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Washington Capitals: Upcoming milestones

By CJ Witt

BUFFALO, NY - FEBRUARY 19: Nicklas Backstrom #19 and Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals chat on the bench during an NHL game against the Buffalo Sabres on February 19, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - FEBRUARY 19: Nicklas Backstrom #19 and Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals chat on the bench during an NHL game against the Buffalo Sabres on February 19, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Assists

washington capitals nicklas backstrom
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)
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)
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.

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