3 – Number of days remaining until the 2016-17 season. But it’s also…
…the number of players on the Caps’ roster with at least 70 points last season, with Alex Ovechkin (71), Evgeny Kuznetsov (77) and Nicklas Backstrom (70) all cracking that mark. That’s the most the team has had since the 2009-10 campaign, and was tied for the most in the League with San Jose (Joe Thornton, Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns); in fact, the Caps and Sharks combined for roughly 35% of the 17 total 70+ point-scorers last season.
Since 2005-06, 117 different players have hit the 70-point mark a combined 301 times; 20 of those 70-point seasons have been in a Caps uniform (with Ovechkin’s nine, tied for the most in the League over that span, leading the way). That trails only San Jose, who have a slight edge by claiming half of Thornton’s 125-point 2005-06 season.