into the NHL for almost four full seasons after he was drafted in 2010.  So, he came in as a more mature rookie than most, and his formative years took place in his mid-20’s rather than his early 20’s.  But with two 75-point seasons in his last three and his sterling performance in the 2018 postseason, all that remains for him to cement his place among the league centers is to display a consistency at this level of production with another 75-plus point season.  To do it three times in four seasons would be evidence to that end.  Only three players in the league have three such seasons in the last four – Patrick Kane (3), Jamie Benn (3), and Sidney Crosby (4).

In the end…

It is probably inaccurate to think of the Caps as having a number one and a number two center.  And that is a situation to be savored for Caps fans, one that plays no small role in the team’s success.  Nicklas Backstrom has been a center of number one stature and production for a decade.  Evgeny Kuznetsov gave every indication last season that he can, if he does not already, occupy such a position.   But Backstrom has done for that decade.  Kuznetsov is still on the low side of his prime years, and he has an opportunity in 2018-2019 to firmly establish himself as a true number one center based on a consistency of production. That is the horizon that now stretches out ahead of him.

Projection: 80 games, 28-60-88, plus-8

Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals 2018-2019 Previews -- Forwards: Lars Eller

Lars Eller

“A tiger does not shout its tigritude, it acts.”

-- Wole Soyinka

It was shrouded in mystery.  What we know of Lars Eller being nicknamed “Tiger” is a bit sketchy.  But he lived up to his nickname in 2017-2018, and he personified the observation by the Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka, that a tiger does not shout, it acts.  Eller posted career highs in goals (18) and points (38) last season, obliterating his previous bests (16 goals with Montreal in 2011-2012 and 30 points with the Canadiens in 2012-2013).  He also had career highs in even-strength goals (15), power play goals (3), shots on goal (161), and blocked shots (69) in a career-best tying 81 games played.  He finished the season on a goal scoring rush, posting 13 goals in his last 41 games.

His strong regular season performance, especially his late-season performance, carried over into the playoffs where he scored what might be two of the most consequential goals in Capitals history.  His game-winning goal in double overtime in Game 3 of the first round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets let the Caps avoid going in a 0-3 hole, made especially gut-wrenching in that all three losses would have been in overtime.  One could have envisioned a quick and quiet exit thereafter, not an uncommon theme before the 2018 postseason for this franchise, and a purging of the roster.  Then there was the last goal of the season, the game-winner in Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights with 7:37 left in regulation to complete a third period comeback and clinch the franchise’s first Stanley Cup win.

Odd Eller Fact…

Lars Eller is the only center for the Caps since the 2005-2006 season to record more than 15 goals in a season while averaging less than 16 minutes of ice time per game.  He had 18 goals last season while averaging 15:18 per game in ice time.

Bonus Odd Eller Fact…

Lars Eller had more game-winning goals in the postseason (three) than he did in the regular season (two).

Double Bonus Odd Eller Fact…

Lars Eller had more three-point games in the postseason (three) than he did in the regular season (one).  Get the feeling this guy was clutch down the stretch?

Fearless’ Take…

What Eller provided was another layer at depth where successful teams need it – down the middle.  Here is what that meant to the Caps.  Eller’s 18 goals gave the Caps three centers with at least 15 goals (Nicklas Backstrom had 21, and Evgeny Kuznetsov had 27), the only time they did it with three full-time centers since the 2004-2005 dark season.  In fact, it was the first time since the 1992-1993 season (Mike Ridley (26), Dale Hunter (20), and Michal Pivonka (21)).  He is one of 28 centers in team history to record 30 goals and 30 assists for the Caps, but he is only one of three to do it having played only two seasons with the Caps (Robert Lang and Rolf Hedberg are the others). If he should go 20-17-37 this coming season (not impossible), he’d become just the 19^th center in team history to be a career 50-goal/50-assist player with the franchise. 

Cheerless’ Take…

It is hard to figure out just what Eller’s last half of the regular season and postseason mean going forward.  Maybe things finally clicked for him, and he has settled into a situation that fits his skills and style.  He is a solid third line center who can even fill in as a second line center for stretches, as he did when Nicklas Backstrom injured his hand in the postseason, and he went 2-3-5, plus-2, in the four games (three of them wins) Backstrom missed.  But there is also the thought that his career performance to date did not suggest a coming out party in 2017-2018.  Until this season he was a dependable low teens goal scorer and high-20’s point getter.  Not quite what one might have expected from a 13^th-overall draft pick (2007).  And he started pretty quickly last season (3-8-11, even, in his first 16 games) before going into a prolonged dry spell (1-3-4, plus-1, over his next 21 games).  But even with that push at the end, looking at his ten-game splits he was a minus-13 over his last three segments.  It wasn’t all unicorns and accordions to end the regular season.

Potential Milestones:

• 250 career points (he needs 31)
• 100 even strength goals (he needs 13)
• 200 career even strength points (he needs 12)
• 100 points as a Capital (he needs 37)
• 10,000 minutes played (he needs 1,181)

The Big Question… Is the 2017-2018 production a new normal for Lars Eller?

If you are a Caps fan, two things are striking about Lars Eller’s 2017-2018 season.  First, his jump in scoring from 2016-2017 (12-13-25) to the 2017-2018 season (18-20-38) was reminiscent of his jump in scoring from his rookie season (7-10-17) to his sophomore season (16-12-28).  Second, he remained between 25 and 30 points over the following five seasons, including his first season in Washington.   Now, he took another big leap in production, and the question as the 2018-2019 season gets underway is whether this is another “quantum” leap in production that can be sustained.  Arguing in his favor is that he remains in his productive prime years (he will not turn 29 until next May), and he is likely to be centering familiar faces this season, what with so few changes on the roster overall.  On the other hand, were last year’s numbers juiced by a hot streak over the second half of the season?  But then again, that might signal a new normal.  This gets confusing.

In the end…

Lars Eller is an example of what happens when a team does not get sufficient secondary support on offense, and then when it does.  In the 2017 postseason he was generally quiet, posting no goals and five assists in 13 games, while going minus-2 (the only time he finished a postseason on the minus side of the ledger) in a second-round flame-out.  This past season he was one of the critical ingredients to the Caps’ playoff success (7-11-18, plus-6, in 24 games).  And, his ability to fill in for an injured Nicklas Backstrom only added to his value as a player who can to “be that guy.”  If he can post similar numbers, the Caps have a better chance of achieving similar success.  It depends on whether 2017-2018 was an outlier in his career arc, or it was a new normal.  The “tiger” announced his tigritude with action last season.  This season is about sustaining that level of feline ferocity.

Projection: 78 games, 17-22-39, minus-1

Photo: Kirk Irwin/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals 2018-2019 Previews -- Forwards: Brett Connolly

Brett Connolly

“My yesterdays walk with me. They keep step, they are gray faces that peer over my shoulder.”

-- William Golding

Brett Connolly was a big scorer in junior hockey.  In his last three seasons with the Prince George Cougars in the Western Hockey League, he scored 86 goals in 140 games.  He looked the part of a sixth-overall draft pick (by the Tampa Bay Lightning) in 2010.  His early career numbers in the NHL could not match that level of output, or even come close.  In his first five NHL seasons, split between the Lightning and the Boston Bruins, Connolly recorded 27 goals in 210 games.

And then, he came to the Washington Capitals as a free agent in 2016.  In Washington, Connolly settled into a third line role and found some measure of his old scoring touch.  He scored 15 goals in just 66 games in 2016-2017.  It was for him a career high and helped him earn a two-year/$3 million contract with the Caps. 

Connolly matched that goal total in 2017-2018 in 70 games played, one off his career best (71 games with the Boston Bruins in 2015-2016).  More important to the Caps’ success this past season, he atoned for a seven game postseason in 2017 in which he did not record a point by scoring six goals and posting nine points in the 24-game march to the Stanley Cup.  He was also a remarkable efficient shooter.  Of 571 players recording 50 or more shots on goal last season, Connolly finished third in shooting percentage (22.4), behind Colorado’s Alexander Kerfoot and Vegas’ William Karlsson (both at 23.4 percent).  No player in the NHL with 15 or more goals did it with less average ice time per game than Connolly (12:00).

Odd Connolly Fact…

Following off a comment above, Brett Connolly was the only player in the NHL last season to score 15 or more goals and do it averaging less than one shot on goal per game (0.96).

Fearless’ Take…

Brett Connolly might not get the attention or the appreciation he deserves for that basic skill of scoring goals.  He is one of five Capitals who recorded at least 15 goals in each of the last two seasons (Alex Ovechkin, T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom, and Evgeny Kuznetsov are the others.  He is one of six Caps to record at least ten even strength goals over the past two seasons (adding Lars Eller to the list above).  It is the sort of supplemental scoring successful teams need.  Last season the Caps lost only one game in regulation among the 14 contests in which Connolly scored a goal.

Cheerless’ Take…

Connolly has value as a goal scorer, but it doesn’t seem to extend to other parts of the game.  He has skated a total – not an average, a total – of 2:05 in shorthanded ice time in 136 games over two seasons with the Caps.  He did get more power play time last season (1:26 per game as a replacement for Justin Williams).  He was not especially effective in high level possession numbers (46.53 Corse-for percentage at 5-on-5/minus-2.04 Relative CF, both ninth among 13 Caps forwards playing at least 500 5-on-5 minutes; numbers from Corsica.hockey).

Potential Milestones:

• 400 NHL games (he has 346)
• 200 Penalty minutes (he has 172)
• 500 shots on goal (he has 442)
• 5,000 minutes played (he has 4,098)
• 50 even strength goals (he has 45)

The Big Question…  Is Brett Connolly really that efficient?

Brett Connolly’s contributions on offense are predicated on a particular attribute – efficiency.  In 136 regular season games with the Caps, he has 30 goals on 148 shots, a 20.3 percent shooting percentage.  Of 559 players recording at least 100 shots on goal over the last two seasons, none have as good a shooting percentage (Montreal’s Paul Byron has a 19.9 percent shooting percentage).  And this begs the question, is Connolly that good or that lucky?  It has been quite a departure from his earlier career numbers.  Over his first five seasons with Tampa Bay and Boston, he had 27 goals on 294 shots, a 9.2 percent shooting percentage.  In half of the games in which he scored goals last season (seven of 14), Connolly scored on his only shot on goal.  Last season was the first in which he averaged less than a shot on goal per game. 

Here is a fact to keep in mind as this season begins for Connolly, coming off a 22.4 percent shooting percentage performance in 70 games.  Since the 2005-2006 season, only one player has had more than one season of appearing in at least 65 games and posting a shooting percentage over 20 percent.  Colorado’s Alex Tanguay did it three times.  There were 22 other players, including Connolly, who did it once. 

That shot volume will have to increase in frequency if his shooting percentage regresses.   However, there is that possibility.  Connolly did have an 18.5 percent shooting percentage in 2016-2017, his first with the Caps, and still posted 15 goals.  Even that percentage might be stretching possibilities, given that only Tanguay and Antoine Brunette have more seasons since 2005-2006 with playing in 65 games and a shooting percentage over 18.5 percent (three apiece).  Whether he can be as streaky as he has been in the past might tell the tale.  For instance, over an 11-game stretch last season (December 2 – December 28), Connolly had six goals on 11 shots (54.5 percent).

In the end…

Brett Connolly being reclaimed off the NHL scrap heap and becoming a productive player for the Caps is one of the better stories for the club over the past couple of years.  But the NHL never stands still, and upgrading when the opportunity presents itself is at or near the top of every general manager’s to-do list.  Connolly is entering the last year of a contract with a $1.5 million cap hit this season.  And, as the biggest offensive contributor among the forwards in the position of becoming an unrestricted free agent after this season (Devante Smith-Pelly is also an unrestricted free agent after this season, but he is not quite the offensive player Connolly is), there might some cause to look over his shoulder at a recent signing. 

At first glance, it would seem that the signing of free agent Sergei Shumakov is going to set up a battle at the right wing with Connolly to see who mans the third line on that side and who plays the right side on the fourth line.  It could give the Caps uncommon depth at right wing, with Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie, where it is possible that all four finish the upcoming season with double digits in goals.

Projection: 72 games, 15-13-28, even

Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals 2018-2019 Previews -- Forwards: Andre Burakovsky

Andre Burakovsky

“My only fault is that I don't realize how great I really am.”

-- Muhammad Ali

There was only one Muhammad Ali, but not knowing how great – or how good – one is or can be is not an uncommon affliction in any walk of life.  Andre Burakovsky’s ascent to the NHL was quick and, frankly, surprising, given that he went right from Canadian juniors to the Caps’ Opening Night lineup in 2014-2015.  Since then, he has been chasing his own potential.  The TSN (Canada) scouting report describes him as “Blessed with great speed, he also displays great hands and goal-scoring instincts. Also has an NHL-sized frame with with plenty of projection. Is definitely a game-breaking talent.”  From time to time he has displayed those gifts, but in four seasons he topped a dozen goals once (17 in 2015-2016) and doesn’t have a season with more than 23 assists (in 2016-2017).

Last season might have been the most disappointing one for Burakovsky.  He appeared in just 56 games (continuing a disturbing trend of playing in a decreasing number of games over the past three seasons), posting 12 goals and 13 assists.  He could never seem to get much traction scoring-wise.  He had no streaks of more than two games with points at any time last season.  He did show some spark late, going 3-3-6 in his last eight games, but he had points in only 18 of 56 games last season.

You might say that Burakovsky’s play has reflected a consistent inconsistency in one respect.  Over his four-year career he has not been able to put together long stretches of production, but on a season-by-season basis, he has hovered consistently around the 0.20 goals per game mark (a range of 0.17 to 0.21 over the four seasons and a 16 goals per 82 games pace).  Absent the absences, it is not unreasonable to think he could bump that number up a bit.  Still, frustration with his production aside, Burakovsky (drafted 23^rd overall in 2013) is sixth in his draft class in goals scored (50, tops in his class among wingers) and 11^th in points.  Only Alexander Barkov (plus-33) and Andrew Copp (plus-35) have a better plus-minus than Burakovsky (plus-32).

Odd Burakovsky Fact…

Burakovsky did have an interesting sense of timing last season.  He had five game-winning goals, more than his combined total over his first three seasons (four).  No Capital in 2017-2018 had a higher share of total goals be game-winners than Burakovsky. 

Fearless’ Take…

Andre Burakovsky has done something in his first four seasons that Alex Ovechkin did not do.  Burakovsky is one of seven players in team history to have at least 50 goals, at least 70 assists, and record a plus-minus of plus-30 or better (50-70-120, plus-32).  Ovechkin would have made eight, but he was a plus-19 over his first four seasons (yes, Ovechkin played on worse teams).  And, there are hints he might be a go-to postseason performer.  There were those two goals in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final against the Tampa Bay Lightning, but that is part of a longer stretch in which he is 5-5-10, plus-7, over his last 16 postseason games, dating back to the second round of the 2017 playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Cheerless’ Take…

Andre Burakovsky doesn’t like home cooking.  He goes into this season having played 126 games at home and 126 games on the road.  In those 126 road games he has 31 goals, but he has just 19 goals in his 126 games on home ice.  Last season, he did not get his first goal on home ice until January 31^st (his 13^th home game of the season), and only four of his 12 goals were at Capital One Arena (26 games).

Potential Milestones:

• Top-50 in franchise history in goals scored (Burakovsky needs 10 to tie Chris Clark and Tomas Fleischmann for 50^th place).
• Top-50 in franchise history in assists (he needs 27 to tie Dino Ciccarelli, assuming Dmitry Orlov who needs three to tie Ciccarelli, gets there first).
• Top-50 in franchise history in points (he needs 32 to tie Troy Brouwer).
• 50 even strength goals (he needs six)

The Big Question… Is this the year Andre Burakovsky puts it all together?

Andre Burakovsky’s performance numbers – goals, assists, points – have been a bit disappointing, an unfortunate product of inconsistency and injury.  But one area in which he has been consistent is productivity in his personal possession numbers.  In each of his four seasons, shot attempts-for at 5-on-5 has been above 50 percent when he was on the ice.  His 53.25 percent Corsi-for over his four years with the Caps ranks 52^nd among 312 forwards skating at least 2,000 5-on-5 minutes, and his Relative Corsi-for of +3.45 ranks 43^rd, between David Pastrnak and Blake Wheeler (numbers from Corsica.hockey).

That his efficiency number outperformed his performance numbers, and consistently at that, argues for a wait-and-see attitude toward Burakovsky.  There is also the matter of the way injuries have impeded his development and consistency.  Three times in his career to date he has had absences of more than 10 days to injury. 

The first was a 37-day absence from February 9 to March 18, 2017 due to a hand injury.  In the 13 full games in which he played right before that (not including the game in which he sustained the injury), he was 6-8-14, plus-13.  He was out for 44 days early from late October to early December last season with a broken thumb, and he was just 1-3-4, minus-2 in the nine games to open the season that preceded his absence.  However, in the eight games to wrap up the regular season he was 3-3-6, plus-10, and then in Game 2 of the first round playoff series against Columbus, he suffered an upper body injury that caused him to miss 25 days.  Just when he seemed to be establishing some offensive momentum, he had it stopped by injury.

In the end…

Andre Burakovsky might be the biggest unknown coming into the 2018-2019 season, an odd thing to contemplate on a roster in which almost everyone is returning from last season.  He has shown his considerable offensive gifts, although all too often in short stretches.  Part of that is consistency.  He had four streaks of four or more games without a point last season, including streaks of seven and eight games.  That is a lot of quiet time in a season in which he appeared in just 56 games.  But one wonders if that is the product of youth (he will not turn 24 until February), injury, or the absence of (for lack of a better term) the “hockey IQ” needed to be a more consistent contributor.

Burakovsky is a tantalizing talent.  He certainly has the talent to be a regular top-six forward on a contender.  One wonders what his numbers might look like if he was to dress for 70 or more games (his career high is 79 games in 2015-2016).  We would be closer to realizing how good – or how great – Andre Burakovsky could be.

Projection: 69 games, 18-24-42, plus-5

Photo:  Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals 2018-2019 Previews -- Forwards: Nicklas Backstrom

Nicklas Backstrom

“No one is an artist unless he carries his picture in his head before painting it, and is sure of his method and composition.”

-- Claude Monet

Just past the mid-way point of the second period of Game 5 of the 2018 Stanley Cup final, the Washington Capitals were skating on a power play in a 1-1- game.  As he has done almost since he first took the ice for the Caps in 2007, Nicklas Backstrom was playing conductor for the symphony from the right wing wall.  Taking a pass from John Carlson and walking the puck down the right side to the far edge of the faceoff circle, Backstrom had his head up looking for an opportunity.  He edged his way in to the faceoff dot and then threaded a saucer pass through the middle of the ice, within a stick length of all four Vegas Golden Knight defenders and onto the tape of the stick of Alex Ovechkin, who one-timed the puck past goalie Mark-Andre Fleury to give the Caps a 2-1 lead in a game they would go on to win, 4-3, to clinch their first Stanley Cup championship. 

It was a pass that maybe five players in the NHL could make with any regularity, but Nicklas Backstrom has been doing it for more than a decade.  And it served notice that reaching age 30 in 2017-2018 was not a signal that his production would be slowing down appreciably.  True, it was not among his most productive seasons.  His 21 goals were topped in three of his previous ten seasons, only once in a season in which he played at least 50 games did he record fewer than the 50 assists he posted, and his 71 points ranked in the middle of his career pack.  That might be attributed to his being assigned to second line duty (if the definition of “first line” is the one on which Ovechkin plays), largely centering T.J. Oshie on his right side and a variety of wingers on his left.

Odd Backstrom Fact… 

Nicklas Backstrom has eight 50-assist seasons, most in Capitals history.  That is twice as many as the players in second place: Adam Oates, Alex Ovechkin, and Michal Pivonka.  He has five seasons with 60 or more assists, also tops in team history.  Of the other four players to have posted 60-assist seasons with the Caps, only Scott Stevens did it twice (Oates, Pivonka, and Dennis Maruk are the others).

Fearless’ Take… Backstrom has been an extraordinarily efficient scorer in his 11-year career.  Over that span he is the only player in the league with at least 200 goals (209) and at least 550 assists (590) while averaging less than 20 minutes per game (19:42).  Only once in that span did he finish a season underwater in his shot attempts-for percentage at 5-on-5 (49.30 percent in 2013-2014; numbers from NHL.com).  He also is one of only five forwards since he came into the league to record 500 hits, 500 blocked shots, 500 takeaways, and post a faceoff winning percentage of at least 50 percent (Joe Pavelski, Anze Kopitar, Patrice Bergeron, and Ryan Kesler are the others), testimony to his all-around ability on the ice.

Cheerless’ Take… The Capitals have not had all that deep a history of playmaking centers, but one odd historical fact is that only two centers in team history recorded at least one 50-plus assist season having reached and passed the age of 31 (Backstrom will be 31 in November).  Dale Hunter did it twice, and Adam Oates did it four times.  The good news there is that Oates was one of the best playmakers in NHL history and could probably get something close to 50 assists, even today.  Backstrom is one of the best playmakers of this era.

Potential Milestones to Reach in 2017-2018:

• 800 points (he has 799 and will become the 164^th player in NHL history and tenth native of Sweden to hit the 800-point mark).
• 600 assists (he has 590 and would become the 87^th or 88^th player in NHL history to hit the 600-assist mark, depending on what Patrick Marleau (594 assists), and the ninth native of Sweden to do it).
• Seven seasons playing in all 82 games, which would put him in the top-ten among active players in total seasons playing in 82 games.
• A 20-goal season would tie him for fifth place in franchise history in total seasons with 20 or more goals (six).
• A 50-point season would be his tenth and tie him for second place in franchise history in total seasons with 50 or more points (with Mike Gartner, behind Alex Ovechkin (13)).
• 500 even strength points (he has 466).

The Big Question… Is Nicklas Backstrom now the second option at center on the power play?

In each of Nicklas Backstrom’s 11 seasons, he has led the Caps’ centers in average ice time on the power play.  In each of those seasons he averaged more than three minutes per game with the man advantage.  However, that margin narrowed considerably last season.  Backstrom averaged 3:31 on the power play, while Evgeny Kuznetsov averaged 3:27.  There is the related matter of production.  In each of his ten seasons before last year, he led all Caps centers in power play points.  That string ended in 2017-2018 when Kuznetsov posted 30 power play points to Backstrom’s 26.

Over his 11 seasons in the NHL, only Alex Ovechkin has more power play points (347) than does Backstrom (331).  Last season, however, Backstrom was only fourth on his own team in power play points, his 26 points trailing Ovechkin (31), Kuznetsov (31), and John Carlson (32), and finishing tied for 25th in the league, and it was the fewest he had in a season playing in 50 or more games since he had 22 power play points in 77 games in 2010-2011.  Backstrom did, however, record seven power play goals last season, his fourth-highest total of man advantage goals in his career.

If there is a cup-half-full/cup-half-empty to this, it is that as to the former, the Caps have the luxury of deploying two elite centers in roughly equivalent shares of man advantage ice time these days in Backstrom and Kuznetsov.  And being the second-option in terms of ice time deployment, or perhaps more accurately the “1-A” option, is hardly a signal that the Caps are in trouble on their power play.

In the end…

Nicklas Backstrom’s game seems equal parts intellect and artistry.  Few players in the NHL “think” the game like Backstrom, who seems to be several moves ahead of his opponents in managing the offense, especially on the power play.  But his ability to make something out of little, like that saucer pass assist to Alex Ovechkin in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final, is as deft and elegant as a master’s brush strokes.  Those are the attributes that a player can carry deep into his career, but for now Caps fans will have to settle for seeing them in what is still Nicklas Backstrom’s prime.

Projection: 80 games, 20-56-76, plus-8

Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images North America

Washington Capitals: One and Done -- The Goalies

We took a look at the 14 skaters who dressed for only one game as a Washington Capital, including nine players whose only NHL appearance was with the Caps.  Now, in the final installment of “one-and-done,” we look at four goaltenders who appeared just once for the Capitals.

Robbie Moore, “Phacing a Phamiliar Phoe”

By today’s goaltender standards, where size and filling the net are hallmarks of NHL netminders, Robbie Moore would be almost unrecognizable.  At five-feet, five inches tall and 155 pounds, he was among the smallest goaltenders ever to dress for an NHL game.  Perhaps his size was a factor in not being drafted by an NHL team, although he was drafted as a 20-year old in the 11^th round (187^th overall) by the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association in their 1974 amateur draft, after Moore had completed two of his four seasons in the University of Michigan program.

Moore never played for the Whalers, completing his four-year stint with the Wolverines and then playing a season with the University of Western Ontario in 1976-1977.  Then, at the age of 24, he signed his first pro deal, joining the Philadelphia Flyers organization as a free agent.  He toiled in Maine with the AHL Mariners for the better part of the next two seasons before getting his first NHL opportunity in 1978-1979, and he certainly took advantage of it.  It came under difficult circumstances for the Flyers, who were dealing with what would be a career-ending eye injury to goalie Bernie Parent.  In early March, Moore got the call to try to fill the void and pitched a 22-save, 5-0 shutout against the Colorado Rockies.

Moore would go on to post a 3-0-1 win-loss record with a sterling 1.77 goals against average and a .927 save percentage in five appearances with the Flyers.  Unfortunately for Moore, the Flyers had a Calder Trophy winning goalie in waiting in Pete Peeters who would go 29-5-5 the following season to win the prize as the NHL’s top rookie.  Moore never played for the Flyers again, returning to Maine for two more AHL seasons with the Mariners.

After the 1980-1981 season, Moore signed as a free agent with the Minnesota North Stars and played for the Nashville North Stars in the Central Hockey League.  Minnesota did not see enough in Moore to hold on to him and traded him to the Caps in August 1982 along with an 11^th round draft pick for Wes Jarvis and Rollie Boutin.

It would not take long for Moore to make his first, and what would be his last appearance with the Caps.  After opening the 1982-1983 seasons with a 5-4 win over the New York Rangers, the Caps had a home-and-home set against the Flyers.  Washington lost the opening game of the set, 3-2, at Capital Centre before heading to Philadelphia the following night. Pat Riggin opened the game in goal for the Caps, but with the Caps nursing a 2-1 lead in the second period was lit up for three goals in a span of 1:37 to give the Flyers a 4-2 lead.  Moore opened the third period for the Caps and allowed an early goal to Brian Propp.  The Caps scored twice to make it a 5-4 game, but with Moore on the bench for an extra attacker, Bill Barber sealed the 6-4 Flyer win with an empty net goal in the last minute.  Moore would be pinned with the loss, finishing with six saves on seven shots faced in 19:43 of ice time, his career line with the Caps.

Moore would finish the season with the Hershey Bears and then play one more season of pro hockey, that with the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL, before his pro career ended at the age of 29.

Alain Raymond, “Done in by Dineen”

For Alain Raymond, the journey was a long one to his first and only game with the Capitals and in the NHL, for that matter.  He was taken in the 11^th round of the 1983 draft (215^th overall), one spot after defenseman Uwe Krupp, who played in 729 NHL games with five teams.  Raymond played three more seasons in Canadian juniors, with Trois-Rivieres Draveurs in the QMJHL.  After completing his career in juniors, he joined the Fort Wayne Komets of the IHL in 1986-1987.  In his second season with the Komets, Raymond got his chance in the NHL. 

In December of the 1987-1988 season, number one goalie Pete Peeters suffered an eye injury, and the Caps needed a back-up for Clint Malarchuk.  Raymond was brought up to do so for a contest in Hartford against Whalers.  Malarchuk struggled early, allowing three goals on 14 shots in the first period as Hartford took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

Raymond got the call to open the second period and kept Hartford off the scoreboard long enough for Greg Adams and Kevin Hatcher to score goals to tie the game.  Kevin Dineen scored mid-way through the period to restore the Whaler lead, but Hatcher scored his second of the game with less than two minutes left in the period to tie the game once more.  The only goal of the third period came in the tenth minute, Dineen scoring his second of the game, giving the Whalers a 5-4 win, Raymond taking the loss.

Raymond saw the experience as a valuable learning tool, remarking that "I'm happy I got a chance to play. That should help me when I come back."  However, while he would be recalled by the Caps on other occasions, he would not appear in another game for the Caps, nor would he do so for any other NHL team.  He returned to Fort Wayne after his single appearance, and he would play another six seasons at the minor league level before his career came to a close after the 1991-1992 season at age 26.

Mike Rosati, “A Long Way to Go for One Game”

One would be hard pressed to find a player who put in more miles over more time zones to get to the NHL than goalie Mike Rosati.  His career started in more or less a conventional fashion, the Toronto native being taken in the seventh round of the 1988 entry draft out of the Hamilton Steelhawks of the Ontario Hockey League by the New York Rangers.  And with that began a ten-year journey that finally ended in an NHL arena. 

After he was drafted, Rosati spent another year in Canadian junior (with the Niagara Falls Thunder) before playing a year in the ECHL with the Erie Panthers.  Then, it was off to Europe, where he would play six seasons with HC Bolzano in Italy.  In 1996-1997 he moved on to Adler Mannheim in Germany, where he spent another two seasons. 

Following his second season in Germany, Rosati returned to North America, signing as a free agent with the Caps.  He did not have to wait long to get a chance for the big club.  In early November, with the Caps’ backup situation behind number one goalie Olaf Kolzig depleted, Rosati was called up to back up Kolzig for a game in Ottawa against the Senators. 

Things did not go well for the Caps or for Kolzig, who allowed five goals on 16 shots before being pulled in favor of Rosati 11:49 into the second period.  Sometimes, pulling a goalie is intended to settle a team and provide a jolt.  Inserting Rosati into the lineup had the intended effect.  The Caps scored two goals 1:06 apart later in the second period to tie the game.  Washington poured it on in the third period, scoring three goals, while Rosati shut down the Senators to give the Caps an 8-5 win.

That would be all for Rosati with the Caps and in the NHL.  He finished the season splitting time between the Portland Pirates and the Manitoba Moose.  After the 1998-199 season he returned to Europe, rejoining Adler Mannheim, with whom he finished his pro career in 2002-2003, while also representing Italy in international play.

Rosati’s turn with the Caps represents something of an historical oddity.  He was the first goalie in the history of the league since shots on goal and save percentages were recorded to appear in one game, get credit for the win, and do so with a perfect 1.000 save percentage (Cody Rutkowsky became the second with St. Louis in 2002-2003).

Corey Hirsch, “It’s Not Over ‘til It’s Over”

At the 1991 NHL entry draft, the New York Rangers drafted Alex Kovalev with their first pick, 15^th overall.  Kovalev went on to play more than 1,300 regular season games in the NHL.  None of the next five picks for the Rangers ever appeared in an NHL game.  Their seventh pick, Corey Hirsch (taken in the eighth round, 169^th overall), was the only other pick from that Rangers draft class to appear in at least 100 NHL games.  One of them was in a Caps jersey, but it would take a while for that to happen.

Hirsch, who had already played three seasons with the Kamloops Blazers in the OHL when he was drafted by the Rangers, played one more season with Kamloops before joining the pro ranks with the Binghamton Rangers of the AHL in 1992-1993. But for a four-game stint with the Rangers in that 1992-1993 season, he spent three years with Binghamton before he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks in April 1995 for forward Nathan LaFayette.  Hirsch appeared in 101 regular season games for the Canucks over four seasons with limited success, going 32-42-13, 3.13, .896 in 101 appearances, although he did finish fifth in the Calder Trophy voting for top NHL rookie in the 1995-1996 season. 

After his fourth season in Vancouver, his NHL tour began in earnest.  In August 1999 he was signed as a free agent by the Nashville Predators.  Late in the 1999-2000 season the Predators, for whom he never played, traded Hirsch to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim for future considerations, which turned out to be one dollar.  Hirsch never played for the Mighty Ducks, either, and the following October finally made his way to Washington as a free agent.  But even there, there was a bit of a detour.  Instead of joining the Caps’ AHL affiliate Portland Pirates, he was lent to the Albany River Rats.  He played four games for the Rats, losing all of them.

Hirsch finally made his way to Portland, but it would not be until March that he would get a chance in Washington.  Backup goalie Craig Billington was injured, opening a spot on the Caps’ bench behind Olaf Kolzig for a game against the Ottawa Senators.  The Caps opened the scoring on a Joe Sacco goal less than three minutes into the game, but the tide turned soon thereafter.  Ottawa scored twice to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission, and they they scored goals 62 seconds apart early in the second period to take a 4-1 lead.  The Caps got one back on a power play goal by Peter Bondra, but Radek Bonk solved Kolzig on a power play to restore the three goal lead going into the third period.

Enter Hirsch.  Hirsch kept the Senators off the board early in the period in what had all the looks of mop-up duty.  And then, Andrei Nikolishin scored at the 6:22 mark to cut the lead to two goals.  Seven minutes later, Trent Whitfield scored.  Less than two minutes after that, Sergei Gonchar tied the game. Finally, with just 1:28 left, Steve Konowalchuk completed the comeback to give the Caps – and Hirsch – a most improbable 6-5 win.

It would be the last game Hirsch would play in Washington.  He finished the season in Portland and split time the following season between Portland and the Philadelphia Phantoms.  After the 2001-2002 season he was signed away as a free agent by the Dallas Stars for whom he would play two games in his final NHL action.  After that season he headed to Europe, playing in Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany before his pro career ended after the 2004-2005 season.

Hirsch’s win with the Caps was his last in the NHL, part of a long hockey journey that had its joys on the ice – drinking from the Stanley Cup – and challenges off the ice.  And in his 20-minute career with the Caps and his struggles outside the rink, he stands as an inspirational argument that it’s never over until it’s over.  

Washington Capitals: One and Done -- The Onesies, Part IV: Rocking the Red

The last look at skaters who dressed for only one game with the Caps is the last pair who not only dressed for just one game with the Caps, but for just one game in the NHL.  

Peter LeBlanc

It is said that all good things come to those who wait, but sometimes it’s a case of good things coming to those who stick around.  That might be said of winger Peter LeBlanc’s journey from amateur draftee to NHL player.  After two decent, if not jump-off-the-page seasons with the Hamilton Red Wings of the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League (combined 24-34-58 in 70 games), LeBlanc was drafted in the seventh round of the 2006 NHL entry draft (186^th overall) by the Chicago Blackhawks. 

Instead of taking the minor pro route up the developmental ladder, he enrolled at the University of New Hampshire, where he played for four seasons.  After posting 34 goals and 51 points in 153 games at the college level, he started up the pro development ladder splitting time with the Toledo Walleye in the ECHL and the Rockford Icehogs in the AHL in 2010-2011.

LeBlanc spent the next two seasons in Rockford, but it was there that his development stalled.  Mid-way through that second season, LeBlanc was traded to the Capitals for future considerations (later to become Matt Beaudoin), and he completed the 2012-2013 season with the Hershey Bears.   LeBlanc skated the entire 2013-2014 season in Hershey, going 12-16-28 in 65 games, but with the Caps’ regular season winding down and out of playoff contention, he got his NHL chance.

In the Caps’ 82^nd and last game of the season, LeBlanc made his way into the lineup at Verizon Center against the Tampa Bay Lightning.  He did manage to skate 11 shifts and almost ten minutes, but he did not record a point.  The thing is, no one else did, either.  And neither did any Lightning skater.  The teams played a scoreless regulation 60 minutes, and then they went through the five-minute overtime without a score.  Matt Carle scored the only goal in the Gimmick to give the Lightning a 1-0 win in Adam Oates’ last game as head coach for the Caps and one of the more forgettable games of the Rock the Red era.

For his part, LeBlanc did have one shot attempt (a miss), two hits, and a blocked shot.  It was his first and last game with the Caps, his first and last game in the NHL.  The following season he moved to Sweden to skate with Rogle BK.  He has split time between Europe and the ECHL since then, last skating for the Fife Flyers in the Elite Ice Hockey League in Great Britain in 2017-2018.  LeBlanc is the last Capital to wear sweater number “64” for the club.

Photo: AP Photo / Alex Brandon

Garrett Mitchell

The 2009 NHL entry draft was generally a successful one for the Caps.  In the first three rounds, they selected Marcus Johansson, who played in 501 regular season games for the Caps before he was traded to the New Jersey Devils for second and third round draft picks in 2018 (the Caps selected Martin Fehervary with the second round pick and the third round pick was sent to Chicago for defenseman Michal Kempny); Dmitry Orlov, who has played in 365 regular season games for the Caps; and Cody Eakin, who played 30 games for the Caps before he was included in a trade package to the Dallas Stars for Mike Ribeiro in June 2012.

In the sixth round of that draft the Caps selected forward Garrett Mitchell out of the Regina Pats in the Western Hockey League.  He had not given much notice that he was a big producer on offense; he was 10-5-15 in 71 games for the Pats in 2008-2009.  He improved on that in each of the next two seasons (15-16-31 in 57 games in 2009-2010 and 18-34-52 in 70 games in 2010-2001), even getting a few games with the Hershey Bears in the AHL along the way.

Mitchell split time between Hershey and the South Carolina Stingrays in 2011-2012 and then made the Bears his permanent home thereafter.  Late in his sixth full season with the Bears, he finally got the call, almost eight years after he was drafted by the Capitals.  He and fellow Bears forward Chandler Stephenson were recalled to the team for the last regular season game on the schedule.  It was a reward for the Hershey captain, who was deemed worthy of an opportunity for his years of hard work. 

The Caps, who had already clinched their second consecutive Presidents Trophy with the league’s best record, might not have had sufficient focus to make much of a game of it against the Florida Panthers.  Whatever the reason, the Caps did not play their best game of the season and dropped a 2-0 decision.  In fact, it was the shortest contest in terms of length of game (coming in at just under two hours) of the season.  As for Mitchell, he had no points and no shots on goal (the only Capital not to record one) in a team low 8:48 of ice time. 

Mitchell returned to the Bears, where he has played since, this season becoming the 26^th player in franchise history to appear in 400 regular season games.  What made the 2016-2017 season special for him was getting that call.  And while the line on the score sheet in his one turn in a Capitals jersey might lack enough marks on it, there cannot be anything that takes away from the moment one gets the word that you’re going to the show.

Photo: Katherine Frey/The Washington Post

We will take one final turn with the one-and-done players later this week when we look at the goalies who strapped on the pads once for the Capitals.