The Stats:
Regular Season
Playoffs
The Charts:
The Key Stat: Schultz registered 24 assists in 46 contests for the highest average of his nine-year career (0.52 assists per game). 19 (!) of those assists were primaries.
The Good: For the third time in Schultz’s career he finished with a positive +/- rating at +12, resulting from a good combination of five on five play with and without the puck. His 27 points were the most he has tallied since the 2016-2017 season in Pittsburgh and represent a nice return to form for the defenseman. Of his three goals this season one was a game winner that came late in a January home ice contest against the Islanders. All three of his goals were scored at five on five.
The Bad: Schultz missed ten games – nearly 20% of this regular season. Most of those missed games were the result of a fluke injury in February but this past season marked his third consecutive significantly shortened campaign. In the five game first round series against Boston Schultz’s ATOI rose over three minutes (22:24) and he only registered four shots and a -2 rating. He was, infamously, involved in the double overtime debacle behind the net.
The Video:
The Discussion: Schultz is signed up for one more season in Washington with a four million dollar cap hit. Can he be healthy and contribute to a strong Capitals top four? Does Schultz still have another level of production if given power play opportunities? Do you fault Schultz for Craig Smith’s 2OT winner? Finally, what would it take for you to give Schultz a 10 next season?
The Vote: Rate Justin Schultz 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.