“The only thing we know about the future is that it will be
different.”
-- Peter Drucker
Although Brooks Laich is 11th in Washington
Capitals history in games played (682), he has had two distinct careers with
the Caps. In the first, covering eight
seasons and 556 games, Laich’s 82-game scoring pace was 17-24-41, plus-1. He was an all-situations player, averaging 10
even strength goals per 82 games played, six power play goals, and a
shorthanded goal for good measure. He
averaged more than 170 shots on goal, and at his peak he was averaging more than
18 minutes of ice time per game.
Then the 2012 lockout took place, and Laich sustained an injury while playing in Europe during the hiatus.
It put in motion a series of false starts and setbacks that characterized
Laich’s second career in Washington.
After being among the most durable players for the club in the last five
years leading up to the 2012 lockout (missing only four of 410 regular season
games), he appeared in only 126 of 212 games over the last three seasons. In those 126 games he had fewer goals overall
(16) than he averaged per 82 games in his “first” career (17), fewer assists
(23 to 24), fewer points (39 to 41), while going minus-7. He lost his regular turn as a power play
performer as the Caps went to a scheme that had no room for the left-handed
shooting Laich in the middle of the 1-3-1, recording only one power play goal
in those 126 games. His shot total over
those games (191) barely eclipsed is 82-game average in the first part of his
career in Washington (172).
Last season, Laich returned to something closer to, well,
“health,” at least in games played. He
appeared in 66 games. However, he still
missed 15 to health issues and was once a healthy scratch – a 5-3 Caps win in Columbus
on March 3rd -- his first healthy scratch since his second season in
the NHL. Despite playing in more games
than in any season since 2011-2012, he finished with fewer goals (7) than in
any season of more than 50 games played since 2005-2006 (tying a career low in
that regard), fewer assists (13) than in any such season since 2006-2007 (10
assists), and fewer points (20) than any such season since that 2006-2007
season (18).
The infrequency of his points illustrated the importance of
second-level or third-level scoring. The
Caps were 6-1-0 in games in which he recorded a goal, 13-4-1 in games in which
he recorded a point. His presence
mattered, to a point. Washington only
managed a 6-8-2 record in games Laich missed, but they were 39-18-9 in games
for which he dressed.
Fearless’ Take…
Brooks Laich is a different player than he was five years
ago. Whether that is a product of his
injuries, the changes in the club over that time, growing older, or a
combination of factors, he is different.
On a team that last year had Alex Ovechkin, Troy Brower, Andre
Burakovsky, and Marcus Johansson among the scoring line wingers, and with the
power play employing a style not compatible with Laich’s profile, he became
more limited in his playing dimensions than he was in his prime production
years. He was seventh among the club’s
forwards in even strength ice time per game (12:09, his lowest since the
2008-2009 season) and led the club’s forwards in average shorthanded ice time
(2:10). He was getting more defensive responsibility,
based on zone starts, where his relative fraction of offensive to defensive
zone starts at 5-on-5 (minus-6.5 percent) was the most heavily weighted
defensive zone start finish for any full season in his career (numbers from
war-on-ice.com).
Cheerless’ Take…
Laich went long stretches without an impact in the offensive
end of the ice last season. He had a
26-game streak without a goal from January 8th through March 5th,
and his longest points streak of the season was three games (March 28-31). And it was not as if his scoring came at the
expense of stiff competition. Five of
his seven goals were scored against teams that did not reach the postseason. Speaking of the postseason, he had two points
(a goal and an assist) in 14 games, his lowest output in the playoffs of his
career. It might have been a reflection
of his ice time; his 11:56 per game was the lowest (by almost six minutes per
game) of any of his six playoff seasons.
The Big Question… Is this as good as it gets?
When Brooks Laich signed a six-year/$27 million contract
extension with the Capitals in June 2011, he was coming off a run of four
seasons in which he went 85-112-197, plus-27 (a 22-28-50, plus-7 pace per 82
games). He had another solid season in
the first year of his new deal (16-25-41 in 82 games), but then injuries hit
and circumstances changed. He has not
been the player deemed worthy of a $4.5 million a year contract for some time
now, and the question becomes whether or not he can approach his pre-injury
production profile now that he is (one hopes, at long last) healthy.
Absent injury, it is highly unlikely he is going to get
much, if any, scoring line or power play duty.
But, he remains a versatile player who can play any forward
position. He could battle Jason Chimera
for the left side slot on the third line, or he could center that line. In any case, it would seem likely that his
role is going to be in filling in on the bottom six of the forward squad. It does not bode well for a return to the
levels of production in his best years, but the combination of his experience
(as the second-longest tenured Capital in games played) and versatility could make him a
valuable asset nonetheless.
In the end…
If not a “power forward” in the commonly used sense of the
term, Brooks Laich was something of a “tweener” forward when he was at his
best, a player who could contribute in a variety of ways at both ends of the
ice, able to chip in on offense at even strength or on the power play, and able to shoulder a significant defensive and penalty killing load. Laich’s role will be different with this club.
One thnig that will need to be different, at least from this past
season, is Laich’s performance in the postseason, should the Caps go that
far. In his first five appearances in the
playoffs he averaged well over half a point per game (30 points in 51 games). Last season he had only a goal and an assist
in 14 games.
Brooks Laich had a very different sort of off season in his off-ice life.
Now, with complete health (or something approximating it), a different role, aiming
for a different postseason result, Caps fans would like to Laich’s immediate
future on the ice to be a bit different from his recent past as well.
Projection: 72 games, 10-17-27, plus-1
Photo: Elsa/Getty Images North America
