“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
-- Lawrence “Yogi” Berra
Appearances can be deceiving. Yogi Berra was the malapropist of his time, a
gusher of odd quotes over a long career in sports that have endured over
time. They are viewed as funny in a
quirky way, but they make sense upon further inspection, too. And this is where you, dear reader, ask,
“what does this have to do with Christian Djoos?” Fair enough.
At first blush, there seems little to connect a deceased Hall of Fame
baseball player from St. Louis with a 25 year old hockey defenseman from
Gothenburg, Sweden. That is, until you
think, as Yogi did, “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
Christian Djoos rose steadily, if unspectacularly through
the Washington Capitals system after being taken in the seventh round of the
2012 entry draft (195th overall).
He worked his way from Sweden to Hershey in the AHL and, finally, to the
Caps as a rookie in 2017-2018. He
appeared in 63 games, posting a scoring line of 3-11-14, plus-13. Only one rookie defenseman had more goals,
more points, and a better plus-minus than Djoos (Charlie McAvoy went 7-25-32,
plus-20, with the Boston Bruins). Djoos
went on to dress for 22 postseason games for the Caps on their way to the
Stanley Cup. Since 2005-2006, only one
rookie defenseman dressed for more postseason games in a single season (Adam
McQuaid dressed for 23 games in 2011 for Boston). From that solid beginning, much was expected,
or at least hoped for, when Djoos returned for his sophomore season.
It would be a disappointment. Djoos dressed for only 45 games, going
1-9-10, plus-9, season interrupted with an injury in December that resulted in
compartment syndrome, requiring surgery and a lengthy rehabilitation before
returning to the lineup in February. He
dressed for only three postseason games, going without a point and with a
minus-3 rating. From a promising rookie
season, he went to a sophomore season of equal parts misfortune and
disappointment. And, with the emergence
of Jonas Siegnthaler on the third defensive pairing, it brought his future role
with the club into question, a matter complicated by Washington’s difficult
salary cap situation and Djoos’ salary cap hit of $1.25 million in what is the
last year of his contract, after which he would be an arbitration-eligible
restricted free agent. But again, as
Yogi said, “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”
Odd Djoos Fact…
Christian Djoos is a member of an odd club. A seventh-round draft pick in 2012, he was
one of 15 defensemen taken in that round among 30 picks. He is one of five of those 15 picks to dress
for an NHL game, and he is the career games-played leader among all 30 picks
from that round (108).
Bonus Odd Djoos Fact…
Christian Djoos is one of 12 defensemen born in Sweden who
finished their rookie season in the NHL with at least 50 games, at least ten
points, and a plus-minus of plus-10 or better.
It is a rather impressive group.
Extra Bonus Odd Djoos Fact...
Christian Djoos is only the second defenseman drafted by the
Caps born in Sweden who played for them. Peter Andersson, a
ninth-round draft pick of the Caps in 1980 (173rd overall), was born
in Federtalve, Sweden. Andersson played
160 games with the Caps over three seasons in the mid-1980’s.
Fearless’ Take…
Christian Djoos is not the biggest of defensemen at
six-feet, 169 pounds, but he is of a sort that has flourished in this era of
the NHL. He is a superior stickhandler
and passer, and he does have good instincts in the offensive end of the
ice. He does fit a certain recent
pattern with this team as well. Only six Capitals defensemen, Djoos among them, played fewer than 125 games over their
first two seasons and had as good or better goals/points/plus-minus total than
Djoos.
It is evidence of his solid development and his potential to improve. He suffered a setback with injuries, but he
has climbed this mountain before, fighting for playing time, and
succeeded. For him, in this case, it
might be as Yogi put it… “It’s like déjà vu all over again.”
Cheerless’ Take…
Those setbacks have come at a price for Djoos. Not only will he still have to make progress
recovering from a serious injury, the blue line is getting crowded. Not only has Jonas Siegenthaler drawn even
(at least) with Djoos on the depth chart, Djoos has to contend with a prospect the
team seems very high on (Martin Fehervary), another prospect that is being
watched closely (Alexander Alexeyev), and players who have been putting their
time in and paying their dues in Hershey (for example, Tyler Lewington). In terms of depth, it’s like those establishments
Yogi spoke of when he said, “No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.” The position might be too crowded, and given
the Caps’ salary situation, might have enough depth where Djoos’ cap hit might
be looked at for movement elsewhere.
Potential Milestones:
- Top-50 in franchise history in games played by a defenseman (108; he needs 12 to tie Jason Doig for 50th place)
- Top-50 in franchise history in career points as a Capital defenseman (24; he needs six to tie Bryan Watson for 50th place)
The Big Question… Can Christian Djoos resume his career
development arc as a Capital?
This is really two questions: can he put the setback behind
him and resume the progress he showed as a rookie two seasons ago? And, given the Caps’ salary cap situation,
can he do it here? The first worrisome
part in considering these questions is the start he had to last season leading
up to his injury. In 28 games, Djoos was
0-4-4, although he was plus-6, which was third best at the time among Caps
defensemen (Michal Kempny was plus-19, and John Carlson was plus-17). On the other hand, his shooting dried
up. He had 18 shots in those 28 games,
converting none of them. Compare that to
his having recorded 25 shots on goal (two goals) in his first 28 games in his
rookie season in 2017-2018. And it was
not as if he was getting significantly less ice time – 13:13 a game in his
first 28 games last season compared with 13:53 per game in his first 28 games
the previous season. He did go 1-5-6,
plus-3, in 17 games after returning from injury with 15 shots on goal, an
encouraging development. But there is,
perhaps, more uncertainty as to what Djoos’ performance ceiling is than might
have been the case after his rookie season.
Or, as Yogi might put it, “the future ain’t what it used to be.”
There is also the matter of his contract and the Capitals
salary cap situation. The matter has
become a bit more complicated with the suspension of Evgeny Kuznetsov and that action’s effect on the salary cap, but the team will still have to shed more
than a million dollars to come into compliance with the upper salary limit.
Djoos’ cap hit of $1.25 million, significantly more than that of defensemen
with whom he is competing -- Jonas Siegenthaler
($714,166), Martin Fehervary ($805,833), and Alexander Alexeyev ($894,167;
according to capfriendly.com) – is something the team might be inclined to explore for movement to get cap
relief.
In the end…
The matter of Christian Djoos bears watching, and not only
for what he does on the ice in the preseason.
There are the defensemen against whom he is competing and the jigsaw puzzle
of the salary cap that the Capitals’ front office must piece together. It is one of the most intriguing stories of
training camp, one that has an uncertain end.
It isn't over 'till it's over, but on the other hand, we’ll just have to be satisfied with how Yogi so succinctly put it… “you
can observe a lot by just watching.”
Projection: 20 games, 2-3-5, plus-2
Photo: Geoff Burke/NHLI