Washington Capitals: Top 10 centers of all-time

Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
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Bobby Carpenter, Washington Capitals (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Bobby Carpenter, Washington Capitals (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

#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.