Capitals: Handing out player grades on the season so far

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Dmitry Orlov, Washington Capitals (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

#9 Dmitry Orlov

Dmitry Orlov has improved since last season’s down year. He has four goals and 23 assists for 27 points as well as 82 blocked shots and 106 hits in an average of 22:10 ice time per game. He also has a career-high Corsi For percentage of 52.9%.

Grade: B

Jakub Vrana, Washington Capitals (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

#13 Jakub Vrana

After getting a raise in the form of a two-year bridge deal, Jakub Vrana has taken his game to the next level. He already has a career-high 25 goals and 27 assists for 52 points. If this season was to be completed I could see him being a 30-goal scorer. This is a young forward loaded with potential who hasn’t reached his ceiling yet.

Grade: A+

Richard Panik, Washington Capitals (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

#14 Richard Panik

Richard Panik had great expectations as a third liner who could fill the void left by Andre Burakovsky after the team traded him. So far he’s scored nine goals and added 13 assists in 22 games. It took an adjusting period but since moving to the fourth line after the Ilya Kovalchuk addition, he’s done well.

Grade: D+

Ilya Kovalchuk, Washington Capitals (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

#17 Ilya Kovalchuk

Like Carl Hagelin a season ago, Ilya Kovalchuk is playing for his third team. We’ve only seen him in a Capitals sweater for seven games where’s scored a goal and added three assists for four points. So far so good, but still need to see how a top line of the Russian trio of Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Kovalchuk to really get a grip on how he would do. One can only dream.

Grade: B-

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