Photo by Amanda Bowen

Brooks Laich doesn’t have any points yet in the 2015-16 season, but if he continues to play how he has so far, he will help to solidify the Caps bottom six. It’s only been four games, so the point here is “he’s played well in four games.” There is no bigger narrative attached because the sample size is so small.

So far, 393 forwards have played 10-plus minutes of 5v5 hockey. You’ll see in the graphic below, from War on Ice, Brooks Laich relative shot attempt percentage ranks first.

After adjusting for score effects, the Caps have done 21.11 percent better in shot attempts when Laich has been on the ice. The smaller box is Laich’s raw shot-attempt percentage. The Caps have seen 69.64 of the overall shot attempts with Laich on the ice so far this season.

His possession numbers will regress, but if his strong play continues, the points will come. The Caps have shot zero percent with Laich on the ice this season (and his on-ice save percentage is just 79.33 percent), so with a little more puck luck, number 21 will be on the score sheet soon.