From Beauvillier to Wilson, we’re taking a look at and grading the 2024-25 season for every player who laced ‘em up for the Washington Capitals for a significant number of games during the campaign, with an eye towards 2025-24. Next up, Brandon Duhaime.
The Bio:
#22 | Right Wing | Shoots: Left
Height: 6’2” | Weight: 210 | Born: May 22, 1997
Birthplace: Coral Springs, FL | Acquired: Signed as a free agent on July 1, 2024
Cap Hit: $1,850,000 | Signed Through: 2025-26 | Expiry Status: Unrestricted Free Agent
The Scouting Report (via EP)
The Stats:
The Charts:
The Key Stat: Duhaime set a new career high in points this season with 21, four more than his previous high set in his rookie season.
The Good: In a summer full of new additions, Brandon Duhaime was probably one of the more underrated pleasant surprises. Not only did he set new career highs in goals, assists, points, and ice time, but he also made up a third of the team’s effective shutdown fourth line. Alongside Nic Dowd and a rotation of other wingers, Duhaime was tasked with hefty defensive assignments; in fact, Duhaime and Dowd were tied for the fewest offensive-zone starts on the team and yet #22 finished at around 50% across the board in underlying even-strength stats. He also stepped up his game in the playoffs, particularly against the Canadiens, putting up four points in the team’s 10 games.
But let’s be honest – it’s not the defense or even the surprising offense that makes Duhaime’s addition to the lineup so special and memorable. It was, in a word, vibes. In a room filled with weirdos and lots of love, it seems like Duhaime brought more lovable weirdness to the table than anyone else (and plenty of pranks, to boot) Teammate after teammate has talked about what “Doggy” brought to the room this season, and every single one of them did so with a smile.
The Bad: While he did provide a decent amount of offense for him…that still wasn’t a ton of offense. He generated the fourth-lowest GF/60 at evens among all Caps, and the third-lowest xGF/60, ahead of only a player who finished the season in Hershey and another who finished the season on another team. A look at his GAR charts above shows that he had the second-lowest impact of his four seasons, and was at the bottom of the pile among all Caps:
The Video: This man is a lunatic…and we love him for it.
The Discussion: Duhaime has one more year left on a contract worth less than $2M; if the Caps re-up him next season, what price point/number of years do you think sounds right for the feisty fourth-liner? Do his defensive skills (and energy and pranks and barking) make up for what is something of a lack of offense?
The Vote: Rate Brandon Duhaime 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 – so 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.