When the Washington Capitals acquired Michael Raffl from the Philadelphia Flyers at the 2021 NHL Trade Deadline, they were looking for a depth forward looking to fill in when needed. Boy was he actually needed after some fans thought he would not get playing time.
The 32 year old enters the summer as an unrestricted free agent and it is highly unlikely the Capitals will re-sign him. However he did do well during his brief time here. Raffl provided both grit and roster flexibility.
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After he was acquired he missed four games due to an upper body injury but was counted on towards the end of the regular season with a depleted lineup.
In 10 games with the Caps, Raffl had one goal and two assists for three points. He played in four out of the five playoff games but was a healthy scratch in Game 5 and was held off the scoresheet.
Raffl finished with a +1 and averaged 15:13 of ice time. He had the best Corsi For percentage in the regular season with a CF of 63.56 percent. In the playoffs, it was a totally different story as his Corsi was the worst at 39.42 percent (numbers via Natural Stat Trick).
What a first goal in red for Raffl🚁! pic.twitter.com/x5ModpcKCt
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) May 12, 2021
Raffl’s lone goal came in dramatic fashion as it was a buzzer beater to end the regular season in a win over the Boston Bruins. Raffl got the puck from Justin Schultz and skated low towards the goal before ripping in a sharp angle shot with 1.8 seconds left. It went just under the top bar from an impossible angle.
Grade B: Raffl didn’t play much but did above average in his small sample size that we got to see. He will be a good depth forward on another team next season as this trade acquisition was probably just a rental. Still, a B grade is a winning Raffl ticket.