It’s 9:30 on a Saturday night and the favorites to win the NHL’s Eastern Conference hardly look the part, having just surrendered eight goals in a lopsided loss at Philadelphia.
Media types stream into the Washington Capitals’ locker room at Wells Fargo Center looking for answers. The most sought-after player? That would be defenseman John Carlson.
The Marlboro, Mass., native can be counted on to analyze what went wrong in succinct and honest fashion. And that says a lot about his role with this team, which has seven players on the roster earning more money than he does but none who earn more respect from his teammates.
No doubt he’s a leader on defense and, with the recent loss of veteran Matt Niskanen to long-term injury, the 27-year-old Carlson might be considered the go-to guy for spokesperson on the back line.
After the 8-2 loss to the Flyers, Carlson was asked if, as a leader, he saw the performance as something that might serve as a lesson to some of the younger players in the lineup. "No," he stated. "I think you (veterans) should lead by example. Make sure that they can look up to you. They will be fine and this was certainly not ideal."
The problems continued for the Capitals as they stumbled to a 4-4-1 mark after nine games, good for only sixth in the Metropolitan Division. If not for the underachieving New York Rangers, the Capitals might be considered the most disappointing Metro squad of the early going.
With Niskanen out, Carlson was doing his best to make up for the loss. In a 2-0 defeat by Toronto, Carlson logged a season-high 27:33, practically half the game, and one of the highest regulation-time game totals of his career.
Goaltender Braden Holtby said not to worry. "He’s done that in the past; he’s more than capable of doing it," Holtby said. "He’s skating well now; he looks comfortable with whomever he’s partnered with. He’s taking on a bigger leadership role with the young guys coming in and feeling comfortable."
Of note, Carlson is an impending unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. He’s making $3,966,667 per year on his expiring contract but, as previously mentioned, that’s only eighth-highest on the team. Carlson is conscious that this is a "walk" year and that his next contract, whether it be in Washington or some other locale, depends a lot not only on his individual production but also that of his team.
The two, in a sense, are intertwined. The rout by the Flyers certainly opened some eyes. If another Presidents’ Trophy is in the offing for the Capitals, this is not exactly the way it was designed on the drawing board.
"It doesn’t matter how you lose," Carlson said. "But certainly the way we lost doesn’t make you feel good. I’m sure we’ll take some time to think about it, learn from it and get better.
"We certainly could have done better tonight."
At times, Carlson has been paired with rookie Christian Djoosunder, and this is an example of a veteran imparting his wisdom on a youngster. It’s part of what makes Carlson so valuable. He logs time at even strength, the power play, the penalty kill, the last minute of games — you name it.
"You get more minutes, you don’t just want to float through them." Carlson said. "I need to keep the pedal down all the time and elevate my game further every single second for those minutes I’m getting."
Carlson was born in Massachusetts but was at a young age when his family moved to New Jersey. He began his ice hockey career with the New Jersey Rockets Youth Hockey Organization of the Atlantic Youth Hockey League. Carlson lived near the Rockets’ headquarters based in Newark for Tier 2 juniors and Somerset for Tier 1.
This gave him a solid footing for his young adult hockey, including the United States Hockey League (Indiana Ice) and later the London Knights of the OHL. He was drafted 27th overall in 2008 by the Caps and made the jump to the NHL in November 2009.
After years of strong service with the Capitals, there’s a chance this could be his last go-round. If Washington goes in a different direction, plenty of teams will come calling.
That’s what puts his effort this season under the magnifying glass.
If nothing else, he — and the rest of the Caps — want a better finish than last year’s second-round ouster by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"You still think about it all the time," Carlson said. "You run into people, talk to people, it always kind of comes up.
"There’s no hiding from it. You really just have to shift your focus and make sure that what we’re doing now is going to set us up for the end of this year."
