Washington Capitals: Top 10 best free agents of all-time

#5 Viktor Kozlov

Viktor Kozlov was signed by the Washington Capitals in free agency on July 1, 2007. His role was similar to Kip Miller’s, being a veteran coming to a young team ready to take that next step. He played a top six role in his first year and had a similar point production. In his first season, Kozlov recorded 16 goals and 38 assists for 54 points.

In his second season, Kozlov recorded 41 points in 67 games with 13 goals and 28 assists. He was paid higher in his second year but couldn’t find the details of his contract anywhere. As a result his point production got better. He was also solid on the power play both seasons while ending up with pretty much the same number of giveaways and takeaways while being sheltered in his minutes. Despite this, Kozlov would keep the puck in the attacking zone whenever he was on the ice.

In the playoffs Kozlov recorded three assists in seven games in Washington’s first round series agains the Philadelphia Flyers in 2008. In 2009, Kozlov scored four goal san gadded two assists for six points in 14 games. That included one game winning goal which occurred in Game 6 in the first round against the New York Rangers.