On Saturday night, when the Washington Capitals host the Boston Bruins, Capitals defenseman, John Carlson, will play in his 1,000th NHL career game. He has spent his entire career with the Capitals. Carlson reflected on his upcoming milestone earlier this week.
“When you first break into the League you think about certain things, and you see guys hitting milestones and you think, ‘Oh my God. There’s no way I’m going to be able to do that’ or ‘That seems so far away. And here we are.”
Carlson will be the third Capitals player to reach the 1,000 game milestone with the Capitals, preceded by Alex Ovechkin (on April 2, 2008) and Nicklas Backstrom (on April 15, 2021). Ovechkin has played in 1,416 games (1417 games after tonight) while Backstrom has played in 1,105 games. On February 26 during a game against the Ottawa Senators, Carlson passed Calle Johansson (983) in games played by a defenseman for the Capitals’ franchise.
The Early Days
Carlson was born on January 10, 1990 in Natick, Massachusetts, but mostly grew up in New Jersey. He played one season in the USHL and was originally slated to play college hockey with the University of Massachusetts starting in 2008, but ultimately played junior hockey with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
The Capitals drafted Carlson in the first round with the 27th pick overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. He was the Capitals’ second pick in the first round, the first being Anton Gustafsson (Pick #20 overall) who never made it to the NHL. The Capitals traded defenseman Steve Eminger to the Flyers in exchange for the draft pick that was used to draft Carlson in 2008.
After a season with the London Knights, where the Knights advanced to the Western Conference Finals of the OHL, he joined the Hershey Bears who were in the playoffs. He made his professional debut on May 2, 2009, against the Wilkes-Barre Penguins and scored his first professional goal in his very next game. He ultimately played in 16 games as the Bears became Calder Cup Champions.
He returned to the Bears to start the 2009-10 season and had a heavy workload for them from the start. But on November 19, when Capitals’ defensemen Shaone Morrisonn and Milan Jurcina were both nursing injuries, the Capitals called up Carlson from the Bears where he made his debut against the Montreal Canadians the following day in a game the Capitals ultimately lost 3-2. He remained with the Capitals for three more games and was then returned to the Bears.
Carlson represented the United States in the IIHF World Junior Championships in 2009-10 and scored the game-winning goal in the Gold Medal game against Canada on January 5, 2010, for a 6-5 victory for the USA.
That day, coincidentally was Alex Ovechkin’s first game as Captain of the Capitals. The footage of Carlson’s game-winning goal in Overtime for Team USA was shown to benefit Capitals fans attending the game that night. Capitals fans could now hardly wait for him to become a full-time member of the team.
Accomplishments with Capitals
After the break for the 2010 Olympics, Carlson returned to the Capitals to stay. Carlson scored his first NHL goal against the Carolina Hurricanes on March 25, a game they lost 3-2 in a shootout.
After the Capitals were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round, Carlson returned to the Bears and helped them win their second consecutive Calder Cup. But, after that, he was a full-time NHL player.
Steady John
Carlson has been a stalwart in the Capitals lineup ever since. He played 412 consecutive games from the 2010-11 season through December 26, 2015. He and fellow young defenseman, Karl Alzner, both anchored the Capitals’ defense for many years until Alzner left the team after the 2016-17 season.
Carls0n has scored in double digits for goals in nine of the 15 seasons with the team and only ranks one goal behind Kevin Hatcher (149) for goals scored by a defenseman for the franchise. He is the franchise’s all-time leader in points by a defenseman with 667 points (148 goals, 519 assists).
Carlson anks fourth overall for the franchise in points (after Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Peter Bondra) and third overall in assists (after Ovechkin and Backstrom). He is also the franchise leader for defensemen with 19 goals, 54 assists, 74 points, and 123 games, including 20 points (five goals and 15 assists) in 24 games in 2018 when the Capitals won the Stanley Cup.
Final Reflections
Carlson reflected on how much playing 1,000 games with the same franchise. “It means a lot. Obviously, everyone wants a good career, and everyone wants to have a long career and to do it for one team would be even more special just based on all the relationships and the ties that I do have to this organization now.
“There’s so much that goes into it. There’s so many factors that makes it special. I think timing and where the team is and how you perform, there’s so much that goes into it, but I don’t take it lightly that I get to do it for one team.”
The Capitals will hold an official ceremony for Carlson on April 7 before their game with the Ottawa Senators.
Related Reading
NHL: Carlson Proud To Reach 1000 Game Milestone
Top of the Blueline Totem Pole: John Carlson Becomes Franchise Points Leader Among Defensemen, Passes Calle Johansson
John Carlson Ties And Passes Mike Green and Calle Johansson For Third All-Time In Goals Among Capitals Defenseman
By Diane Doyle
