A Player Nobody Wanted, Sonny Milano Has Something To Prove Every Game
By CJ Witt
Sonny Milano was one of the more interesting players to watch during this past offseason. He wasn’t the big ticket name, like a Johnny Gaudreau, or Nazem Kadri. He wasn’t a part of a big move like Huberdeau or Tkachuk. Milano was just a good young player that for some reason no team decided to sign.
When you only look at his numbers, should he be one of the first players to sign during free agency? No, probably not. His career high is just 34 points with 14 goals, 14 goals being a high he has hit twice, once was last season, the other time coming in 17-18 with the Blue Jackets.
It was still surprising a good, bottom of the lineup, younger player couldn’t find a team to sign him. That changed on October 17th of this season when the Washington Capitals, who were dealing with a lot of injuries, decided to give him a shot. The Caps front office look like thieves for stealing this player.
In twenty-three games for Washington this season, Milano has 5 goals, 11 assists for the total of 16 points. That pace puts him on 15 goals and about 48 points if he can finish the season with the Caps. 15 goals and 48 points in a possible 69 games isn’t too shabby.
A lot of stats are just stats though. Even the most simple of stats can be misleading. You can not be having a great night and put up points. That being thanks to luck or racking up secondary assists or whatever.
But when you watch Milano on this Capitals team I think you could argue he has been better than even his stats tell you. On most nights he is one of the most noticeable Capitals on the ice. He has speed and he uses his speed to create chances and also wreak a little havoc, something the Capitals do not have a ton of.
When you look at his on ice stats they do show a little bit how good of a player Milano has been for this team.
His Corsi percentage is 51..05, pretty good. But his other numbers get better and get towards the top of this team in terms of rankings. His scoring chance percentage is 53.70%, which is 5th on the team, his high danger attempts percentage is 53.70, which is 8th, and his expected goals for percentage is 52.13 which is 10th.
He is putting those numbers to good use as well. While 5v5 Milano has 12 points, or 5 goals and 7 assists. That is more than Dylan Strome, Lars Eller, John Carlson, T.J. Oshie, Nic Dowd, Garnet Hathaway, and Marcus Johansson. Some of those names are more impressive than others, and some have been dealing with injuries, notably Oshie. But Oshie has played in 22 games this season, Milano has played in 23 games. While 5v5 Milano has 12 points, Oshie has just 6. Molano has 5 goals, Oshie only tickling the twine once.
Milano has been a very good player for this team. One reason you would have to think he is playing very well is every single game he has something to prove. This guy went all offseason without a team signing him to a contract. For whatever reason. Maybe he didn’t get the contract he wanted, maybe he just could find a fit, the reason doesn’t matter all that much.
Every game there is a team that the Capitals and Milano are lining up against that could have signed him. To look to the future he is also playing against teams that can sign him next season. Have a good season and maybe he does get a bigger contract on a team that he wants to go to.
I can only imagine as a competitor Milano is looking at all of these teams and thinking to himself, “I’ll show you. Thirty-one teams saw me, only one actually signed me and that wasn’t until the season actually started.” On top of all that he is playing a lot better than his current contract of just one year and a cap hit of $750K.
Must Read. Watch the moment Alex Ovechkin became the 2nd of all-time in scoring goals. light
For many reasons you have to think Milano is out there with something to prove. Those players are nice to have. It’s very nice to have him on the Capitals right now. He has been among the more impressive Capitals throughout his time here.