Washington Capitals: Top 3 key players to watch against Sabres

#2 John Carlson

John Carlson was snubbed from the Norris Trophy last season, plain and simple. That doesn’t undermine the type of year that he had. During the 2019-20 season, Carlson set personal highs for points (75) and assists (60) in a season and led all NHL defensemen in both respective categories.

Carlson’s 60 assists were one shy of tying the franchise record for most by a defenseman in a single season when Scott Stevens set the record in 1988-89 with 61 assists. Carlson’s 75 points were six shy of the record held by Larry Murphy when he had 81 in the 1986-87 season.

Over the last 20 seasons only three other defensemen have recorded at least 60 assists in a season. That includes Nicklas Lidstrom twice in 2005-06 and 2007-08 where he had 64 and 60 assists, respectively. Erik Karlsson had 66 assists in the 2015-16 season and Brent Burns had 67 in 2018-19.

Over the last three seasons, Carlson has recorded 213 points over the last three seasons which rank first among defensemen. In that stretch he had 43 goals and 170 assists.

Back on Feb. 23, 2020 Carlson recorded an assist for his 475th career point. That passed Calle Johansson for the most by a defensemen in franchise history. Carlson ranks 76th among defensemen in NHL history in points but among top 100 point totals recorded, Carlson has the 26th best points per game rate at 0.63.