Last year during the playoffs, it was evident the Washington Capitals were running low on fuel and had lost the edge to their game this late in the season. Acquiring Garnet Hathaway will hopefully remedy that, and keep from a repeat situation this season.
As mentioned a number of times previously the Washington Capitals took a long hard look at the dynamic of their team, and determined they would rather address the need for better team defense over replacing or upgrading their secondary scoring threats. With the acquisition of Garnet Hathaway as a free agent from the Calgary Flames, the Capitals are getting a player with a propensity to bring the grit necessary at the times they needed it the most last year; in the playoffs.
How he will fit on a team so top heavy with offensive talent and a bottom six called to hold off ensuing attackers will be the main question moving forward.
What are the Capitals getting exactly? Well with Hathaway, over the last couple of seasons he has thrown his weight around by unleashing 354 hits across 135 games in two seasons.
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That is good enough to lead his previous stop, Calgary Flames, by a wide margin as the next most hits were by Sam Bennett with 261 hits in 153 games over the same span.
Immediately you would assume that this would translate to an overabundance of time in the penalty box, while he held second place in this category for the Flames with 144 PIM in 135 games from 2017-18 to 2018-19.
He was 25th in the NHL in this stat, where new teammate Tom Wilson has lead the way over the same stretch with 315 PIM in 141 games played. So his physicality doesn’t necessarily means he will automatically spend a ton of time in the box, which is necessary for someone the Capitals may need to lean on with the penalty kill. Although gladly he isn’t afraid to throw down when called upon. This could help take some of the heat off of Tom Wilson in the future from needing to set opponents in line.
This will only help with another weakness the Capitals had last season, their PK ranked 8th worst in the league last year at 78.93%. While the Flames weren’t much better with a 79.67% for 11th worst, Hathaway was more a help than a hindrance in this facet.
Hathaway spent the 8th most TOI while shorthanded on the team with 129:33, in that time he managed to score two shorthanded goals on nine shots in this circumstance. Also in that time Hathaway was on the ice while shorthanded his line allowed 10 goals, but as a team they allowed 50 PPG, good for only 20% of the power play goals allowed.
Another indicator is how much of his ice time was delved to keeping the puck out of their end, he spent an average of 1:42 on the PK versus average total TOI of 10:32 which accounts for about 16% of his time versus a mere average PP TOI of 0:11.
As you research Hathaway from an offensive perspective you would say they also addressed some of their concerns with secondary scoring, as he had 11 goals and 8 assists for 19 points. But the further you dig in you’ll see his shooting percentage shot up, PUN intended, from 5.9% in 2017-18 to 14.3% in 2018-19. The chances of him getting this amount of success for a second season in a row will be unlikely, especially considering what the Capitals will be asking from him.
In my mind, since he will still be on a great offensive team he can probably be expected to sit around 10% for shooting percentage. On the fourth line, this could turn in between 8-10 goals and with a better all around line he could fall within reach of 20 points provided other line mates step up in the process. Realistically he will probably be good for 15 points, but this will accompany at least 200 hits and a defensive game the Capitals were expecting. One to prove a return on investment right away making the deal look like one of the best Brian MacLellan has signed in his time as GM.