Washington Capitals: Top 5 greatest centers of all-time

#4 Mike Ridley

Acquired by the Caps in January of 1987 with Bob Crawford and Kelly Miller from the New York Rangers, Mike Ridley was the center in that package and finished the rest of that season with 15 goals and 19 assists for 34 points.

Ridley’s 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. He followed that up with 23 goals and 48 assists for 71 points.

Ridley rebounded in 1991-92 with 29 goals and 40 assists for a nice 69 points. The final two years saw Ridley have back to back 26 goal seasons with 56 assists the first year and 44 the final year. Ridley spent eight seasons with the Capitals playing in 588 games.

Ridley scored 218 career goals in a Capitals sweater while adding 329 assists for 547 points. He was a reliable forward and center with a creative style of play that was fun to watch. He played in a unique era where point per game forwards and centers weren’t that hard to come by but it was still impressive.

Ridley was like an 80s and 90s version of a (good) Evgeny Kuznetsov.