Justin Schultz 2022 Report Card

The offseason is here which means it’s time to grade every player’s performance who has suited up for the Washington Capitals this past season. First up is defenseman Justin Schultz.

Schultz had an up and down season just like the rest of the team. He’s also 31 years old and carried a cap hit of 4 million(!). Before I dive into how he did I have to say that the Caps should probably part ways with him. It’s nothing to do with his play but that four million could be used elsewhere.

I think the Caps tried to sign Schultz for the sake of him getting selected in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft but we all know what happened there.

In 74 games Schultz scored four goals and added 19 assists for 23 points. That was four points less than he had the previous season in 46 games. Schultz mostly spent time on the third pairing alongside Trevor van Riemsdyk.

While averaging 19:01 minutes of ice time last season, Schultz only averaged 16:55 minutes of ice time this past season. He also had a plus minus of -15. He had 16 penalty minutes, one game winning goal and two even strength and power play tallies. 16 of his helpers came on even strength while the other three came on the power play.

Schultz also had 87 blocks, 40 hits, 13 takeaways and 25 giveaways. Schultz’s advanced stats in the regular season included a 51.33 percent Corsi For percentage, a 44.94 percent Expected Goals For percentage, and a 52.62 percent Scoring Chances For percentage.

In the playoffs, Schultz’s advanced stats dropped to a Corsi For percentage of 46.90 percent, an Expected Goals For percentage of 47.31 percent and a Scoring Chances For percentage of 46.88 percent, numbers courtesy of Natural Stat Trick.

Also in the playoffs, Schultz had a goal and two assists for three points. He had six penalty minutes and his plus minus improved to plus two. He averaged 15:05 minutes of ice time with five hits and six blocks.

Grade D+: Schultz was slightly better last season but he did step up this year in the playoffs. Still it was by our standards a below average season for a player with a cap hit of over four million. He will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.