Washington Capitals: Top 10 centers of all-time

#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.