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Washington Capitals All-Time Team: Left Wings

By Dave Stevenson

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Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

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The Washington Capitals have been quite blessed at the forward position. It’s going to be hard to choose just four left wings, as the Capitals have had some pretty good left wings. You can vote for up to four. The choices are: Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin, Kelly Miller, Steve Konowalchuk, Dmitri Khristich, Ryan Walter, and Geoff Courtnall.

In case you missed them, here’s where you can vote for the goalies and the defensemen.

Alex Ovechkin

What is there to say about Ovechkin? He’s been nothing short of a blessing for the Washington Capitals. Like Rod Langway in 1983, Ovechkin has forever changed the fortunes of the Washington Capitals for the best. His career stats so far are nothing short of incredible:

  • Games played: 679
  • Goals: 422 (second)
  • Assists: 392 (second)
  • Points: 814 (second)
  • Even Strength Goals: 267 (third)
  • Power Play Goals: 151 (first)

He has a chance to be first in goals (needs 50), assists (needs 26), even strength goals (needs 36), and points (needs 11) by the end of this season.

 Alexander Semin

Semin is without a doubt one of the most polarizing players in the history of the Washington Capitals. Fans tend to either love and adore him or loathe him. You can consider me to be one of those who love him. Semin did not have a very long tenure with the Washington Capitals, but he put up some pretty impressive numbers during his stay.

  • Games played: 469
  • Goals: 197 (fifth)
  • Assists: 211
  • Points: 408
  • Even Strength Goals: 139 (fourth)
  • Hat Tricks: 7 (third)

He played an underrated but extremely important role on some very good teams. Whether he was “Good Sasha” (scoring goals and making defensemen look silly) or “Bad Sasha” (offensive zone penalties), Semin definitely left his mark on the franchise.

Kelly Miller

Miller was an important part of the Washington Capitals for 13 seasons. He wasn’t the best of scorers, but he still put up some good numbers while in Washington.

  • Games played: 940 (third)
  • Goals: 162
  • Assists: 246
  • Points: 408
  • Plus/Minus: +75 (fifth)
  • Short handed goals: 15 (fourth)

Miller wasn’t a stalwart on offense, but he was definitely one on defense. In short, he was Brooks Laich before Brooks Laich was Brooks Laich.

Steve Konowalchuk

Konowalchuk played an important role for the Washington Capitals in the 1990’s. Here are his career stats with the Capitals:

  • Games played: 693 (ninth)
  • Goals:  146
  • Assists: 196
  • Points: 342
  • Hat Tricks: 3 (tied for fourth)

Konowalchuk certainly wasn’t a star, but he was very valuable on the second and third lines.

Dmitri Khristich

Khristich spent time at both left wing and center, but because center will be such a stacked group (you’ll see why tomorrow), I decided to include him with the left wings. He was the “Great Eight” before the current “Great Eight” (Ovechkin). His stats with the Washington Capitals:

  • Games played: 419
  • Goals: 140
  • Assists: 160
  • Points: 300

While Khristich never reached his true potential, he was a very solid player for the Washington Capitals for seven seasons.

Ryan Walter

Walter only spent four seasons with the Washington Capitals, but he put up some impressive numbers with the Capitals and he helped the Capitals get Langway. His stats with the Capitals:

  •  Games played: 307
  • Goals: 114
  • Assists: 163
  • Points: 277

He was a pretty good player on some bad Washington Capitals teams.

 Geoff Courtnall

Courtnall only played for two seasons with the Washington Capitals, but he definitely made an impact. His stats with the Capitals:

  • Games played: 159
  • Goals: 77 (sixth in goals per game with 0.48)
  • Assists: 77
  • Points: 154 (seventh in points per game with 0.97)

Here comes the tough part: you only get to vote for up to four. I know this was extremely tough for me. You could make at least a decent case to vote for any of these players. Such is life. Voting ends September 5th at 11:59 PM.

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