Insider Reveals John Carlson's Timeline of Return from Scary Injury
The only Washington Capitals player more crucial than defenseman John Carlson is their captain, Alexander Ovechkin. Carlson's 917 games with the Caps trail only Ovechkin (1,313) and Nicklas Backstrom (1,058) on the active roster, and his two-way dominance has entrenched him as one of the NHL's very best blue-liners.
When Carlson ate a Brenden Dillon (D, WPG) slapshot on December 23rd, the clear distress of his teammates was the first thing fans noticed after the incident itself. An absolutely critical component of Washington's locker room, Carlson is loved by his teammates and fans.
Head coach Peter Laviolette maintained from the outset that his prized defenseman would miss a considerable amount of time, but exactly how much was never made clear.
Insider Tarik El-Bashir, who covers the Capitals for The Athletic, recently reported that Carlson's return is a matter of months, not weeks. Which is terrible news for Washington, who is neck-deep in injuries at the moment and has stiff competition for a playoff berth in a stacked Metropolitan Division.
Team officials are hopeful the No. 1 defenseman plays again well before the playoffs. Washington's final regular season game is scheduled for April 13.
Carlson — and his $8 million salary — figures to be put on long-term injury reserve soon to clear the salary cap space needed to activate other players."
El-Bashir also added that - in lighter news - forwards T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson, and Nicklas Backstrom could each return by mid-January, which is fantastic news. Unfortunately, their back-end will have a void to fill until the end of the regular season, which could very well prove to be too late.
With 47 points, the Caps have just a 3-point cushion on their playoff spot with both New York teams, the Pittsburgh Penguins and one or two other Atlantic Division teams nipping at their heels for the Wild Card spots.
The only hope is that Carlson returns ahead of schedule and can help the Caps in their playoff push come February/March/April.
Source: Tarik El-Bashir - The Athletic
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 2 | 135 ANSWERS Insider Reveals John Carlson's Timeline of Return from Scary Injury Will the Washington Capitals make the playoffs this season? | ||
| Yes | 60 | 44.4 % |
| No | 38 | 28.1 % |
| See results | 37 | 27.4 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||