Photo: Eric Hartline
The other half of Carlzner. This is the one with all the offense. And the flow. Let’s talk John Carlson.
By the Numbers
| 82 | Games played |
| 23.9 | Average time on ice per game |
| 10 | Goals |
| 27 | Assists |
| 46.9% | Shot attempt percentage during 5v5 |
| 48.0% | Goal percentage during 5v5 |
| 7.6% | On-ice shooting percentage during 5v5 |
| 92.7% | On-ice saving percentage during 5v5 |
Peter’s Take
First and foremost: John Carlson ate up oodles of ice time this season: over 2000 minutes, 300 more than the next guy, his buddy Karl. Adam Oates obviously trusted Carlson, which makes sense considering how rough Oates’ other options on the blue line were. As the more aggressive half of the Caps’ shutdown defensive pairing, Carlson saw his team outshot but only barely outscored during 5v5 (49 to 45), which I consider a successful campaign considering he faced the toughest competition on the team.
Carlson also appears to have usurped Mike Green’s role as power play quarterback (or, put another way, power play token D-man). JC74 got more PP time per game than Green and generated slightly more offense with it.
Overall, John Carlson has proved himself an indispensable player on a decent, long-term contract. One can’t entirely discount his steady possession decline, but if that trend proves to be systemic rather than individual, Carlson is gonna be electric in 2015.
Carly on RMNB
- Photoshop challenge: John Carlson yells at things. This was so much fun.
- Love, Jersey style: pizza and diamond rings.
- Carly kind of got benched after Datsyuk owned him (and two other pylons) in Sochi.
- Before the Games, John spoke with Chris Gordon about Team USA’s work ethic. Team USA got shut out in its last two games and missed the medal podium.
- Who should be the Caps PPQB: Carlson or Mike Green? I really like how Carlson shoots on the PP.
In Pictures
The American flag mouthguards in Sochi were so cool. Carly kept wearing his when he got home. I hope he washed it.
Olympic SCOAR! He was Oshie before Oshie was Oshie.
Getting sassed by Alex Ovechkin.
Here’s a gorgeously greasy goal set up by Marty Erat. Yes, him.
Your Turn
Who do you want as the high man on the power play: Green or Carlson? Is John really a top-line defenseman: is his possession too low for the job, or do you attribute that to systems? How bout that flow, dude?
Read more: Japers Rink, Peerless
