Washington Capitals: Top 10 right wings of all-time

Top 10 right wings in Washington Capitals history.

The Washington Capitals have had plenty of great forwards including at the right wing position in their 40 plus years of franchise history. We take a look at the top 10 right wings of all time. If you missed the other top 10 posts, we profiled the top 10 forwards, goalies, and defensemen.

Making this list wasn’t easy and neither was the goalies, forwards, and defensemen list. Some choices weree easier than others. Others took thought and consideration. It’s always fun to guess which players made and which ones completely missed the cut.

With that in mind here is an honorable mention. Troy Brouwer just missed the top 10 list but it doesn’t mean we won’t talk about him. Brouwer was traded to the Caps from the Chicago Blackhawks for a first round pick in 2011. His first season saw him score 18 goals and add 15 assists for 33 points. The next season saw him record another 33 point season with 19 goals and 14 assists.

Brouwer had a breakout season in 2013-14 with a career high 25 goals and 18 assists for 43 points. The next season saw Brouwer score 43 points again with 21 goals and 22 assists including a signature moment with the game-winning goal in the 2015 NHL Winter Classic.

Now let’s dive in to the top 10 right wings in Caps history.

#10 Mike Knuble

Mike Knuble signed with the Washington Capitals in the summer of 2009 as a free agent. His contract was a two-year deal worth $2.8 million per season. He was brought on to be a veteran presence in the locker room for a young Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom. He made an immediate impact in his first season with 29 goals and 24 assists for 53 points as the Capitals went on to capture their franchise’s first Presidents’ Trophy with the league’s best record.

Knuble’s next season saw him score 24 goals and add 16 assists for 40 points. His third season was a down year as age started catching up to him. He scored six goals and added 12 assists for 18 points. In Knuble’s three seasons with the Caps he scored 59 goals and added 52 assists for 111 points.

He only had to deal with one injury during his time with the Caps when he broke his finger in a game on Nov. 13, 2009 against the Minnesota Wild and missed four weeks before returning on Dec. 11.

Knuble had a goal in Washington’s Winter Classic win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Heinz Field in the second period beating goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. On April 11, 2011 he was re-signed to a one year extension with the Caps. On Dec. 20, 2011 Knuble played in his 1,000th NHL game.

#9 Alan May

We almost went with Jaromir Jagr on this list but we realized that wouldn’t sit too well with Caps fans. But this is a worthy replacement at number nine.

Alan May is a current studio analyst on NBC Sports Washington for their Capitals pregame and postgame shows. He gives great analysis and that comes from playing in the game when he was an impact player on the Caps.

In 1989 May was traded to Washington by the Los Angeles Kings for a fifth rounder. His first season saw him score seven goals and add 10 assists for 17 points.

He added four goals and six assists for 10 points his second season, six goals and nine assists for 15 points his third season and six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in his fourth season. The next year saw him score four goals and add seven assists for 11 points before he was traded to the Dallas Stars.

May spent most of his hockey days prior to Washington in the minors. It was his trade to the Capitals where he enjoyed a much bigger role. He wasn’t known for his goal scoring but rather his gritty, hard nosed play around the puck. He also helped the Caps reach the semifinals for the first time in 1990.

#8 Bobby Gould

Bobby Gould was traded to the Caps by the Calgary Flames on Nov. 25, 1981. After spending time between both the minors and the NHL, it was his trade to Washington that saw Gould take on a bigger role. In the remaining 60 games that season, Gould scored 18 goals and added 13 assists for 31 points.

The next season Gould scored 22 goals and added 18 assists for 40 points. He recorded another 40 point season in 1983-84 with 21 goals and 19 assists. In 1984-85, Gould added 14 goals and 19 assists for 33 points. The next season he was even better with 19 goals and 19 assists for 38 points. In 1986-87 he added 23 goals and 27 assists for 50 points.

Gould had 12 goals and 14 assists for 26 points in 1987-88 and five goals and 13 assists for 18 points in his final season in Washington. Besdies the impressive numbers, he’ll be a legend in Washington for one particular fight on a Penguins legend.

On March 20, 1987, Gould and Mario Lemieux dropped the gloves. Gould was six foot and 195 pounds while Lemieux is a big dude at six foot four and 230 pounds. Gould ended up breaking Lemieux’s jaw with a solid right uppercut. It sent Lemieux to the George Washington University hospital.

“The first thing that came to mind when he said, ‘Let’s go’, was that I could get him off the ice for five minutes. I never thought about hurting him,” said Gould.

Lemieux would not fight again in the NHL for another nine years.

#7 Dave Christian

Dave Christian was an impact player on some great 1980’s Capitals teams. He was traded to the Caps from the Winnipeg Jets in 1983 for a first rounder. In his first season he scored 29 goals and added 52 assists for 81 points. The next season he scored 26 goals and 43 assists for a nice 69 points.

In 1985-86, Christian was even better with 41 goals and 42 assists for 83 points. The next year he scored 23 goals and 27 assists for 50 points. He rebounded in 1987-88 with 37 goals and 21 assists for 58 points. The next year, which turned out to be his final full season, he scored 34 goals and 31 assists for 65 points. He scored three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 28 games before he was traded to the Boston Bruins for Bob Joyce.

The cool fact about Christian is that he was born in Hockeytown aka Warroad, Minnesota, where T.J. Oshie grew up.

Legends of Hockey talked more about Christian:

Christian was busy during his first year in Washington. He totaled 81 points and was a plus 26. In 1984 he played in his second Canada Cup and helped the U.S. reach the semifinals. He recorded his finest year in 1985-86 with 41 goals and 83 points and was often paired with fellow speedsters Mike Gartner and Bengt Gustafsson on an effective and entertaining forward line. In 1989 he enjoyed another strong showing at the World Championships with seven points in six games. Prior to the 1989-90 season, he traveled with the Capitals to the USSR on the NHL Friendship Tour. Later in the year, the Boston Bruins acquired Christian for his offense and experience. He enjoyed his longest spell in the playoffs by helping the Bruins reach the Stanley Cup finals against the eventual champion Edmonton Oilers.

#6 Bengt-Ake Gustafsson

Bengt-Ake Gustafsson was drafted by the Capitals in the fourth round at 55th overall in the 1978 NHL Draft. He made his Caps debut in the 1979-80 season and scored 22 goals and added 38 assists for 60 points. The next year he added 21 goals and 34 assists for 55 points. He was even better his third season with 26 goals and 34 assists for 60 points.

In 1982-83 Gustafsson scored 22 goals and 42 assists for 64 points. In 1983-84 he had a career-high of 32 goals and 43 assists for 75 points. The next year he had 13 goals and 29 assists for 42 points and bounced back the next year with 23 goals and 52 assists for 75 points. The last two years saw him score back to back 18 goal seasons with 36 assists for 54 points in 1987-88 and 51 assists for a nice 69 points in 1988-89.

Overall he spent nine seasons with the Caps and scored a total of 195 goals and 359 assists for 554 points. He played in 629 games.

Washington Capitals Legends talks more about Gustafsson:

Gustafsson would move to the American capital, and enjoy a fine 9 year career which ranks him among the best players in franchise history. He would score 196 goals, and 555 points in 629 career games. His best season came in 1983-84 when he scored a career high 32 goals and 75 points while playing with linemates Dave Christian and Mike Gartner. Gustafsson had a particularly memorable game on January 8, 1984 in Philadelphia. He tied a club record for most goals in a game with 5! Gus scored on every shot he took that game. A pulled left hamstring plagued Gustafsson the following season, but he would rebound nicely in 1985-86 by leading the team in assists and equaling his career high of 75 points. Late in the season, however, disaster struck. Gustafsson’s right leg was broken in a spectacular spill involving New York Islander defenseman Denis Potvin. Not only did Gustafsson miss the rest of the season and the playoffs, but he would not play in the NHL the following year either.

#4 Dino Ciccarelli

Dino Ciccarelli was traded to the Capitals from Minnesota with Bob Rouse in exchange for Mike Gartner and Larry Murphy in March of 1989. The rest of that season saw him score 12 goals and three assists in 11 games. His first full season in 1989-90 saw him score 31 goals and 38 assists for 79 points.

In 1990-91 he had 21 goals and 18 assists for 39 points in 54 games. The next year he had 38 goals and 38 assists for 76 points. In the summer of 1992 he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings for Kevin Miller. Over four years with the Capitals, Ciccarelli scored 112 goals and 97 assists for 209 points.

Ciccarelli helped his team to the playoffs in his first season. He scored his first goal with the Caps on March 11, 1989 in a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers. On March 18, 1989 he had a four goal, seven point game in a 8-2 win over the Hartford Whalers. He scored his first playoff goal less than a month later against Ron Hextall and the Philadelphia Flyers. He had three goals and six points in a first round loss to them that season.

His first full season saw him score 41 goals and he even had a four goal game against the Quebec Nordiques in a 12-2 win. He was an impact player and back in 2011 he was even welcomed back for a ceremonial puck drop the season he was induced into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

#3 Mike Gartner

Mike Gartner was drafted by the Capitals in the first round at fourth overall in the 1979 NHL Draft. He is also the most recent Capital to have his number retired.

His first season saw him score 36 goals and add 32 assists for 68 points and there wasn’t a time he didn’t score less than 30 goals during his time in Washington. Gartner won the team’s rookie and MVP awards at the end of the season. The next year in 1980-81 saw him score 48 goals and add 46 assists for 94 points. Gartner added 35 goals and 45 assists for 80 points the next season then went on to score 38 and 40 goals, respectively.

In the 1984-85 season, Gartner scored 50 goals. He added 35 goals and 40 assists for 75 points in 1985-86. In 1987-88, after a 41 goal season the previous year, Gartner scored 48 goals and added 33 assists for 81 points. The next year, Gartner had 26 goals and 29 assists for 55 points before he was traded midseason in March of 1989 to the Minnesota North Stars.

Gartner had his jersey number retired on Dec. 28, 2008. He is the last player that has had his number retired by the Capitals. In 2001 Gartner was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Gartner holds the NHL record for most consecutive 30 goal seasons with 15 which is tied by Jaromir Jagr and Alex Ovechkin. Talk about Capitals connections.

#2 T.J. Oshie

In one of the biggest trades in franchise history, a trade that may have won them the Stanley Cup three years later, the Washington Capitals sent Troy Brouwer to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for T.J. Oshie. The rest, as they say, is history.

Oshie was already well known around these parts with what he did for Team USA a year earlier. Red, white and blue simply looks good on the Oshbabe. He scored 26 goals and 25 assists for 51 points in 2015-16, his first season in Washington and had a hat trick in a playoff win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 1 of the second round. Oshie would start killing the Penguins ever since as not even an injury could stop him.

The next year Oshie had a career-high 33 goals and 23 assists for 56 points. His numbers took a dip the next season but he had to overcome an injury. He still put up a respectable 18 goals and 29 assists for 47 points. In the playoffs that year he scored eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points to help the Capitals win their first ever Stanley Cup.

The next season Oshie scored 25 goals and 29 assists for 54 points and this past season had 26 goals and 23 assists for 49 points before the season was shut down. He also had three goals in eight playoff games inside the bubble in Toronto.

#1 Peter Bondra

Before there was Alex Ovechkin, there was Peter Bondra lighting the lamp in Washington. He was one of the biggest faces of the franchise and should have his number retired. The team drafted him in the eighth round at 156th overall in the 1990 NHL Draft.

Bondra scored 12 goals in his rookie season and added 28 goals his second year. Bondra’s third season saw him score 37 goals and 85 points. However, his most memorable game came in his fourth season. On Feb. 5, 1994 Bondra had a five goal game against the Tampa Bay Lightning which included four goals in the first period.

Bondra led the league with 52 goals and 13 game winning goals in 1997-98, the year his team made it to their first Stanley Cup Final. In the playoffs he had seven goals and five assists and a clutch goal in overtime of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals to give the Caps a 2-1 series lead over the Buffalo Sabres.

After Bondra’s numbers dipped from 31 to 21, goals he rebounded in the 2000-01 season with 45 goals including a league leading 22 on the power play. The next season saw him score 39 goals and 31 assists for 70 points. In his final full season with the Caps he had 30 goals and 26 assists for 56 points. He had 21 goals and 14 assists for 35 points before the Caps traded him to the Ottawa Senators in their rebuilding plan.

Those are our top 10 right wings in Capitals history. Do you agree with this list? Who did we miss? Let us know in the comments!