Washington Capitals: Top 10 defensemen of all-time

The Washington Capitals have had plenty of good defensemen.

From the “Secretary of Defense” to “Game over Green” to “John Norris”, the Washington Capitals have boasted plenty of great defensemen in their four decades. Since the 1974-75 season, there’s been plenty of players that donned the red, white and blue.

We’ve already looked at top 10 goaltenders of all-time. This is our second all-time list where we’ll continue with the top defensemen.

Making this list wasn’t easy and neither was the goaltending list but the purpose of these stories is to encourage healthy debate based on whether your player made the list or not. It’s always fun to guess which players made it and which ones just missed the cut.

With that in mind we’ve got a couple of honorable mentions before we move forward to the top 10 list. One player is Brendan Witt who was known for his hard hits. He recorded 83 points (20 goals, 63 assists) in 626 games. He also helped lead the Caps to their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in 1998.

Another player we’ll mention is Al Lafrate, who is usually overlooked. He spent four seasons with the Caps and recorded 176 points (58 goals, 118 assists).

Without further ado, let’s begin.

#10 Karl Alzner

Karl Alzner was taken fifth overall in 2007 and was the backbone to an improving Caps defense for nine seasons. Alzner was a mainstay on the “Carlzner” pair with young up and coming defensemen John Carlson.

Alzner was dubbed the franchise’s “Ironman” when he suited up for a record 599 consecutive games before it ended in the 2017 playoffs with an upper body injury.

Alzner began the 2008-09 season with the Hershey Bears but on Nov. 26, 2008 he was called up to the Caps to make his NHL debut that night against the Atlanta Thrashers. He recorded his first NHL point with an assist on Dec. 4 against the New York Islanders then scored his first NHL goal during the next game two nights later against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Alzner was sent back down to Hershey in late January as the defense was healthy and helped the Bears win a Calder Cup that spring. Alzner was called up several times in 2009-10 and began playing on a pair with Carlson in Game 7 of the first round against the Montreal Canadiens. After that early exit, Alzner held win another Calder Cup with the Bears.

Fast forward to the 2015-16 season, Alzner would become the Caps all-time leader in consecutive games played, passing Bobby Carpenter for the franchise record with 423 consecutive games played. This streak began in the 2010-11 season.

#9 Larry Murphy

Larry Murphy is a hockey hall of farmer. He was traded to the Capitals in his fourth season.  Back in October of 1983, Murphy was sent from the Los Angeles Kings to the Caps in exchange for Ken Houston and Brian Engblom. It turned out to be a trade the Caps won big time.

Houston and Engblom scored a combined 93 points for the remainder of their careers Murphy on the other hand added 1,009 points before he retired in 2001.

Murphy had a two way game with offensive firepower. He was named an NHL All Star in 1987. That was in a season where he scored a career-high 23 goals and 81 points, the second highest point total of his career.

In March of 1989 his time with the Caps ended when him and Mike Gartner were traded to the Minnesota North Stars in exchange for Dino Ciccarelli and Bob Rouse.

Overall Murphy played in 453 games with the Caps. He scored 86 goals and added 259 assists for 345 points. He scored double digit goals in all seasons except one with the exception of the year he was traded. He had 13 his first season in Washington and added 14, 21, 23, eight, and seven, respectively.

He was similar to a modern day Mike Green or John Carlson.

#8 Mike Green

Mike Green was an offensive defensemen, probably one of the best offensive blueliners in the league in his prime years. He was an integral part of the young guns era on some solid Capitals teams.

Everyone remembers when Alex Ovechkin was drafted in 2004 at the number one overall pick. Later in that round at 29th overall, Green was selected by the Caps.

He appeared in 22 games during the 2005-06 season and 70 games the year after that. He began to break out in the 2007-08 season when the Caps made it to the playoffs when he scored 18 goals and added 38 assists for 56 points.

The next season Green scored a career-high 31 goals and added 42 assits for 73 points. During that season he scored in eight consecutive games, setting the NHL record for consecutive games scored by a defenseman.

Green was also clutch with 20 game winning goals during his 10 years as a Capital, earning the nickname “Game Over Green”. His next season saw him score 19 goals and add a career-high 57 assists for 76 points. He had down years the next two seasons with eight and three goals respectively but rebounded in his final season in D.C. with 12 goals and 14 assits for 26 points in the lockout shortened season.

He spent two more seasons in Washington after that and ended his Capitals career playing in 575 games scoring 113 goals and adding 247 assists for 360 points. He currently plays for the Edmonton Oilers.

#7 Sergei Gonchar

Before there was Mike Green, there was another offensive defenseman. Sergei Gonchar put up some good numbers when he was with the Caps and it stinks he never got to play with the likes of Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.

He was drafted by the Caps in the first round at 14th overall in 1992. In his second season he scored 15 goals and never looked back, adding 26 assits for 41 points. The next year in 1996-97 he scored 13 goals and added 17 assits for 30 points.

Gonchar had a breakout season in 1998-99 with 21 goals and 10 assits for 31 points. The next year he had 18 goals and 36 assists for 54 points.

In the turn of the century he kept rolling. He had 19 goals and 38 assists for 57 points. He had his best season in 2001-02 with 26 goals and 33 assits for 59 points. He spent one more full season in Washington where he recorded 18 goals and 49 assits 67 points. His final season was in 2003-04 before he was dealt at the trade deadline to the Boston Bruins. Before his departure he scored seven goals and added 42 assists for 49 points.

After that he spent five seasons as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins helping them win a Stanley Cup in 2009. He also made stops with the Ottawa Senators, Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens before retiring from the game in 2015.

#6 Kevin Hatcher

Number six on our list is Kevin Hatcher who was a big part of the Caps from the mid 1980’s to the early 1990’s. He was drafted in the first round at 17th overall in the 1984 NHL Draft. He played most of the 1984-85 season with the North Bay Centennials but did suit up in a Capitals sweater twice that year. Then he became a full time defensemen the next season where he scored nine goals and 10 assists for 19 points.

The next season he added eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points before having a breakout season the next year with 14 goals and 27 assists for 41 points. He added another 27 assist season in 1988-89 to go along with 13 goals and 40 points.

In the 1989-90 season, Hatcher had another 13 goal season to go along with 41 assists for 54 points. The next year was another breakout year with 24 goals and 50 assists for 74 points.

He had 17 goals and 37 assists for 54 points his next year before adding a career-high 34 goals along with 45 assists for 79 points. His final season in D.C. was in 1993-94 where he recorded 16 goals and 24 assists for 40 points.

In January of 1995 he was traded to the Dallas Stars for Mark Tinordi and Rick Mrozik. He finished his career with stops in Pittsburgh and Carolina as well.

#5 Yvon Labre

Number five on our list is Yvon Labre, the original captain of the Capitals. He began his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins before stops in the minors before he was ultimately selected by the Caps prior to their inaugural season in the 1974 expansion draft.

He was a fighter like a Tom Wilson or Donald Brashear. But the very first fighter the Capitals ever had. His stats weren’t really the biggest but he still provided the Caps a good backbone on some of the roughest days of the franchise as an expansion team.

Labre scored four goals in his first season in Washington and added 23 assists for 27 points. He played in 80 games his next season scoring two goals and 20 assists for 22 points.

Overall Labre spent seven years with the Caps playing in 334 games. He scored 12 career goals and added 84 assists for 96 points. In the 1980-81 season his knee gave out forcing Labre into early retirement from the game. He was invited to center ice where the Caps acknowledged his career and later when they moved to the MCI Center, Labre’s number seven was hung to the rafters.

Even though his playing career ended early, Labre stayed on with the organization as a director of special programs.

#4 Scott Stevens

Number three on our list is another member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, Scott Stevens. He was drafted by the Caps in 1982 at fifth overall in the first round. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.

He had an impressive rookie season that he earned his spot on the all rookie team that year. He scored nine goals and added 16 assists for 25 points.

During his eight seasons with the Capitals, Stevens helped turn the franchise around. His confidence on the blueline made him a favorite among teammates and fans.

His second season saw him score 13 goals and added 32 assists for 45 points. The next year in 1984-85, Stevens scored 21 goals and added 44 assists for 65 points.

Stevens followed that up with a 15 goal and 38 assist season for 53 points in 1985-86 and 10 goals and 51 assists for 61 points the next year. In the 1987-88 season, Stevens was selected to the first all star team. That year saw him score 12 goals and add 60 assists for 72 points.

He spent two more years in Washington after that. He added seven goals and 61 assists for 68 points in 1988-89 and 11 goals and 29 assists for 40 points in his final season. He signed with the Blues as a free agent before finishing his career as a member of the New Jersey Devils where he helped the team win three Stanley Cups.

#3 Calle Johansson

Number three is a Swedish legend. Calle Johansson was originally drafted by the Buffalo Sabres but came to the Caps via trade in March of 1989. He spent the next 15 years of his career as a member of the Caps.

He became a fixture on the blueline and scored 40 points or more four times and was a big part of the Caps special teams and transition game. He helped lead the Caps to the conference finals in 1990 and the Stanley Cup Final in 1998. During the 1999-00 season, Johansson

Johansson played 15 seasons with the Caps before calling it a career after the 2002-03 season. But he did come back to the game a year later as a free agent when he was signed by the Toronto Maple Leafs. After they failed to win the Cup he retired for good.

Johansson played in 983 games for the Caps which was the most until Ovechkin broke that record in 2018. He recorded 474 career points with the Caps (113 goals, 361 assists).

His best skill was his durability on the ice. His time on ice was over 21 minutes . His best scoring season came in 1997-98 with 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points.

Seven defensemen down and two more to go.

#1 Rod Langway

Number one on our list is the Secretary of Defense, Rod Langway. He was a huge part in the franchise’s turnaround after the Save the Caps campaign, coming to D.C. in a trade along with Doug Jarvis, Craig Laughlin, and Brian Engblom in 1982. He was instantly named team captain.

That 1982-83 squad made the playoffs behind Langway’s Norris Trophy winning season. He was also named a first team all star. Over the next 10 seasons, Langway was a polarizing figure on the Caps blueline. He was known fo this shot blocking and stopping goals in front of the net.

Mike Gartner told the media about Langway and others, “They’re the guys (along with Englbom) you want out there in the last minute of a 3-2 game because you know they’re going to get the puck out.”

Their teammate, Al Jensen added, “You have to respect a guy who works as hard as Rod does.”

In 1984, Langway won a second Norris Trophy along with another first team all-star selection and a second team all star selection in 1985. He participated in five more all star games and also suited up for Team USA on the international stage.

Those are our top 10 defensemen of all-time, who are your top 10 Caps fans? Let us know in the comments!