Eric Fehr is a great many things: the greatest outdoor goal-scorer in the history of the NHL; alternately a first-line winger, a third-line center, or a healthy scratch; Washington’s second-most prolific shooter; and a children’s book author. Starting in July, he’ll also be an unrestricted free agent.
I think Fehr is one of the most undervalued and underutilized players on the Capitals roster, and he should be a priority for re-signing. Let me tell you why.
By the Numbers
| 75 | Games played |
| 14:51 | Average time on ice per game |
| 19 | Goals |
| 14 | Assists |
| 51.2% | Shot attempt percentage during 5v5 |
| 53.1% | Goal percentage during 5v5 |
Fehr’s on-ice shot-attempt percentage in 10-game running segments, according to War on Ice:
Peter’s Take
The season started about as good as it possibly could for Eric Fehr. On opening night, he was the first-line right wing for the Washington Capitals, sharing time with Alex Ovechkin and Nick Backstrom. Together they owned 57 percent of the shot attempts and 57 percent of the goals, but it didn’t last. By the middle of October, Fehr was on the third line between the twins. By the end of the October, he was a scratch.
There’s something in Fehr’s game that coaches don’t like. Some call it glide or an unwillingness to play Heavy Hockey. We saw it with Oates, who scratched Fehr nearly all of October 2013, and saw it– to a much lesser degree with Trotz in 2014-15. And yet Fehr’s results are indisputable: 19 goals, all but 2 during even strength; and 14 assists, all of them during even strength (with not always great linemates). That’s better production than the Caps got out of Kuznetsov, Wilson, Laich, Ward, and a bunch of other players who were given more opportunity to succeed in DC.
Fehr is a goal scorer. Ask the Brandon Wheat Kings– or just consult the individual 5v5 shot attempts among Capitals forwards, where Fehr ranks second only behind Alex Ovechkin (who ranks first among everyone on the planet). Depending on how he’s used, Fehr could either be a deadly, net-crashing right wing for Ovi or the second-line scoring threat this team lacked most of the season. Instead, he was thrust into the center spot next to weak possession players (Ward, Laich, Chimera).
Part of that is a problem of roster construction. The Capitals lack middle-six-quality centers, so they kept on assigning utility players to try to fill the role. The other part of the problem is talent evaluation: the Caps just don’t know what they’ve got in Eric Fehr. He’s a real good hockey player who rarely is given the opportunity to play real good hockey.
I think it’s unlikely that Fehr will re-sign in Washington, and I am sad.
Frank on RMNB
- I want to open with the GIF above, which was Fehr’s reaction to a headbutt by Maxim LaPierre. Fehr has one of the coolest heads on the team, and it paid off– he committed just 7 penalties and drew 15, which, for the Caps, is basically like scoring extra two goals for his team.
- Fehr was injured by Kyle Okposo in game three of the first round, but returned for game seven of the second.
- Fehr on that final draw of the season, and perhaps of his career in Washington, the one before the overtime game-winner for New York: “I would like to have that draw back. . .It’s a weak side draw against a strong side draw. It’s tough.”
Eric Fehr > Wayne Gretzky, Exhibit A http://t.co/U5uUHJGHIN pic.twitter.com/v4qF2y8Q1W
— RMNB (@rmnb) January 11, 2015
- Trotz, for a while in October, played Fehr between Chimera and Ward– much like Oates did last season. “With that line, I think that Fehrsie’s got really good hockey IQ,” Trotz said. “He can read off those two guys.” Trotz scratched Fehr the next week.
- This next GIF, an overtime game winner, is exemplary of what Eric does best. I wish there were a pithy, three-word phrase for the kind of hockey where you skate boldly towards the opponent’s goal.
- Despite that play, Fehr was jumped all around the lineup. “I just want to have a spot and consistently play, just not be moving around every night,” Fehr told Chris Gordon in November, shortly after he returned from a healthy scratch with the big goal above in his first game back.
- If he goes, he will have left us with a treasure trove of secret Capitals nicknames. Steam and Snarls, and my favorite, FRANK.
- Frank on the shootout: “I don’t think it really belongs in the game.”
- The save of the season might have belonged to Fehr. Or at least it would have if Fehr had been holding his stick when this happened:
- When Ted Leonsis entered into Nats Park on January 1, he, well, I’ll him tell the story: “I walked in today and saw Eric and said ‘You’re our x-factor.” You took it to #thebank, Ted. You took it to #thebank.
- Finally, here’s a visual reminder that Eric Fehr is the Washington Capitals Franchise All-Time Outdoor Scoring Leader (WCFATOSL)
Your Turn
What are the chances Fehr will re-sign with the Caps? Give me an amount and a term length– I’m thinking south of $2.4M AAV, but what do I know? That last one was a rhetorical question, so don’t answer that.
Read more: Japers Rink
