Washington Capitals: Top 10 centers of all-time

#10 Jeff Halpern

Jeff Halpern is a player who got to live his dream of representing the hometown team. The Potomac, Maryland native signed on with the Caps in March of 1999 as a free agent. He scored 18 goals and added 11 assists for 29 points in his first season as a 23 year old.

His next season he scored 21 goals and added 21 assists for 42 points. The next year his numbers took a dip with five goals and 14 assists for 19 points. In 2002-03, Halpern recorded 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points. He was even better in that down season of 2003-04 with 19 goals and 27 assists for 46 points. In 2005-06 he scored 11 goals and added 33 assists for 44 points. In the summer of 2006 he signed on as a free agent with the Dallas Stars.

He came back to the Caps in 2011, signing with them as a free agent. In his second tour with Washington he scored four goals and added 12 assists for 16 points. Overall, Halpern spent seven seasons with the Caps and played in 507 games. He recorded 91 goals and 139 assists for 230 points.

Halpern currently is an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Bolts are currently in the Eastern Conference Finals taking on the New York Islanders and Trotz.

#9 Alan Haworth

Alan Haworth began his career with the Buffalo Sabres before he was traded to the Capitals in the summer of 1982. In his first season in 1982-83, he scored 23 goals and added 27 assists for 50 points. The next year he scored 24 goals and added 31 assists for 55 points.

In his third season he scored 23 goals and 26 assists for 49 points. In 1985-86 he had a breakout year with a career-high 34 goals and 39 assists for 73 points. The next year he had 25 goals and 16 assists for 41 points.

Overall, Haworth spent five seasons with the Capitals spanning 346 games. He scored 129 goals and added 139 assists for 268 points.

Washington Capitals legends has more on Haworth:

In Washington Alan would develop into a very good player that the Sabres would have liked to have had in their lineup. He became a consistent 25 goal threat while rounding into a solid two way player. In 1985-86 he enjoyed his best year in the NHL, scoring 34 goals and 73 points while posting another 10 points in 9 playoff games. He had great speed and a hard slap shot, but also became a dependable defensive player. His playmaking abilities were underrated, largely because he spent much of his time on one of the wings of a 2nd or 3rd lines. In 1987-88 Haworth was a key part of one of the biggest trades in NHL history. He, along with fellow native-Quebecer Gaetan Duchesne and a first round draft choice (used to select the wonderful Joe Sakic) were traded to Quebec for goalie Clint Malarchuk and leader Dale Hunter. The move was especially controversial because of Hunter’s surprise departure. Haworth, a natural center, was brought in as his replacement. Those were awfully big skates to fill, but Alan did an admirable job, turning in a career second-best 57 point season including 23 goals and 34 assists.

#8 Brooks Laich

Brooks Laich was traded to the Caps in 2004 in the month of February from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Peter Bondra. It was the early stages of Washington’s rebuild. He had an assist in four games the rest of that 2003-04 season.

In 2005-06 Laich had seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points. The next year he had eight goals and 10 assists for 18 points. Laich then had breakout years in 2007-08 onward. He had 21 goals and 16 assists for 37 points. The next year he had 23 goals and 30 assists for 53 points. In 2009-10, Laich had a career high 25 goals and 34 assists for 59 points.

The next two years Laich had back to back 16 goal seasons with 32 assists the first year and 25 the second year for 48 and 41 points, respectively. After that his numbers took a dip as injuries and scratches plagued him.

In February of 2016 Laich was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Connor Carrick in exchange for Daniel Winnik. In 2017 he was signed as a free agent by the Los Angeles Kings before the team released him just over a month later. He has since retired from the game.

Laich was a fan favorite and was an underrated star during the Alex Ovechkin era.

#7 Bob Carpenter

Bob Carpenter was drafted by the Caps in the first round at third overall in the 1981 NHL Draft. He had an impact his two years with back to back 32 goal seasons with 35 assists for 67 points his rookie year and 37 assists for a nice 69 points his sophomore year.

In his third season Carpenter scored 28 goals and added 40 assists for 68 points. He was even better in 1984-85 with a career high 53 goals and 42 assists for 95 points. The next year he scored 27 goals and added 29 assists for 56 points. He had five goals and seven assists for 12 points prior to being traded in 1987 to the New York Rangers in exchange for Bob Crawford, Kelly Miller, and Mike Ridley.

Carpenter had a second stint with the Capitals in the 1990s. He spent one season with them in 1992-03 and had 11 goals and 17 assists for 28 points. He had an ego that refused to allow him to fail. Carpenter helped make the Caps a legitimate threat in the NHL. He played in 490 games and scored 178 goals in a Caps sweater adding 207 assists for 395 points. He was relied on to provide a lot of offense for the Caps in the 1980s and he did exactly that.

Carpenter was fun to watch and was one of the best draft picks in team history.

#6 Adam Oates

Adam Oates was traded to the Capitals from the Boston Bruins in March of 1997. In the final 17 games he scored four goals and added eight assists for 12 points.

The next year he scored 18 goals and added 58 assists for 76 points. In the playoffs he added six goals and 11 assists for 17 points to help the Caps make their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final. The next year he scored 12 goals and 42 assists for 54 points. After that he had 15 goals and 56 assists for 71 points.

In 2000-01 Oates had 13 goals and a nice league leading 69 assists for 82 pints. He led the league in assists the next season with 64 to go along with 14 goals. 11 of those goals and 57 of those assists were with the Capitals. Oates was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers in March of 2002.

Oates would come back to the Capitals organization to coach the team but let’s not talk about that.

If we’re going to celebrate Adam Oates here we’re going to celebrate Adam Oates the player not Adam Oates the coach.

Oates spent six years with the Caps and suited up for 387 games. He scored 73 goals and added 290 assists for 363 points. Like I said, he’ll be well remembered in Washington for his playing days.

#5 Michal Pivonka

Michal Pivonka was drafted by the Capitals in the third round at 59th overall in the 1984 NHL Draft. He spent all 13 years of his NHL career with the Capitals. He appeared in 825 total games and scored 181 goals and added 418 assists for 599 points. His rookie season was 1986-87 and he scored 18 goals and added 25 assists for 43 points.

The next season he scored 11 goals and added 23 assists for 35 points. His next year saw him score eight goals and 19 assists for 27 points before bouncing back in 1989-90 with a career high 25 goals and 39 assists for 64 points. The next year he had 20 goals and 50 assists for 70 points.

In 1991-02 Pivonka had 23 goals and 57 assits for 80 points. The next year he had 21 goals and 53 assists for 74 points. He had 14 goals and 36 assists for 50 points the next season and 10 goals for 23 assists for 33 points after that.

In 1995-96 Pivoka had 16 goals and 65 assists for 81 points. The next year he had seven goals and 16 assists for 23 points. He followed that up with three goals and six assists for nine points. In his final season he scored five goals and added six assists for 11 points before retiring from the game in 1999.

Pivonka was an original longtime playmaking center, the 1980s and 90s version of Nicklas Backstrom.

#4 Mike Ridley

Mike Ridley was traded to the Caps in January of 1987 along with Bob Crawford and Kelly Miller from the New York Rangers. Ridley had 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points the rest of the way with Washington. His first full season with the Caps saw him score 28 goals and add 31 assists for 59 points. In 1988-89 he was even better with a career high 41 goals and 48 assists for 89 points.

The next year Ridley scored 30 goals and added 43 assists for 73 points. After that he had 23 goals and 48 assists for 71 points. He rebounded in 1991-92 with 29 goals and 40 assists for a nice 69 points. The final two years in Washington he had back to back 26 goal seasons with 56 assists the first year for 82 points and 44 the final year for 70 points.

Ridley spent eight seasons with the Capitals playing in 588 games. He scored 218 career goals and added 329 assists for 547 points. He was a reliable forward on the Capitals with a creative style of play that was fun to watch. He played in a unique era where point per game forwards weren’t that hard to come by but it was still impressive.

He basically was like a 1980s and 90s version of a Nicklas Backstrom and was fun to watch.

#3 Dennis Maruk

Coming in at number three is another impact player from back in the day. Dennis Maruk actually had a season that was even better than Alex Ovechkin, recording 136 points during the 1981-82 season. The most Ovechkin had recorded in a season is 112. Marukk had 60 goals and 70 assists.

Maruk was traded to the Capitals by Minnesota back in the beginning of the 1978-79 season. He went on to score 31 goals and add 59 assists for 90 points. Those assists and points led the team while his 31 goals tied for the team lead. The next season saw him score 10 goals and add 17 assists for 27 points in 27 games in what was an injury plagued second season.

In the 1980-81 season Maruk scored 50 goals and had 47 assists for 97 points before that monster 136 point season the next year. His next season was his final season in D.C. where he scored 31 goals and added 50 assists for 81 points. He also had one playoff goal and an assist in four games. He was traded in July of 1983 back to the Minnesota North Stars for a second rounder the next year that turned out to be Stephen Leach.

Maruk was a unique player with his mustache and his nickname known by teammates was “pee wee”.

#2 Dale Hunter

Before there was Tom Wilson living rent free in opposing teams players and fans heads there was Dale Hunter who was a Caps center for 12 seasons and a coach for half a season. He served as team captain from 1994-1999. He currently coaches the London Knights and top prospect Connor McMichael.

Hunter leads the Caps in career penalty minutes with 2,003. On the night of his number getting retired, he received the penalty box of the old Capital Centre bestowed on him as a gift. Hunter scored 22 goals and 37 assists for 59 points his first season in Washington in 1987-88. He also scored a clutch goal that spring against the Philadelphia Flyers that helped the Caps advance to the next round. At the time it was the greatest playoff goal in Caps history just prior to the 2018 Cup run.

Hunter had five seasons where he scored 20 or more goals with his best season coming in 1991-92 where he scored 28 goals and added 50 assists for 78 points. In the playoffs he continued to shine as he led the team with seven playoff goals in the 1993 Patrick Division Semifinals.

After Bruce Boudreau was fired in 2011, Hunter took over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season. He guided the Caps to the second round before coming up short to the New York Rangers.

#1 Nicklas Backstrom

Nicklas Backstrom comes in at number one in our list as he’s the most underrated playmaking centers in the league. He is also one of the most skilled passers and has had six consecutive seasons of 50 or more assists since the 2013-14 season. This season he had 42 assists before the season was paused and was well on his way to his seventh straight season of 50 assists.

Backstrom has gone on to become the Capitals all-time franchise leaders in assists and is second all-time in franchise points behind Alex Ovechkin. Backstrom was introduced by Ovechkin on his draft night before being selected fourth overall in 2006.

Backstrom recorded his first NHL point by assisting on a goal by Michael Nylander against the Atlanta Thrashers. His rookie campaign got better once he got promoted on the top line next to Ovechkin where the two became inseprable.

Backstrom is more than just a sidekick to Ovechkin, he’s a hero this city needs and an impact player that deserves more accolades and recognition than he already has. Perhaps he’d have more if he wasn’t on the same team as Ovechkin but thankfully we don’t have to worry about that.

Backstrom is the best center to suit up in a Capitals uniform and it’s no doubt he landed number one on our top 10 centers of all-time list. Who made it on your list? Who did we miss? Let us know in the comments!