Regular season
Playoffs
Key Stat: The Capitals’ penalty kill rate jumped from 78.5% before the trade deadline to 80.8% over the remaining six weeks of the season, thanks in large part to the addition of Hagelin, who led all Caps forwards in shorthanded average time on ice (2:21 minutes per night) by the time the season was said and done.
The Good: Hagelin proved to be a huge problem for the Capitals for years, especially in the playoffs with the years of being a thorn in the Caps’ side – particularly in the playoffs during his stints with the Rangers and Penguins, both of who always triumphed.
At the trade deadline, the Caps brought in the 30-year-old, who’d struggled in Pittsburgh and Los Angeles, to bolster their PK heading into the final half of the season, as well as bring in another forward to step up on the bottom-6 and bring speed to the lineup.
He had no problem fitting in, becoming an instant leader in the locker room and an asset on ice who displayed automatic chemistry with his teammates – pretty much on any line. He finished with three goals and 11 points through his 20 games with Washington to close out the regular season. Prior to that, he’d had just two goals and six points in 38 games combined between the Penguins and Kings this year.
Not only that, he was outstanding possession-wise and led the team in even-strength CF with a robust 57.5% and even-strength SCF just a shade under 59%.
Additionally, Washington allowed just nine power-play goals over the final 20 games of the year, and that can certainly be created to Hagelin’s performance.
The Bad: Hagelin was sold and seemed to be the perfect fir foe the Caps; however, his production didn’t necessarily carry over to the postseason. He had just one assist over seven games and was a minus-1. Although he had a strong finish with Washington in the regular season, he seemed to have lost an edge against Carolina, and that consistency wasn’t there.
The Video:
The Charts:
The Discussion: Hagelin was a huge help on the PK and in the team’s bottom-six in general – if the Caps are able to re-sign him, would you want him back? What kind of contract would you give him to keep him in DC? What do you see his role being going forward, should he stick around? What would it take for you to give him a ‘10’ next year?
Other Hagelin Season Reviews: Peerless, RMNB
The Vote: Rate Hagelin below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.