Washington Capitals Player Awards: Assist of the Year

It’s time to look at the top Washington Capitals assists of the season.

As mentioned in my goal-of-the-year discussion, the Washington Capitals have developed a reputation for being an incredibly-talented offensive team.

Well, with this, there must be both great goal-scorers, and great playmakers. Fortunately, Washington has a few of the best at their respective crafts.

In terms of goal-scoring, well…we know who they have for that. When it comes to playmaking, they have players like Nicklas Backstrom, who leads the Capitals franchise in assists.

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They have Evgeny Kuznetsov, an elite playmaker known for his creativity with the puck. Then they have players such as John Carlson and T.J. Oshie, whose insane hockey IQ and phenomenal vision on the ice makes them valuable set-up men on a powerplay as dominant as Washington’s.

With all of this being said, it is time to acknowledge the guys who set up the goals of the year. The unsung heroes of an NHL stat sheet. It is time to look at the top assists of the year for the Washington Capitals, concluding with the top assist of the year.

Disclosure that, again, this is a completely personal list. I am a guy who absolutely loves a good assist; Most times I love one more than a goal. So this list reflects my personal opinion on what I believe to be the best assists of the year. Let’s begin with the honourable mentions.

T.J. Oshie’s Cross-Ice Sauce

On this play, it is easy to forget the assist when you see the magnificence of the goal. This goal just missed being on the short list of top goals of the year in my article.

What gets lost is T.J. Oshie’s saucer pass that perfectly sets up John Carlson and allows him the time to decide which move he wants to make. On this play, Oshie collects a puck that shoots out of a scrum on the boards. His quick reflexes and agility allow him to accept the pass.

Then, within three seconds of accepting the puck, re-gaining his balance and viewing his surroundings, Oshie throws a perfect saucer pass to a streaking John Carlson that lands right on his tape in stride. This pass glides over two defensive sticks and allows John Carlson the time and space to undress goalie, Jonathan Quick.

Nicklas Backstrom’s Vision on Display

What would a top assists list be without something from Nicklas Backstrom? This is the first play that I have thrown on either list (goals or assists) that was not featured on the “Top 10 Capitals Plays of 2019-20 … Thus Far” that was posted on YouTube by the NHL. In fact, it was hard to find this play anywhere on YouTube for some reason.

On this play, Nicklas Backstrom does what he does best; Use his hockey IQ and surreal vision to embarrass other teams’ defenses. Backstrom collects the puck in the corner and makes his way to Gretzky’s office behind the net. When he is almost behind the net, Backstrom throws the puck straight out and between the legs of Pittsburgh Penguins’ defender, Brian Dumoulin, and right onto the tape of T.J. Oshie, who is completely alone in the slot buries the puck top shelf.

It is insane how Backstrom is able to suck all of the defenders towards him and find a player like Oshie all alone on the ice. The ability and the vision to see past all of the players coming towards him and to make a direct pass is something you can’t learn. You have to be born with it, and Backstrom most definitely was born with it.

Rich Panik’s Between-the-Legs Apple

Talk about an unexpected set-up man. Richard Panik hasn’t exactly had the greatest season of his career with Capitals. He is underperforming a little bit, but has picked up his play since being moved to the fourth line.

On this play, however, you would think Panik is having a breakout season and that his confidence is through the roof. On the play, Panik receives a pass from Kuznetsov while skating backwards.

He sees Carl Hagelin alone on the other side of the net, but he knows he doesn’t have time to spin around and complete a simple pass.

Because of this, Panik pulls the puck between his legs and passes it past a defender to Hagelin, who puts the puck in the net. I think the reason this assist isn’t at the top of the list is, unfortunately the finish.

This may not be fair to Panik, but it is just tough to watch this highlight when Hagelin takes two attempts to bang the puck home. However, this does not take away from the skill that Panik displays while setting this goal up and it deserves being placed on this list.

With these three sick apples (which is an assist) out of the way, let us get to our top assist of the 2019-2020 season for the Washington Capitals. The player who delivered the pass may surprise fans and anger rivals…

Tom Wilson’s Twister Feed

For Alex Ovechkin‘s third goal of the night against the New Jersey Devils on Januray 16th, 2020, he received a tap-in goal from an unlikely source. This source was #43, Tom Wilson. You know, the unskilled, goon who shouldn’t be in the league? That guy.

He takes the puck around the back of the net and over to the far boards with two defenders on him. From there, he takes a look, and then does a full spin-o-rama pass that goes between the legs of Devils’ defender, Damon Severson, and onto the tape of Ovechkin who buries the puck with ease.

This is a highly-skilled play from a guy a lot of critics say is a head-hunting goon with no real skill. The ability to see Ovi streaking to the net from where he is showcases his vision on the ice. His ability to do a complete, 180-degree, backhand pass and get it on the tape is just pure, exemplified skill on display.

Tom Wilson is a skilled player, regardless of what people want to think, and is now a two-time-20-goal scorer in the National Hockey League. He can still throw the body better than most, and lives rent-free in the heads of almost all of his opponents, but he can also occasionally throw together a highlight-reel assist like this pass to Ovechkin.

That completes the list of the most overlooked highlight in hockey – the assist. A nice assist can, and sometimes is better than a highlight-reel goal. Assists can always be different and unique. So can goals, but sometimes you have just seen enough top-shelf snipes and five-hole dekes.

They’re always going to the same place. A nice assist can be delivered anywhere on the ice and in a lot of different fashions. I am a fan of assists in a major way. I hold them in a very high regard, and I am happy to be able to shine a spotlight on some of the best from the Capitals this past (and hopefully present) season. Thanks for reading, and Tom Wilson owns an entire apartment complex in the heads of the people of Pittsburgh.