Rasmus Sandin could do so much more for the Washington Capitals.
By the Numbers
| Summary | |
|---|---|
| 3 | goals |
| 20 | assists |
| 68 | games played |
| 21.1 | average ice time |
| On-ice percentages | |
| 46.1 | 5-on-5 shot-attempt percentage |
| 46.1 | 5-on-5 expected goal percentage |
| 44.2 | 5-on-5 actual goal percentage |
Isolated Impact by HockeyViz
About this visualization: This image by Micah Blake McCurdy of hockeyviz.com shows how the player has impacted play when on the ice. At the top of the image is the team’s offense (even strength at left, power play at right) and at bottom is the team’s defense (with penalty kill at bottom right). In each case, red/orange blobs mean teams shoot for more from that location on the ice, and blue/purple means less. In general, a good player should have red/orange blobs near the opponent’s net at top, and blue/purple bobs near their own team’s net at bottom. The distributions in middle show how the player compares to league average at individual finishing, setting up teammates to score, and taking and drawing penalties. The number at center is Synthetic Goals: a catch-all number for the player’s impact.
Player Card by All Three Zones
About this player card: This image from Corey Sznajder of All Three Zones shows how the player compares to league averages in different microstats in the defensive, neutral, and offensive zones. Blue bars mean the player has a higher rate in that statistic compared to league average, and orange means a lower rate. The numbers are Z-scores, also known as standard deviations, indicating how far the number is from league average, where more than two standard deviations means the player is on the extreme edge of the league.
Player Card by Evolving Hockey
About this player card: This card from Josh and Luke of Evolving Hockey compares the player to league averages based on their impact on on-ice statistics. GAR means “goals above replacement,” where “replacement” means an average player called up from the AHL. xGAR is the same figure but assuming league-average goaltending. The numbers at top are the player’s percentile ranks overall and then for offense and defense alone.
Player Overview by NHL Edge
About this visualization: The NHL’s advanced statistics program, Edge, tracks player and puck movement. At left are the player’s numbers in various statistics along with the average number for that same stat among players of the same position and the player’s percentile rank in it. At right is a radar chart for various statistics, where the bigger the shape the better the player performs in those measures.
Fan Happiness Survey
About this visualization: At three times during the season, RMNB shared an open survey with fans, asking the following question for each player: “On a scale from 1 to 5, how HAPPY are you to have this player on the team?” The numbers above show the average score for the player in each survey period.
Peter’s Take
I’ve been disappointed by Sandin’s time in Washington. I think maybe when the Caps acquired him at the 2023 deadline I was desperate for a shot-in-the-arm to Washington’s blue line, which steeply fell off with Orlov’s exit and Carlson’s injury. Skills-wise, Sandin should have been able to help; he’s been good in transition from back in his time in Toronto. But when asked to save a flailing defensive corps, Sandin just couldn’t do it.
His game is incomplete. He doesn’t have Carlson’s offensive creativity, and when paired with Carlson he doesn’t have the backchecking or board-battle talents to cover for his partner’s well-known weaknesses. Put altogether, in his current role Sandin has been a drag. The Capitals own the smallest share of high-danger chances, 44.8 percent, when he’s on the ice compared to the other skaters. And clocking in at more than 20 minutes per game, Sandin is very exposed.
Maybe he could excel in a slighter role, but that just underscores Washington’s thinness on defense. I expect some improvement from him next year, assuming the Caps improve their offense, but right now I don’t have high hopes for the five years remaining on Sandin’s deal.
Player Summary by ChatGPT
This Sandman won’t put you to sleep, but for all the wrong reasons. With a +/- of -3, this defenderman tallied scarcely 3g in the 2023-24 campaign. His SPAR of -0.6 won’t raise any eye brows, but his xSPAR of -0.9 should raise some alarum bells, as this Uppsala native known by the nom de guerre of Carl has miles left to travel before he sleeps, as the bard so famously put it.
Sandy on RMNB
- On DC: “I love the city. It feels like it has everything a player wants. The organization is awesome, the teammates are awesome, and the fans are really good. Everything was just fantastic there. I can definitely see myself there for a long time to come.”
- John Carlson was in a bit of a mentor role for Sandin.
- Jonas Siegenthaler (!!!) injured him in late October. He had a “sore face.”
- In January, Sandin missed time to illness and an upper-body injury. The latter put him on injured reserve that kept him out for 20 days.
- He might have been the first Cap to get the vaunted “true game-time decision” title.
- In March, he signed a five-year extension worth $4.6 million.
- He got hurt again later that month and again in April. It was a head injury and kept him out for the rest of the regular season.
- He returned for the sweep game.
Your Turn
What’s the right role for Sandin? It can’t be next to Carlson, right?
