Washington Capitals: Daniel Sprong has truly only just begun his path to greatness

The Washington Capitals future is questionable but one bright spot could be Daniel Sprong, unless of course the Caps leave him exposed and he gets taken in the Seattle expansion draft. Still, Srpong has produced when his number was called and became a fan favorite in the 2021 shortened season. His future has only just begun.

Sprong was drafted in the second round by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2015 NHL Draft at 46th overall. How did such a prized Penguins prospect fall into the hands of the Caps?

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Back in December of 2018, Sprong was traded from the Penguins to the Anaheim Ducks. Fast forward to the trade deadline of 2020 and the Caps saw him available. They shipped away Christian Djoos for Sprong, trading young defense for young offense.

Sprong had a 14 goal season in 2018-19 with all 14 of those goals coming with the Anaheim Ducks in 47 games. This past season he nearly matched that total of career high in goals but finished with a career high in assists and points. Sprong finished with 13 goals and seven assists for 20 points.

Sprong’s analytics were fairly average. He had a Corsi For percentage of 50 percent, a Scoring Chance For percentage of 48.76 percent, a High Danger Attempts percentage of 49.67 percent and an Expected Goals for percentage of 49.64 percent.

Sprong had a solid first season in D.C. and if he played a full 82 game season he likely would have scored 25 goals. Sprong was not in the lineup night after night to the dismay of fans and as the team looks to get younger next season, Sprong could be an important part of that future.

In order for Sprong to reach his ceiling, he has to produce night after night. He did a good job in that regard when he was filling in for players that were injured or suspended.

Most notably when Tom Wilson was serving a seven game suspension back in March, Sprong filled in for him and had three goals in that stretch. After that he had one goal in 15 games before Alex Ovechkin was hurt at the tail end of the regular season.

Filling in for Ovi, Sprong had six goals in just eight games. So that makes nine in 15 games combined without Ovechkin and Wilson. In the other 27 games, Sprong had four goals. Like I said, Sprong had a solid season but he has yet to reach his ceiling. He hopes for an even bigger breakout season next year.