The Gift Of Health

Semyon Varlamov is expected back within the next few days, and as Coach Boudreau pointed out, the team will basically be at full health for the first time this year when he returns (unless someone else gets hurt in the meantime, knock on wood).  So how much damage could a healthy Caps squad do? 

I took the Caps' current stats through 37 games, divided by the number of games each player had played (see the % GP column), and then projected the stats out to a complete season.  (I used stats only for players who had played nine games or more -- sorry Boyd).  The assumption in this table is that each player will stay healthy and play the next 45 games.  Obviously, that can't happen -- there aren't enough roster spots to go around to let everyone who has contributed so far this season play in all of the next 45.  But if it was possible, and everyone matched their production so far over the rest of the year, here's how the end of season stats would look.

A few things stand out:

• Ovechkin's PIMs -- if he keeps racking up the misconducts at his current rate, Colin Campbell will see that he doesn't play all of the next 45. 
• More Fun With PIMs -- John Erskine has just about twice as many PIMs as anyone who hasn't won consecutive Harts.  For better or for worse, he is the team's enforcer.  Next it's ShaMo, who's having a brutal season all around.  After him, it's Chris Clark.  I'd actually like to see Clark's PIMs a little higher.  For many reasons, he'd be a better garbageman than Erskine.  Rounding out the 50+ club are three skills guys, Green, Semin and Knuble, each of whom need to stop taking so many penalties.  Green gets a bit of a pass from me because he plays 50% more minutes than the wings and because he plays such tough minutes.  But for Semin and Knuble, 55+ PIMs in about 70 games is way, way too high.
  
• Flash's Goals And Shots -- I think this brings home how lucky Flash has been in a way that a bare shooting percentage number does not.  I actually think he could end the year north of 30 goals -- but he'll have to take more than 180 shots to get there.  His current projection of 150 shots ain't going to do it.
• Offense from the Defense -- 79 points in 80 games from Mike Green:  Very Good.  91 points from your next 5 defensemen combined:  Not Good.  I don't have a problem with Jeff Schultz at 23 points.  I do have a problem with nobody else on the blue line finishing above him.  Poti, Pothier, and Juice particularly need to step up.  
• Power Forwards -- 21 goals, 27 assists from Eric Fehr has to be seen as good year from him.  22 goals, 38 assists from Brooks Laich is probably what we should have expected from him.  17 goals, 34 assists from Knuble would be a mild disappointment -- particularly that goals total.  Let's hope Fehr and Laich keep it up, and that Knuble gets hot.
• Matty P -- I love me some Perreault.  But if he played the next 45 games and ended the year with 25 points in 63 games, well, that wouldn't be so good.  For now, he's exactly where he needs to be.
• Gettin' Paid -- Backstrom and Semin are having the years we expected from them.  Backstrom deserves a Toews-like contract.  Semin?  Well, he'll have to step it up even more if he wants a contract like Kane's.  I think 40 goals is a magic number for Semin going into the offseason.  Brendan Morrison has earned himself a bit of a raise, but not a huge one.  Meanwhile, the other UFAs are having poor-to-terrible seasons, statistically: Pothier, Morrisonn, Jurcina, Sloan, and especially Steckel.

And my apologies in advance to anyone who was waiting four more games to do a midseason breakdown with some of this info.

Edited:  Here's Chimera

Chimera was already on pace to have one of his best seasons.  Let's see what he can do rocking the red.