Should Daniel Sprong Be An Every Game Player For The Washington Capitals?

The Washington Capitals are a deep hockey team. If you need examples of that just look at forward Daniel Sprong. Sprong has scored 6 goals in the 18 games he has played this season. That basically means he scores in every third game he plays.

Even having played about ten games less than some other lineup regulars Sprong’s point totals are near or even better than those every night players. In 29 games Richard Panik has scored just three goals and nine points. Conor Sheary has played in 26 games this season and he has also scored six goals and has put up ten points. Carl Hagelin has played in 29 games and has eight total points, just three goals however.

So there is that. With over ten or nearly ten fewer games played than some other regulars in the lineup Sprong has nearly matched, or even surpassed their production. With that being a fact, the question should come up. Should Daniel Sprong be an every day player for this Washington Capitals team?

First of all, who would he replace? Sprong won’t knock anyone off the Capitals fourth line. That line is too effective night in and night out, you just don’t make changes to lines like that. That rules out Hagelin.

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More often than not, at least in my opinion, you want to keep players in their natural position. Sheary is a left winger, Sprong is listed as a right winger. If you want guys to stick to their positions that will also rule out Sheary.

That leaves Panik. We have officially narrowed it down. The question then becomes, who should be in the lineup regularly, Panik or Sprong?

Panik had a rough start to his Washington Capitals career. Early on he was not producing and you hardly noticed him. That improved late last season and he became more noticeable. That has carried over into this season as well. The production really hasn’t gone up much, but at the least, at least he is overall playing better.

Sprong on the other hand is way more noticeable offensively and his production proves that. As we mentioned earlier he scores every third game according to the stats right now and he also nearly gets a point every other game. Using the eye test you can also tell Sprong sets up more plays than Panik does.

Because it’s what I do we can also look at the advanced stats to see if Sprong has Panik beat there as well. Does he? Sprong’s numbers look a little like this.

CF% – 48.31%

SCF% – 46.09%

HDCF% – 48.15%

xGF% – 46.49%

As always, just for people who don’t keep up or care about advanced stats I’ll explain what the abbreviations mean. CF is shot attempts, SCF is scoring chances, HDCF is high danger shot attempts and xGF is expected goals for.

None of Sprong’s numbers are very good. When he is on the ice he is seeing more shot attempts and scoring chances against. But as long as he beats Panik it should be a no brainer right? He produces more and has better advanced stats. Lets look at Panik’s stats now.

CF% – 54.26%

SCF% – 54.43%

HDCF% – 53.68%

xGF% – 54.91%

When Panik is on the ice he is seeing more attempts and chances for than against.

There is your conundrum. Do you want the guy who is probably better offensively, or the potentially better all around player? Do you want Sprong and his offense with the potential of giving up more chances, or will you stick with Panik and less offense and better possession.

I personally would like to see Sprong play on the Eller line for an extended amount of time to see how that line would work. Eller is a great third line center who produces chances and having a guy who could help him offensively would give the Capitals yet more scoring depth.

More. Washington Capitals down Islanders for sixth win in a row. light

It is a good question. Should Sprong get a sweater every game?

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