Gabriel Carlsson 2023 Report Card

Next up on our Washington Capitals end of season player report cards is Gabriel Carlsson who came up for six games in the month of March. He had two assists in those six games with both coming on the road against the San Jose Sharks on March 4.

The Caps would win this game 8-3. He first had a primary assist on Matt Irwin’s goal. Then he set up Alex Ovechkin’s first goal of the night with a secondary assist.

Other than that he was quiet the next five games.

He was called up to the Caps along with his fellow defensive partner from Hershey, Vincent Iorio, as the Caps lost both Nick Jensen and Martin Fehervary to injury the previous game against the Anaheim Ducks.

The Caps signed Carlsson last summer from the Columbus Blue Jackets. He was drafted by Columbus in the first round at 29th overall in 2015. In 59 regular season games with the Hershey Bears this season, Carlsson recorded one goal and 14 assists for 15 points. He also had a plus 22 plus minus rating.

That game against the Sharks saw the Caps debut of Carlsson, the NHL debut of Vincent Iorio and the Caps debut of newcomer Rasmus Sandin. It was the first time in franchise history three players made their debuts with the team on a game that wasn’t opening night.

Overall there could be an interesting decision this summer as last year’s deal was a one year, two way contract. Will the Caps or Bears re sign him? He’s still just 26 years old so he fits the bill as a young buck.

Grade B-: Carlsson is a young defenseman who was a standout with the Bears. They’ll be looking to him to help them win a Calder Cup this spring. The Bears begin the Calder Cup playoffs this weekend against the Charlotte Checkers.