"By the work one knows the workman."
-- Jean de La Fontaine
John Erskine’s 2013-2014 season looked a lot like his
2012-2013 season, which looked a lot like his 2011-2012 season. That is not good news. Erskine dressed for only 37 games this
season. That happens to be a personal
high over the past three seasons over which he appeared in 95 of 212
games. Erskine missed 37 games to injury
this past season and another three to a suspension. Thought of early on as a potential second-pair
defenseman in 2013-2014, he became part of the parade of defensemen marching
through the third pair over the course of the season. As it was his longest string of consecutive
games played was 17, from December 15th through January 19th,
and he appeared in only two of the Caps last 19 games.
Erskine is not what one would call an offensive defenseman,
and his games played do not make for easy evaluation or comparison. But there are a few things to point out. For instance, at 5-on-5, John Erskine finished
176th of 230 defensemen playing at least 25 percent of their teams’
games in goals-for percentage (44.7 percent of all goals scored when he was on
ice). He was nestled between Mike Green
(175th/44.8 percent) and Karl Alzner (177th/44.6
percent). Oddly enough, though, his goals for
percentage on ice relative to the teams’ performance with him not on the ice
(+1.5 percent) was 84th in the league and roughly equivalent to
teammate John Carlson (+1.6 percent) and the Rangers’ Ryan McDonagh (+1.6
percent).
Erskine suffered from the nature of his partners this
season, although the suffering might have been mutual. In Erskine’s limited action he played more
than 100 5-on-5 minutes with only two partners on defense – Connor Carrick and
Steve Oleksy. That is a pair that would
finish the season with a combined 95 games of NHL experience. Erskine’s experience with those partners was
like night and day, or more precisely early and late.
Erskine played 154 minutes of 5-on-5 time with Oleksy this
season, all of it by January 4th, corresponding to Oleksy’s last
game of the season with the Caps. Paired
with Erskine at 5-on-5, Oleksy had a goals-for/goals-against per 20 minutes of +0.26. That sounds rather good until one looks at
Olesky’s 5-on-5 goal differential when apart from Erskine (+0.35). Erskine’s experience with Carrick was a bit
different. Carrick’s goal differential per
20 minutes with Erskine at 5-on-5 was 0.00.
When apart, though, Carrick’s goal differential was -0.49.
Strange results are these.
Fearless’ Take… Did you know that only 13 defensemen in
Capitals history have played in more games for the club than John Erskine? He passed Darren Veitch and Yvon Labre this
season and now has 350 games played in a Capitals uniform. Only Mike Green among active Capitals have
appeared in more games with the club (503).
Cheerless’ Take… Nine defensemen played in at least 20 games
for the Caps this season, including John Erskine. Of those nine defensemen Erskine was seventh
in Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5 (45.7) and seventh in Fenwick-for percentage
(44.7). The only players with lower
numbers were Alexander Urbom (44.2/44.2), who is no longer with the club, and
Connor Carrick (43.9/42.8), who might have been better served being in Hershey
for more of the season.
Odd Erskine Fact… The Caps were 13-17-7 in games in which
Erskine appeared and 25-13-7 in games in which he did not.
Game to Remember… January 25th versus
Montreal. John Erskine does not score
goals often, so those he does get are sort of memorable by definition. However, the one he scored in Montreal on
January 25th was bizarre.
After a scoreless first period the Caps took the lead 1:46 into the
second period on a goal by Alex Ovechkin.
Less than two minutes later the Caps started out of their own zone with
John Carlson sending the puck up to Troy Brouwer before heading to the
bench. Brouwer left a touch pass for
Martin Erat, who carried the puck into the Montreal end. Erat put on the breaks at the right wing wall
waiting for the play to unfold. He spied
Erskine coming late down the middle.
Erskine was about to be tied up by Brandon Prust when he sort of half
shot, half shoveled the puck at the Canadiens’ net. The puck crawled along the ice past Prust,
past P.K. Subban, past Brooks Laich, and between the pads of goalie Carey Price,
settling softly in the back of the net to give the Caps a 2-0 lead on their way
to a 5-0 win at Bell Centre.
Game to Forget… March
5th versus Philadelphia. The
Caps’ schedule for March included a home-and-home set of games against the
Flyers, the first in Washington on March 2nd and the second on March
5th in Philadelphia. Washington
dropped the front end of the set, 5-4 in overtime, and was looking to salvage a
split in Philadelphia. The Flyers got
off fast with a pair of goals in the first eight and a half minutes. Then things got angry. In the 12th minute Tom Wilson laid
a hit on Brayden Schenn in the Washington end, and as the puck spun around the
boards John Erskine put a hit on Vincent Lecavalier. That was merely prelude. Wheh the Caps dumped the puck into the Flyers’
end on the ensuing rush, Luke Schenn laid the lumber to Ryan Stoa.
That brought Wilson back into the picture to take on
Schenn. While this was going on, John Erskine
stepped in on Wayne Simmonds. That led
to a pile up in the corner with Erskine tumbling to the ice, and when Erskine
got to his feet it was Lecavalier standing in his way. Erskine and Lecavalier started in on one
another, which led to Simmonds coming in to Lecavalier’s assistance. He grabbed Erskine from behind, tying up Erskine
from throwing any more punches and leaving Lecavalier free to throw a couple of
his own. Erskine went down to end the
fracas, and the fall would end Erskine’s night after just 5:34 of time on
ice. The Caps went on to lose the
contest, 6-4, and Erskine would miss the next ten games.
In the end…
Time and circumstance have taken their toll on John
Erskine. In seven seasons with the
Capitals (not including the abbreviated 48-game 2012-2013 season) he has
appeared in more than 55 games in a season only once. It is not for lack of trying or will; Erskine
remains, night in and night out, among the hardest workers on the ice when he
is in the lineup. One must wonder,
though, just how much Erskine has left to give.
He will be 34 on Opening Night of the 2014-2015 season, and while that
is not inordinately old for a hockey player, his injury history suggests that
he might be an “old” 34.
In that respect his 2013-2014 season was not unusual and
seems at least as likely as not to serve as a preview of the future. He was available on a limited basis, and both
his production and underlying numbers did not suggest a consistent level of
effectiveness when he was in the lineup.
One might hope for better, but one cannot help but think that the body
of work John Erskine put together this season is going to be of the sort he
displays going forward.
Grade: C-
Photo: Greg Fiume/Getty Images North America
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