#1 John Carlson
John Carlson enters Thursday's game riding a four game assist streak with four assists in those four games. Carlson leads Capitals defensemen and ranks third on the team in assists this season with 29. With his next assist, Carlson will reach the 30 assist mark for the 10th time in his career. No other defenseman in franchise history has more than six 30 assists seasons.
Carlson recorded his 700th career point on Dec. 6 at the Buffalo Sabres and became the 31st defensemen in NHL history to reach the 700 point mark. Carlson also became the sixth active defensemen with 700 career points joining Brent Burns (900), Erik Karlsson (853), Victor Hedman (770), Kris Letang (762) and Roman Josi (722).
In addition, Carlson is the 13th defensemen in NHL history to record 700 points with one franchise. He recorded his 700th point (154 goals and 546 assists) in his 1,049th career game and became the 25th blueliner to reach the milestone in fewer than 1,050 games.
Carlson's 546 assists were the seventh most by a defenseman at the time of their 700th point trailing only Borje Salming (561), Dave Babych (560), Sergei Zubov (559), Chris Chelios (552), Victor Hedman (550) and Scott Stevens (547). Among the 25 defensemen with 700 career points who are eligible for the Hockey Hall of Fame, 20 have been inducted.
Carlson is in his 16th season with Washington and is the franchise's all time leader in games played (1,062), goals (155), assists (552) and points (707) among defensemen. Carlson will be honored with a pregame ceremony on Sunday Feb. 9 in honor of the milestone prior to the Capitals taking on the Utah Hockey Club.
But before the Caps return home they take on the Flyers tonight. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. on Monumental Sports Network and you can also hear the game on 106.7 The Fan and Caps Radio 24/7.