Capitals: Season Review of John Carlson, Part 2. Individual Statistics

Here’s part two of our look at John Carlson.

I have put together a season review for John Carlson. This is Part 2 of 2. In the first part, I reviewed his on-ice statistics. In this part, I will take a look at his individual statistics primarily in 5 v 5 situations.

John Carlson has a huge impact on the game during special teams as well, so we will take a look. All stats come from http://naturalstattrick.com

Through 65 games this season, John Carlson has amassed 1126 minutes played at 5 v 5. Over this span, he has scored 11 goals, recorded 25 assists, and totaled 36 points.

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Over 80 games last season, he only had 33 points at 5 v 5, scoring 8 goals and assisting on 25 others. His season PPG AVG this year is .55 points per game, last seasons was .41 PPG at 5 v 5.

The jump in goal scoring is the most noticeable increase in his stat line. That can be attributed to the next stat. During the 18-19 season, John Carlson recorded 128 shots on net, and carried a 6.25 SH%.

Through 65 games, he has tied last seasons total with 128, averaging 1.96 shots per game compared to 1.6. In most cases, as shots increase, shooting percentage decreases. Carlson has seen a jump to 8.59 SH%. He leads all defenseman in shooting percentage for the Capitals, and no defenseman with over 1100 minutes played is all that close either.

He recorded only 16 PIMS last season, he is already at 16 PIMs this season. That could be attributed to the next stat. He has seen a marketable increase in giveaways this year. Giveaways can quickly turn into penalties being taken in order to prevent scoring chances. He had 62 giveaways last year, not great, and is already at 56 this year, that is the most among Capitals defenseman.

Carlson has never really been a very aggressive, defensive defenseman. But he is putting up better takeaways numbers. Last season, he ended with 33, this year he is already at 30. He will more than likely pass last years numbers here, evident of his improved defensive play.

My biggest critique of Carlson is his lack of physical play, especially in the defensive zone. Last year, he only had 39 hits at 5 v 5. That’s not good for a player at his minutes. This year has increased, but still only has 41. His hit numbers have him 5th on the Capitals with the addition of Dillon, and 150th in the league.

This is one reason why I like the Brandon Dillon trade so much. Dillon sits at 2nd in the league at hits during 5 v 5 play. If Carlson is not getting his body in on players to turn pucks over, you need someone to play with him that does. Dillon could be the ying, to Carlsons’ yang.

He has seen a decrease in the amount of hits taken. Not taking hits can be a huge part of being efficient in the defensive zone in the ability to break the puck out. Once playoffs come around, it is hard to understate how important this is.

But with a decrease in hits taken, while seeing an increase in giveaways, you can deduct that these giveaways may be occurring during unforced errors. With that said, he has only taken 48 hits this season, 2 behind Orlov for first among our defenseman.

Over the past 2 seasons, at 5 v 5, he is 2nd in points with 69 (1 point behind Josi for 1st), 2nd in goals with 19, and 1st in assists with 50. At all strengths, he is 1st in points with 142, 2nd in goals with 28, and 1st in assists with 114. It doesn’t get much better than this. At all strengths, he is 9th in total shots with 365, coming in 2nd place in SH% of the top 10 shot takers, with a 7.84 SH%; only behind Kris Letang at 7.98 SH%.

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Not only has he been one of, if not the best offensive defenseman in the league over the past two seasons, he has done this while improving in almost all his defensive stats. It is time for this man to win the Norris

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