The Capitals’ No. 1 defenseman set career-highs across the board in 2014-15. What can we expect moving forward?
The offseason departure of Mike Green leaves John Carlson as the Capitals' primary offensive blueliner. It's a role for which he's already pretty well suited; the 25-year-old Carlson finished fifth among defensemen in points in 2014-15 while playing tough minutes, with good underlying numbers, as well — second on the Caps' blueline in Corsi (to Nate Schmidt) and passing offense (again, to Schmidt), too.
With Green in Detroit and with Matt Niskanen's more modest output, one of the team's pressing questions going forward is whether Carlson can keep it up.