“All human wisdom is summed up in two words; wait and hope.”
-- Alexandre Dumas
Those are the last words of Dumas’ “The Count of Monte
Cristo,” a story of perseverance and hope.
For the Washington Capitals, “hope” was personified in three players
with three very distinct sets of expectations attached to them. In 2013-2014 Caps fans were given their first
glimpse at what each player might bring to the club on a more regular basis in
the future.
Evgeny Kuznetsov
In “The Count of Monte Cristo,” the hero – Edmond Dantes –
spent six years in the Chateau d'If, a prison from which no prisoner had ever
escaped. Caps fans did not have to wait
quite as long to see Evgeny Kuznetsov in the flesh after he was drafted in 2010,
and an island prison in the Mediterranean Sea in the early 19th Century
is not Russia in the early 21st Century, but Kuznetsov did spend
more time in Russia than the Caps or fans might have thought when he was taken
with the 26th overall pick of the 2010 entry draft. His choice.
When Kuznetsov chose to make the journey to North America he gave
indications that the wait would be worth the trouble.
Fearless’ Take… There were 21 forwards in their first season
in the NHL who recorded nine or more points and played in 17 or more
games. Kuznetsov was that 21st
forward, having played in 17 games. Of
that group, the forward with the next fewest games played was Pittsburgh’s
Jayson Megna, who played in 36 games and recorded nine points as well. Of 69 first-year forwards playing in at least
17 games, Kuznetsov had the ninth-highest points per game. Seven of the eight players ahead of him
played in at least 20 more games. The
Caps also happened to be 8-5-4 in the 17 games in which Kuznetsov played.
Cheerless’ Take... Some
players drive play with possession, others are passengers. Evgeny Kuznetsov was stuck in the bed of the
pick-up truck. A Corsi-for percentage at
5-on-5 of 42.3? Fenwick-for percentage
of 40.9? Okay, okay. A lot of that is playing so much time with
Tom Wilson (37.7 percent of his 5-on-5 time) and Jay Beagle (26.4 percent),
but still.
Peerless’ Take... That Kuznetsov averaged more than a
half-point per game with such poor possession statistics might be evidence of
the raw talent he possesses, an ability to make something of not much. But that is not a strategy going
forward. His performance suggests that
he will, at least for a while, be the sort of player who electrifies for
stretches, makes one long to be electrocuted for others. But he will be fun to watch develop.
Michael Latta
Michael Latta is the only remnant of the trade that sent
Filip Forsberg to Nashville and that brought Martin Erat to Washington. Erat finished his 2013-2014 season in
Phoenix, while Forsberg has played only 18 games to date for the
Predators. Who would have thought that
Latta would play more games with his parent club this season (17) than Forsberg
(13)? Or score as many goals (one) and
almost as many points (four, versus five for Forsberg)?
Fearless’ Take… If Michael Latta ends up playing more games
than Filip Forsberg or scoring almost as many points, it will say far more
about Forsberg than Latta. That,
however, is Nashville’s concern for the time being. In Washington, Latta played in 17 games and
was that rare breed of Capital. He was
not a “minus” player. He was decent (do
not read that as “good”) in his possession numbers: seventh among 17 Caps
forwards playing in at least ten games in Corsi-for percentage at 5-on-5, tied
for 11th in Fenwick-for percentage.
The Caps were 9-6-2 in games in which Latta appeared.
Cheerless’ Take… Less than eight minutes a game, only twice
getting more than ten minutes, no games registering more than one shot on goal. Among first-year forwards, his 1-3-4, even,
7:42 in average ice time over 17 games profile is almost indistinguishable from that of Darren
Archibald (1-2-3, plus-1, 7:47 in 16 games) or Jerry D’Amigo (1-2-3, minus-1,
8:02 in 22 games). Let’s just call him a
work in progress, okay?
Peerless’ Take… If the Caps find a serviceable fourth liner
in the mold of, say, a Matt Hendricks, in Michael Latta, they will have
salvaged something out of one of the more perplexing trades and aftermath in
club history. If there is something
intriguing about his game, it was in his Hershey numbers. With the Bears he was 14-20-34, plus-14 in 52
games. On a per-game basis, that’s
better than the best seasons Jay Beagle had in Hershey. Just something to think about.
Patrick Wey
If you were going to write a manual on how a defenseman
might work up the developmental ladder, Patrick Wey might be the model. USHL program, drafted by the Capitals, enrollment
at Boston College, four years under one of the flagship programs in collegiate
hockey (including two national championships while he played there), eight
games in Reading with the Royals in the ECHL, then up to Hershey, and finally –
last December – called up to the big club.
Okay, so he only played in one game before being reassigned, but he was
recalled on two more occasions, playing in nine games and recording his first
three NHL points (in consecutive games played).
Fearless’ Take… Wey
is not going to be an offensive-minded defenseman, but three assists in his
first four games with the Caps at least hints he will not be totally silent at
that end of the rink. His test drive
might have lasted longer but for a fight with Nashville’s Rich Clune on March
30th. It ended unpleasantly
for Wey in what would be Wey’s last game with the Caps and his last game of the
season. The Caps were 5-1-3 in the nine games in which Wey appeared.
Cheerless’ Take… Those three points in his first four games
were pretty much offset by his minus-4 in his last four games. Yeah, it was pretty stiff competition (San
Jose, Los Angeles, and Boston among the teams), but he was on ice for seven of
the 13 goals the Caps allowed in those four games. It was an indication that more seasoning is
needed before he’s ready to come to the table.
Peerless’ Take… In Patrick Wey’s last game with the Caps, on
March 30th against Nashville, the Caps dressed a defense that
included Julien Brouillette and Dmitry Orlov, in addition to Wey. Those three defensemen had a combined 121
games of experience going into that game, and Orlov had 111 of those. For the season the Caps dressed 14
defensemen, among them Wey, Brouillette, Cameron Schilling, Alexander Urbom,
Nate Schmidt, Steve Oleksy, and Connor Carrick, only Oleksy (61) with more than
35 games of NHL experience at the end of the season. Wey was part of a mixed green salad of sorts,
the “green” being inexperienced defensemen.
Getting injured in a fight did nothing to help in Wey’s development, but
playing in Washington at all in the 2013-2014 season probably would not have
occurred had the Caps been deeper at the position. That suggests that if a new management team
does anything with respect to firming up the blue line, Wey will get a chance
to continue his development in Hershey in 2014-2015.
In the end…
Scorer, grinder, stay-at-home defenseman. Given their respective ages, Evgeny Kuznetsov
(22), Michael Latta (23), and Patrick Wey (23) might be expected to play
significant minutes in perhaps three to four years (sooner in the case of the
gifted Kuznetsov). With varying
frequency this past season, each gave an indication that they could contribute
those minutes. Each of them had their
shortcomings as well, though, suggesting that they have much work to do to get
those significant minutes and make significant contributions to the big
club. For these three players, it is “wait
and hope” for Caps fans.
But hey, we’re used to that by now, aren’t we?
Photos:
Kuznetsov: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America
Latta: Elsa/Getty Images North America
Wey: Patrick Smith/Getty Images North America
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