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Washington Capitals: The Consistency of Nicklas Backstrom

By Benjamin Little|
DENVER, COLORADO - FEBRUARY 13: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals brings the puck off the boards against Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche in the second period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
DENVER, COLORADO - FEBRUARY 13: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals brings the puck off the boards against Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche in the second period at the Pepsi Center on February 13, 2020 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

It has long been said by analysts, players and executives of the National Hockey League that Nicklas Backstrom of the Washington Capitals is one of the most underrated players in the league.

Indeed, it has been said so frequently, and for so long now, that people are beginning to question whether or not he is still one of the most underrated players in the NHL today. People believe Nicklas Backstrom is overshadowed by the very large shadow that is cast by his Russian partner-in-crime, Alexander Ovechkin. Who could argue with that?

Ovechkin is an outgoing, sharp-shooting generational talent who seems to break scoring records every single time he puts the puck in the back of the net. He is someone who is a legitimate superstar, and who has attracted countless people to the game of hockey.

While he was doing this, Backstrom was quietly paving himself a remarkably-consistent career that makes him a star in his own right. A consistency that I do not feel enough people are familiar with. Everyone knows Backstrom is a good player, but they don’t know just how good of a player he truly is. With the Capitals struggling as of late, why not take a look at something more positive like the consistency throughout the career of super-Swede, Nicklas Backstrom?

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Backstrom joined the Capitals in the 2007-2008 season after being selected with the 4th-overall selection in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. This draft class includes names such as Jonathan Toews, Phil Kessel, Brad Marchand and Claude Giroux.

A stat that not many people know about Backstrom that illustrates just how dominant of a player he has been for the entirety of his career is that he leads his draft class in points with 927 as of this writing.

This puts him 68 points ahead of the player in 2nd position (Phil Kessel), who has 859 points. Backstrom has accumulated his 927 points in only 955 games played. 684 of these points are assists. Everyone knows Backstrom is an elite playmaker, but does everyone know he is nearing 700 career assists?

He had the most assists of any player in the NHL the last decade with 511. In addition, Backstrom also has recorded 50 assists in his last 6-consecutive seasons. A feat that has only been accomplished by 26 other players in NHL history.

23 of the players who accomplished this are in the Hall of Fame, and the other two aren’t eligible yet (Joe Thornton and Henrik Sedin). To go along with his assists, Backstrom is also the only player in the NHL to have 20 goals and 50 assists in his last four consecutive seasons. These two stats speak volumes considering the fact that Backstrom is doing this after entering his 30s — a time when hockey players are expected to decline.

Whew, does your head hurt yet from all the numbers I just assaulted you with? I’m not HockeyDB.com (thanks for the stats though), however, I am here to argue for his consistency (although, I guess the numbers kind of do that for me, huh?). Okay, let’s get back into it.

Backstrom had a very successful rookie season which saw him amass 14 goals and 55 assists for 69 points in his first 82 games. This was good enough for him to finish second in Calder Trophy voting to a very worthy candidate in Patrick Kane, who had 72 points himself.

Backstrom was showing what he could bring to the NHL at a young age with his almost 70-point season as he has put up at least 70 points 8 times in his 13-year career. Two of those seasons were 80-point seasons, and one was a 100-point season.

Who’s to say what could have happened if he didn’t miss time during the 2011-2012 season when he only played 42 games but still had 44 points? Or during the lockout-shortened season where he had 48 points in 48 games?

Obviously, it doesn’t matter, but I feel it should be mentioned when discussing a player’s output that there is a chance they could be looked on with even more respect and admiration if they were able to miraculously avoid injury and play to the top of their abilities.

The same goes with Sidney Crosby, as much as I hate mentioning his name on this website. Who could say what his career would look like if he were able to avoid injuries? Backstrom, albeit not to the same extreme, could have had at least more 70-point seasons to add to his resume of consistency.

Speaking of missing games, something that adds to the consistency of Nicklas Backstrom is the fact that he hasn’t really missed that many games throughout his career. He is a durable player for someone who does go into the corners and does get chippy when he needs to.

Backstrom has laced them up in 955 regular-season games out of a possible 1,015 games as of this writing. Although he has missed 60 games, that truly is not that many in the NHL. Backstrom missed 8 games earlier this season due to injury, but prior to that, Backstrom only missed 6 games in his last 3 seasons. He has played a complete NHL season 7 times in his career, including the 2012-2013 lockout-shortened season.

Maybe it’s something in the water in DC, because Alex Ovechkin is also notorious for being extremely durable, having missed only 31 games in his entire career. Backstrom’s durability includes the fact that he, like all people, is aging. The super-Swede turns 33 this year, and is still contributing in nearly the exact same fashion as he has always been able to.

A place where Backstrom has always been able to contribute is during the playoffs. This is where I am sure a lot of people tend to overlook Backstrom, and the rest of the Capitals, due to their history of playoff failures. However, despite the fact that the Caps were unable to go all-the-way every year, Backstrom and the other top-dogs were producing as they always do.

Backstrom has played in 123 playoff games in his career. In those 123 games, he has 106 points. Much like with his regular-season stats, this is not too far off from being a point-per-game player in his playoff career. For crying out loud, the guy had 23 points in 20 games when the Capitals won the Stanley Cup after he missed time due to a broken finger — including seven points in the Finals, which was over in five games.

Being the absolute mathematician that I am, I have deduced that these playoff numbers of his would put him at 0.861 points-per-game over an 82-game season. How many points might that put him on pace for you ask? 70.6 points. Yeah, I know, right? The guy is a consistent 70-point player in the National Hockey League, which is an absolute rarity and a reason why it is baffling that he has been so criminally underrated for so many years.

You have your superstars, and then you have your stars. I like to believe that Nicklas Backstrom sits somewhere right in between. Somewhere so hard to pinpoint that he, and his skill, stay off of people’s radars. What other reason could there be for a guy who will get you a little under (or a lot over) 70 points every season to still not be labelled as a stud in this league?

This is a guy who has been doing this just about every single season for 13 years. It still baffles my mind that people are really only starting to appreciate him for what he has been able to do, and for how long he has been able to do it. It is nice to see from a fan’s perspective, but I am sure Nick Backstrom could care less. He just likes to go out, do his job, and go home. He is a guy who enjoys living in the shadows. After all, isn’t that where everyone else’s fears lie?

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