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Washington Capitals: All-time defensemen lineup

By Michael Marzzacco

NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 08: Former Washington Capitals captain Rod Langway is shown with his former general manager, David Poile, prior to the NHL game between the Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks, held on March 8, 2018, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Langway was Poile's first major trade and his first captain. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - MARCH 08: Former Washington Capitals captain Rod Langway is shown with his former general manager, David Poile, prior to the NHL game between the Nashville Predators and Anaheim Ducks, held on March 8, 2018, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Langway was Poile's first major trade and his first captain. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 07: John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with the Stanley Cup in the locker room after his team defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Capitals won the series 4-1. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 07: John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with the Stanley Cup in the locker room after his team defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Capitals won the series 4-1. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

A few weeks ago we took a look at the greatest Washington Capitals lineup of all-time among the forwards. Now it’s time for the defensemen.

We took a look at the present and past Washington Capitals teams and came up with six defensive pairings. Each are three right handers and left handers.

Without further ado, let’s begin.

The third pair

9 Jun 1998: Sergei Gonchar #55 of the Washington Capitals in action during the NHL Stanley Cup Finals game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The Red Wings defeated the Capitals 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Robert Laberge /Allsport
9 Jun 1998: Sergei Gonchar #55 of the Washington Capitals in action during the NHL Stanley Cup Finals game against the Detroit Red Wings at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. The Red Wings defeated the Capitals 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Robert Laberge /Allsport /

Sergei Gonchar-Mike Green

WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 08: Mike Green #52 of the Washington Capitals reacts between plays in the third period during an NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Verizon Center on February 8, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 08: Mike Green #52 of the Washington Capitals reacts between plays in the third period during an NHL game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Verizon Center on February 8, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The third pair will be offensively loaded with Sergei Gonchar and Mike Green, two back-to-back generation Capitals blueliners. When both would lineup to take a one-timer slapshot, the blast would always seem like a rocket. A netminder would be frightened should these two both be on the ice together.

Sadly we never got to see this materialize. Sergei Gonchar was traded in the middle of the 2003-04 season and the team drafted Green with the 29th pick that summer. Gonchar was the first Russian defenseman to score 20 goals during the 1998-99 season and that wasn’t even his best season in D.C. In 2001-02, Gonchar scored a career-high 26.

Mike Green smashed Gonchar’s record with 31 goals in the 2008-09 season including a goal-scoring streak of eight consecutive games, an NHL record for defensemen. Green spent 10 seasons in Washington before joining the Detroit Red Wings in the summer of 2015 as a free agent. Even though he’s gone, he’ll always be remembered among Capitals fans as one of the early faces of the “Young Guns” era.

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