Stars and Sticks
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Capitals Top Players From The First Half Of The Season

By CJ Witt

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 31: John Carlson (74) of the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin (8) of the Washington Capitals on ice during warmups prior to their game against the New York Islanders at Capital One Arena on December 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Geoff Burke/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 31: John Carlson (74) of the Washington Capitals and Alex Ovechkin (8) of the Washington Capitals on ice during warmups prior to their game against the New York Islanders at Capital One Arena on December 31, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Geoff Burke/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 16: Washington Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana (13) talks with New Jersey Devils center Pavel Zacha (37) prior to their game on January 16, 2020 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 16: Washington Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana (13) talks with New Jersey Devils center Pavel Zacha (37) prior to their game on January 16, 2020 at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Jakub Vrana

We just called Ovechkin the most consistent threat of the season. If you doubt that it’s probably because you think it’s been this man. Vrana doesn’t have as many goals, obviously, but even at the times he’s not scoring he’s had chances which is the only thing you can ask for.

His 22 goals though 49 games puts him on pace to score about 36 goals this season, shattering his previous career high of 24 that he scored last season. This season could also catapult Vrana into being a superstar. Instead of being a twenty goal scorer he’s now turning into a thirty or forty goal scorer. The possible heir to the Ovechkin goal scoring throne? (at least on the team, not all time)

His advanced stats are similar to the “Great Eight”, nothing that stands out but still above fifty percent which means he’s doing well. His Corsi is 51.93%, His scoring chance percentage is 53.66%, he’s been on the ice for 315 scoring chances for and 272 scoring chances against. He’s been on the ice for 124 high danger attempts for and 115 high danger attempts against as well. That gives him a 51.88 high danger attempts percentage.

We mentioned Ovechkin’s lead in scoring chances and that second place guy has 133 chances, Vrana is that guy. He has more chances than Kuznetsov, Oshie, Wilson, Carlson and keep on going down the list.

I’m not sure what Vrana is doing is that surprising but to see him do it is still impressive. It gives you hope that he can get better and better and if he scores nearly 40 goals at age 23 there’s no telling how good this young player can get. But that’s something we’ll worry about later. For now we’ll just worry about this season, and so far Vrana has been one of the best Capitals players for the first half of the season.

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