Connor McMichael is widely considered the Washington Capitals‘ best young player. This year, he has played in the top six multiple times and even been on a line with Alex Ovechkin. His numbers aren’t anything special but aren’t anything to be upset about.
McMichael has four goals and five assists for nine points through 29 games played. Head Coach Peter Laviolette has said that he has been happy with how he’s playing on both sides of the ice. He has been aggressive on offense and shown promise on the other end. He has a plus/minus of minus two, which isn’t great considering he is only one of two players on the Caps to be in the negatives. But young players make mistakes, and that makes sense.
So far, everyone is generally happy with McMichael’s play and the potential we see from him, but more can be done. McMichael has made some jaw-dropping plays and has had multiple breakaway opportunities but has come up short a majority of the time. In the new year Caps fans would love to see him finish some of these chances.
So now it comes to his New Years’ resolution. What do I think Connor McMichael’s goal should be for 2022?
McMichael should have a goal of scoring 10 goals in the remainder of the 2021-22 season. He already has four through 29 games he’s played, and 31 games total for Washington. With 51 games to play, I would like to see McMichael finish some of those chances and add to his goal total, and maybe that will push his plus/minus into positive territory.
If he wants to be a top-six forward in the NHL, especially for the Washington Capitals, he will need to put up 20+ goals a year. Getting 14 total in his rookie year, which he is completely capable of, would be a great start for the young center.