Nick Jensen 2022 Report Card

Next up on our Washington Capitals report card series is another defenseman. Today we’ll look at Nick Jensen, who’s been trending upward ever since the Caps acquired him at the trade deadline three years ago.

Jensen scored a career high five goals to go along with 16 assists for 21 points. He had a plus minus of plus 32. He had just 21 penalty minutes while averaging 19:21 minutes of ice time. He also had 92 blocks and 135 hits while spending most of the season on the second pair with Dmitry Orlov.

That Jensen-Orlov pairing was effective. Their Corsi For percentage is at 51.07 percent, their Expected Goals For percentage was at 53.06 percent and their High Danger Chances For came out to 50.50 percent, via Natural Stat Trick. Overall good numbers.

Jensen also had good individual advanced stats. That includes a Corsi For percentage of 50.16 percent, a 51.76 percent Expected Goals For percentage, and a 50.72 percent High Danger Chances For percentage.

In the playoffs, Jensen was scoreless for the fourth year in a row. As a result his possession metrics dropped quite a bit. His Corsi For percentage was just 37.76 percent, his Expected Goals For percentage came out to 40.85 percent and his High Danger Chances For came out to 37.14 percent. Overall, those are bad.

It was also atrocious when he was paired with Orlov. Their Corsi For percentage came out to 38.37 percent, their Expected Goals For percentage at 40.70 percent and their High Danger Chances For coming out to 37.50 percent.

Grade B: Overall it was a good third full season for Jensen. He improved last season from his dismal 2019-20 and he took it to the next level this past season. He does need to improve in the playoffs but then again who doesn’t on a team that has lost in the first round each of the last four years.