Would it be wrong to say that Dylan Strome is the best player on the Washington Capitals? It sure sounds shocking. They still have Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson and John Carlson and maybe another name or two you could throw in the conversation. But at least when you talk about last season, or last season as a whole those are just names.
I don't think it's a stretch at all to say that Dylan Strome was the Capitals best skater last season. Other guys had moments. Ovechkin for example. When he was on, he was very on. But there were large chunks of the season that Ovechkin, while still good, was clearly not the guy everyone knows and loves.
Strome was simply him
Strome on the other hand was pretty consistent. Almost every night you could count on Strome showing up and giving you a good effort and a good game. That was not the case for a lot of Capitals this season.
To potentially prove a point, Strome was one of two lineup regulars who finished the year on the team with a shot attempts percentage over 50%. The other guy was Tom Wilson. Only five Capitals finished over 50% in this stat, two of them were not lineup regulars and played a combined 9 regular season games, the other, Anthony Mantha, was traded. Strome also led the team in scoring chance percentage at 53.63%, and again, the guys below him played a lot less time than he did.
His play and those numbers helped Strome set new career highs in goals and points this past season. He scored 27 goals this season, his previous high was 23 which he scored the previous year. He also registered 67 points on the year, also topping the previous year where he scored 65 points. His 67 points led the Capitals in scoring. A rare feat someone other than Ovechkin does that for the Capitals.
Not only was he consistent and not only did he put up good numbers, but he was also pretty clutch this season. Right now Strome has 15 career game winning goals. A third of those came from this season alone. He finished this season with five game winners. Three of those five winners came in overtime. Maybe the Capitals get wins in all of those overtimes anyways, but it's entirely possible without Strome and his clutch goals the Capitals might not have made the playoffs this season.
Grade: A
There are some good players on this Capitals team. Ovechkin can still go on hot streaks. Tom Wilson is very important. John Carlson is still good on the back end. You have young and rising guys coming too. But last season I think Strome was probably the most important player on this Capitals team. He's also only 27. He could be getting better. Here's to hoping we see better things from him.