Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
NHL Power Rankings: #5
Coming in at number five on our countdown of the best defensemen in the Eastern Conference is John Carlson of the Washington Capitals. Carlson is coming off the most impressive season of his career, setting career highs in points (55), even-strength points (38), goals (12) and assists (43).
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Carlson is a high-risk high-reward defenseman. While he tends to generate an impressive amount of offense, he also tends to give up quite a bit of scoring chances against. His offense justifies the volume of scoring chances that he gives up though. Since the beginning of the 2012-2013 season, he ranks 20th among all NHL defensemen (minimum 1000 minutes at even strength) in even-strength points per 60 minutes (1.01). He also ranks 13th in even-strength goals per 60 minutes (0.31). He ranks 8th (5.18) in power play points per 60 minutes (100-minute minimum) and 7th in power play assists per 60 minutes (4.21).
His only weakness is puck possession. That said, it’s worth noting that the entire team struggled with puck possession under Adam Oates (Carlson’s head coach for two of the past three seasons). It’s also worth noting that he tends to face very tough competition under Barry Trotz and that his partner (Brooks Orpik) is a Corsi and Fenwick anchor. Carlson is still very young and still has room to grow.
Next: #4