The Stats:
Regular Season
Playoffs
The Charts:
The Key Stat: After not scoring in his first two seasons in Washington, Nick Jensen potted two goals this year. It’d be really something if someone had called Nick Jensen’s goal before it happened, too.
The Good: Nick Jensen isn’t going to bring elite offensive talent to the table. However, whenever he was on the ice last year, the Caps drove play, owning 53.5% of expected goals and 52.5% of actual goals while he was on the ice. Jensen played most of the year with Zdeno Chara, and the two were effective together. In fact, during the playoffs, Jensen & Chara performed admirably while the rest of the defense struggled mightily against the Bruins:
On top of that, Jensen only started 34% of shifts in the offensive zone, so he wasn’t exactly put in a sheltered position. All in all, a pretty impressive year for the 30-year old defensemen, and hopefully Seattle stays far away during the expansion draft.
The Bad: When we said that Jensen isn’t going to wow anyone offensively, we meant it. Jensen’s two goals this year represented the entirety of his goal output with the Caps, and you’d like to see a bit more of an offensive-punch from the mobile blueliner. Additionally, Jensen’s shot share slipped a bit while playing with Chara, which isn’t ideal given that the two played most of the year together.
The Video:
The Discussion: Jensen isn’t going to win any offensive awards, so what else does he need to do to remain effective? Also, assuming Chara won’t be back, who would you like to see Jensen play with? And finally, what would it take for you to give Jensen a 10 next season?
The Vote: Rate Nick Jensen 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.