Washington Capitals: The Capitals Will Remain a Physical Force

Garnet Hathaway is arguably the Washington Capitals’ enforcer. Top to bottom, the Capitals are a team that can stand up for themselves but Hathaway is the type of player that the Caps should encourage to get into altercations to get under the opposing team’s skin.

Hathaway plays on the team’s fourth-line alongside Nic Dowd and Carl Hagelin and despite averaging over 12 minutes of ice-time per game only once in his career, he has dished out at least 154 hits over the past four seasons. Hathaway is a solid grinder who is certainly a more skilled player than a player like Ryan Reaves, but his main contributions come by way of his physical play. Laying big hits like this one on Charlie McAvoy have been a welcome sight to DC fans and Hathaway’s physical nature should take some of the pressure off of Tom Wilson to throw his weight around.