Washington Capitals: Upcoming milestones

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WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 05: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals stands with Brooks Orpik #44, his wife Nastya Ovechkina, Capitals president Dick Patrick, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly, and Nicklas Backstrom #19 during a pre-game ceremony honoring Ovechkin for playing in his 1,000th NHL game on April 1 against the Pittsburgh Penguins before a game against the Nashville Predators at Capital One Arena on April 5, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

There are a lot of milestones to keep an eye on when following the Washington Capitals in 2019-20.

Fans love to celebrate accomplishments and milestones in sports. Whether that’s winning an early regular season game or winning the championship. For whatever reason it makes us feel good. Almost as if we’ve accomplished something ourselves.

It’s a lot of fun to watch someone we care about do something special. While we might not know these athletes personally it’s still something to watch a player debut, then have success, either as a team or individually.

While awards and championships take most of the focus there’s one thing that tends to go unnoticed until that accomplishment is staring us in the face, a milestone. In hockey, hitting a certain amount of goals or points doesn’t really get talked about unless you’re talking about a player who is in the really special territory. Like an Alex Ovechkin or a Joe Thornton who are high on all time lists and will continue to climb these lists.

WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 07: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals poses with fiancé Liza Berg and Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis after receiving awards for his 600th assist prior to playing against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Capital One Arena on November 7, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /

On every team there will be a few players who are within striking distance of some kind of milestone. Whether that’s a very good or great young player ready to hit one hundred career goals or points, or a veteran who will hit the one thousand games played mark.

The Capitals are no different. There are milestones creeping up on us and we’re going to show you these numbers so you know going into the season who has something to look forward to.

Goals

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 24: (L-R) Tom Wilson #43, Alex Ovechkin #8 and Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals celebrate Wilson’s goal at 6:23 of the first period against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Alex Ovechkin can hit 700 career goals

The current number is 658, that puts him just forty-two goals away from a huge number. You should notice I put “can”. There’s no guarantee he will. Ovechkin could have a down season by his standards or maybe a big injury will finally hit the Russian machine.

However, based on how he’s performed in his career and recently, forty-two goals is very doable and towards the end of next season we could be celebrating yet another milestone for the captain.

John Carlson can hit 100 career goals

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 11: John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals skates with the puck in the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on April 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Sounds lame when comparing it to the man above doesn’t it? The now veteran defenseman will no doubt be taking on more responsibility this coming season being the de facto leader of the D corps. I think he’ll do just fine and continue to rack up the points and goals.

Going into the season Carlson has 90 career goals. In his eight full NHL seasons he’s gone over ten goals four times. That pretty much makes this fifty-fifty Carlson gets to one hundred this season but I’d bet you a lot he gets there and we’re celebrating a pretty good milestone for a defensemen mid to late next season.

Carl Hagelin will hit 100 career goals

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 06: Washington Capitals left wing Carl Hagelin (62) intensely waits for a face-off during the New York Islanders vs. the Washington Capitals NHL game April 6, 2019 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.. (Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

He will get 100 career goals. Notice the difference there. Sure again, we never know with injuries but the way Hagelin played with the Capitals last season he will likely get there. He sits on 93 goals right now and he’s never been a huge goal scorer but seven goals should be very doable for him.

Assists

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 20:Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom (19) celebrates after scoring during the first period of Game Five of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs between the Washington Capitals and the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, April 20, 2019. (Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post via Getty Images) /

Nicklas Backstrom can hit 700 career assists

Pretty fitting Backstrom and Ovechkin tend to hit these milestones somewhat close together. Ovechkin will be going for 700 goals while his partner in crime will be going for 700 helpers.

Could be a bit of a challenge for Backstrom however. Right now he’s at 642 assists. Meaning he’ll need fifty-eight assists to crack the seven hundred mark. Maybe unlikely but needs to be mentioned at the same time.

In his eleven full NHL season he has fifty-eight assists or more five times. He’s also had nine seasons of at least fifty assists and hasn’t had less than fifty assists since the lockout season in 2012. Even that season he had forty assists in forty-eight games played.

Likely? Maybe not. Possible? Absolutely.

Points

Alex Ovechkin can hit 1,300 career points

I’ll be honest, this one is a bit of a stretch. The reason I put this on here is because Ovechkin had 89 points last season. That’s how many points he’ll need next season to hit 1,300.

Ovechkin really hasn’t been a huge points getter since 2010 when he had 109 points. Last season was his highest point total since then.

Nicklas Backstrom will hit 900 career points

The biggest milestone for Backstrom will be coming in the next season or two (that being the 1,000 point mark) and hopefully it will be here in D.C. But 900 is nothing to sniffle at.

Backstrom has 873 career points. Baring a major injury, 900 should be achieved sometime mid next season.

Jakub Vrana will hit 100 career points

WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 24: Washington Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana (13) fires a shot on goal in the third period against Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Brian Elliott (37) on March 24, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Not the biggest but not necessarily the least important. Vrana is a promising young player and hitting the 100 points mark is a good achievement and hopefully a sign of things to come.

He’s just twenty points away having 80 career points going into the season. If he takes another step in his game it shouldn’t take very long at all to hit this milestone.

Honorable mention

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 24: Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov (92) reacts after his second period goal against the Carolina Hurricanes on April 24, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Evgeny Kuznetsov can hit 400 career points. It’s not 100 points for a young player but not 500 for an established vet. but it’s still a nice round number and should be mentioned here. He needs sixty-three points to get to 400.

Games Played

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA – APRIL 18: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals against the Carolina Hurricanes in the first period in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at PNC Arena on April 18, 2019 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

Nicklas Backstrom will hit 900 career games played

It’s just a matter of time for this one. Even serious injury shouldn’t really effect on this one. Backstrom has played 895 career games. Even a serious injury very early in the season Backstrom should be able to return late in the season and get in a couple of games.

It’s not one thousand, but it’s still impressive. He’ll also be celebrating 900 career points. Not bad being about a point per game player over thirteen plus seasons.

Lars Eller will hit 700 career games played

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 11: Lars Eller #20 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with John Carlson #74 after scoring an empty net goal in the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on April 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

It’s hard to believe but Eller will already be going into his fourth season with the Capitals. In each season with the Caps so far Eller has played in eighty-one games. Three straight seasons with eighty-one games played.

He won’t need that many to hit a GP milestone. Eller sits on 685 currently. So early next season we’ll be getting a graphic for Mr. Eller congratulating him on 700 (which could be a lucky number this season for Washington apparently).

T.J. Oshie can hit 800 career games played

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 13: Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie (77) prepares for a face off against the Carolina Hurricanes in the second period on April 13, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

We’re going to have to go back into the can department. Oshie right now has 734 games played, putting him sixty-six away from the 800 milestone. The problem here is Oshie tends to get a least one injury a year that makes him miss a period of time.

Then again, Oshie hasn’t played fewer than sixty-eight games in a season in the last six seasons. Sixty-six could be very possible, and if it is, it’s a nice moment for a fan favorite in D.C.

Tom Wilson can hit 500 career games played

RALEIGH, NC – APRIL 18: Tom Wilson #43 of the Washington Capitals skates for position on the ice in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs on April 18, 2019 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Gregg Forwerck/NHLI via Getty Images) /

Wilson is currently at 454 so five hundred should be very doable. That being said Wilson does play a physical game and he could get hit with injuries or suspensions. Injuries are just bad luck but if Wilson were to get suspended again who knows how long it could be.

Wilson’s last suspension was for twenty games before it got reduced to fourteen. Another big/bad hit could be a big one. Five Hundred games should be accomplished this season but I’m not ready to guarantee it.

John Carlson will hit 700 career games played

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 11: John Carlson #74 of the Washington Capitals and Micheal Ferland #79 of the Carolina Hurricanes battle for the puck in the second period in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on April 11, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

On top of hitting a goals milestone Carlson will also hit a pretty good games played milestone. Carlson is just twelve games away from the milestone having played 688 games.

It’s just another key player for the Caps who 700 will have a special meaning this season.

Dmitry Orlov will hit 500 career games played

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 13: Dmitry Orlov #9 of the Washington Capitals skates with puck against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Two of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on April 13, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images) /

It’s pretty amazing, Orlov used to be one of those guys who couldn’t stay healthy or got hit with multiple injuries pretty quickly. Now he has a pretty good streak going playing in all eighty-two games in each of the last four seasons.

Staying healthy would be good for Orlov this season because that would give him 500 games played. Going into the season Orlov has 447 games played. He needs just 53 games and he’ll get to 500 towards the end of the season.

Related Story. Can Alex Ovechkin become the greatest goal scorer of all time?. light

There you have it. There are some milestones to look forward to from Capitals players next season. Who’s are you most excited for?

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