Caps rookie Madison Bowey had a rough season. He was benched in March and did not play again, but he’ll get another chance this fall. We think he’ll do much better next time around.
By The Numbers
| 51 | games played |
| 13.7 | time on ice per game |
| 0 | goals |
| 12 | assists |
| 44.1 | 5-on-5 shot-attempt percentage, adjusted |
| 44.1 | 5-on-5 goal percentage, adjusted |
Visualization by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This series of charts made by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows various metrics for the player over the course of the season. A short description of each chart:
- Most common teammates during 5-on-5
- Ice time per game, split up by game state
- 5-on-5 adjusted shot attempts by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- 5-on-5 adjusted shooting percentage by the team (black) and opponents (red)
- Individual scoring events by the player
- 5-on-5 adjusted offensive (black) and defensive (red) zone starts
Peter’s Take
Madison Bowey was one of the new players I was most excited about as 2017-18 began. Along with Djoos, it seemed like the Caps farm of defensemen was strong. That might still be true, but Bowey’s rookie season was troubled.
Paired with Brooks Orpik for 60 percent of his ice time, Bowey got caved in. The Caps owned just 42.1 percent of the shots and 33.3 percent of the goals (7-14) during their shifts. Opponents saw their rate of high-danger chances increase by ten percent against Bowey-Orpik than against the worst defensive teams in the league.
It’s easy to conclude that it didn’t work. It’s harder to say why. Bowey is not in the same class as Orpik’s former partner, Nate Schmidt, but he does have some of Schmidt’s flair on offense. The problem seemed that the Caps just didn’t play much offense during Bowey’s shifts, perhaps because they had such a hard time getting the puck back and transitioning to offense. When Bowey got ice time with one of the team’s best puck-moving defensemen in Dmitry Orlov (153 minutes together), Bowey saw the highest shot share (51.9 percent) of his season.
And that’s why I’m not panicking about Madison Bowey yet. It was absolutely the right thing in February when Trotz ended Bowey’s rookie year early – it might have saved the Caps’ season – but I’m not ready to give up on Bowey.
Bowey on RMNB
- We saw Madison earlier than we might have thought. He was recalled once Matt Niskanen was injured in mid-October.
- On his first NHL game: “It’s a dream that I’ve had since I was five-years-old. It’s been definitely a dream come true so far, it’s been a whirlwind I think it’s just gonna get better from here for sure.”
- Bowey’s first NHL point came as a secondary assist on this Chandler Stephenson goal.
- Christmas costumes. Aaaaalright.
- On Willie O’Ree, who was recently inducted into the hall of fame: “He’s why I wear 22 because he was the first [black] player to play in the NHL, so he has a lot of history for me and it’s definitely a big deal in my life. “
- Madison Bowey was fined for this hit on Matt Hendricks.
- How Bowey and Jakub Vrana prepare for games: holding hands.
- After the season ended, I took a deeper look at Bowey’s numbers and came back encouraged.
Your Turn
Can Bowey take the next step and stick in the NHL next season? What kind of circumstances would help him do so?
Read more: Japers’ Rink
Headline photo: Chris Gordon
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