Well we have to grade everyone that suited up for the Washington Capitals this past season and today we grade the brief performance of Daniel Sprong before he got traded to the Seattle Kraken.
Sprong had eight goals and six assists for 14 points in 47 games with the Capitals before they traded him to the Kraken for a reunion with Marcus Johansson. With the Kraken, Sprong had six goals in 16 games. An early sign that the Kraken won the trade. They probably did considering it’s highly unlikely the Caps will re-sign Johansson.
The problem with Sprong is he wasn’t going to last here in D.C. But that’s not entirely on him. He missed some games yeah, and all those games he missed came from being a healthy scratch.
That’s been the problem with a lot of young players and their lack of production. It’s Peter Laviolette not giving them the ice time, opting to play veterans instead. Will this move cost the Caps? It certainly doesn’t help in their offseason goals of trying to get younger. But if they can move on from MoJo they’ll have enough money to sign a young winger.
Sprong’s advanced stats with the Capitals were pretty decent. Per Natural Stat Trick, he had a Corsi For percentage of 50.84 percent, an Expected Goals For percentage of 52.32 percent and a 51.14 percent High Danger Chances For percentage.
Perhaps the disappointing thing about Sprong this past season with the Caps was the way the relationship ended. He came into the season expecting a bigger role. Fans and us even wanted it too. He had the chance to breakout until he didn’t by getting scratched. Now we’ll never know.
Grade D+: Sprong produced when he came into the lineup which is all you can ask for at this point. Now he has a chance at making the Seattle Kraken a powerhouse.