Next up for end-of-year report cards is fan-favorite Garnet Hathaway. Once again, Hathaway was a bright spot for the Washington Capitals all year. No, he doesn’t blow you away with his offensive numbers, but his presence on the ice is always known and appreciated by his teammates and fans.
Hathaway truly had a career year when you look at the numbers. He put up 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points in 76 games played during the regular season. This was a career-high in goals and points for Hathaway and tied his career-high for assists and games played.
Hathaway has been an essential part of the Caps roster since joining in 2019. He never put up crazy numbers offensively, but his physical presence and agitating style of play were a huge asset for Washington from the beginning. He has only become more valuable since then.
It is no shock that the Caps have had some rough times since winning the cup in 2018. But, whenever Washington has needed a boost or clutch goal, there were many times that Garnet Hathaway and the fourth line came to save the day.
Hathaway has continued his agitating, physical, hard-nosed play, but he has also improved on the other side of the puck. As a result, Hathaway is much more of a threat to score now, which only raises the play and threat level of the Caps’ fourth line.
His improvements have helped the fourth line but also allowed Hathaway to be used on other lines when needed. With so much up in the air between Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson, and Carl Hagelin, Hathaway will have to continue his offensive play and show his versatility.
One negative to Hathaway’s play this year was his frequent trips to the penalty box. There were many times during the regular season that Hathaway would go a little too far and end up putting the Caps in a rough spot on the PK. Even though he is loved for his toughness, some more discipline wouldn’t hurt.
Grade B+: Last year, I wrote Garnet Hathway’s report card and gave him a B+. I consider an A perfect in this case, and he is so close to that in his role. But the unnecessary penalty minutes held him back from that this year. Nevertheless, he is getting better offensively and is still very effective in getting into the opposing teams’ heads.