Nicklas Backstrom 2023 Report Card

Nicklas Backstrom didn’t start suiting up for the Washington Capitals this past season until January after he underwent a lengthy rehab from hip resurfacing surgery. But his comeback story is remarkable.

In 39 games Backstrom had more goals than his previous year in eight less games with seven goals and 14 assists for 21 points. He averaged 16:53 minutes of ice time. His Corsi For percentage came out to 47.40 percent, his Expected Goals For percentage at 50.30 percent and his High Danger Chances For percentage at 50.29 percent, via Natural Stat Trick.

As remarkable as his comeback story is, Brian MacLellan said that the longtime center and buddy to Alex Ovechkin has to make a decision about his future. Now is he saying this because of his over nine million dollar cap hit remains to be seen.

GMBM said this to the media on breakdown day:

“That’s a major surgery. I think it’s frustrating in that I don’t know how much better it’s going to get. I haven’t seen any other players do it, recover, and get back to the level they thought they were at before. I don’t know where that ends up with the offseason training. He’s going to have to make a decision on his career where he thinks he’s at.”

Backstrom though was a lot more optimistic:

“Obviously, it’s not ideal to come in midseason with a big surgery like that. You miss a lot and you’re trying to catch up. It’s not ideal. But, I’m optimistic about next year, [to] have a good summer, the first really good summer in a couple of years, and be ready at training camp and be a part of that. That’s what I’m looking forward to.”

It will likely be Backstrom’s first normal summer since 2019 before he signed that big contract. 2020 summer wasn’t normal for anybody. Then in 2021 he didn’t start the season as he dealt with that hip injury. We’ll see how his training goes.

Grade B: Good comeback story and hopefully not the last time we see Nicklas Backstrom in a Capitals uniform.