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When John Carlson was drafted 27th overall in the 2008 draft, the Capitals had a vision and thoughts of him being
a key piece of the franchise to help build around but I'm sure they never envisioned him playing at this historic level that he's playing at now. |
When the Capitals locked down John Carlson for the 8 year 64 million dollar contract, some hockey analyst and experts were scratching their heads and saying that the Caps overpaid for the Jersey native. Well with the way he's started this 2019-2020 season looks like the Capitals are having the last laugh. In only 32 games played this season he has 11 goals, 32 assists and a +/- of 19, now in comparison last season after 80 games he totaled 13 goals, 57 assists with a +/- of 21. Now this is a little over a quarter of the season but when he's playing like this, it looks like every time he touches the puck something magical happens. On the recent West Coast road trip Carlson showed how explosive and valuable he is to this team. Against San Jose he had a 3 point night with a goal and two assists in a 5-2 victory, then the next game Vs the L.A. Kings he scored the first two goals of the game in a 3-1 victory. I love seeing homegrown talent develop and excel at their positions. The Capitals have the most hits from their draft picks the any other D.C. franchise. Alex Ovechkin, Nick Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Braden Holtby, Jakob Vrana etc etc. Below is Ep.174 of
SportsOTHP, where we talked (first 35 minutes of show) about the undefeated West Coast road trip and how well Carlson is playing.
If you tuned into the show during our Capitals season preview episode you heard me predict that the Caps would win the cup this year. The Capitals are 25-5-5, 1st in the Metropolitan Division and 1st in the NHL record/point wise and don't see any let up. They took a bad home loss to Columbus Blue Jackets last night 5-2 but it was after a 6 game winning streak, the second of the season. The emergence of Carlson this season, the teams attention to detail, the depth scoring, quality goaltending and not to mention
"The GR8", I don't see anything holding this team back but possible injuries. We've seen the development of John Carlson through the years and it looks like he is becoming one of the top, if not the top defensemen in the league.
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After the memorable 2018 Stanley Cup run and hoisting the trophy, winning 2 out of 3 years would be lovely. John Carlson
was a key part of the run, being the highest scoring defensemen during the playoffs. |
Seems to me John Carlson was destined for greatness in the NHL, after hitting the game winning goal in the 2010 World Juniors Championships Vs Canada. He scored two goals in that game, then being chosen in 2014 Olympic team and scored the first goal for the USA and of the tournament. Which means he scored on back to back shots in international play. Through the years as a defensemen for the Capitals we've sen him steadily improving on the offensive end but also the defensive side of the puck also. I credit Brooks Orpik & Matt Niskanen being on the team and being a key part to his development as a solid defender, mentoring and teaching him how to be a NHL player. We've seen players come and go on this squad, offensive and defensive but it's great when a draft pick pans out, develops and seems to be reaching their potential that the General Manager saw when drafting them. The Caps have a big matchup on Wednesday Vs Boston, who's 3 points behind the Washington for top record in the NHL and face Tampa Bay on Saturday. They're winning streak ended last night Vs Columbus, so time to start a new streak. Tune in every Monday night at 7pm on TruRadio NetworkLLC for SportsOTHP and come on down to Martini's at 725 Cady Drive Fort Washington, Md on Sunday's for #NFLGameday. Doors open at noon.
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