Star blueliners bristle at being called ‘offensive’
WASHINGTON — Washington Capitals defenceman John Carlson went end to end, stealing the puck in the defensive zone before racing down the ice and firing a wrist shot past the shoulder of goaltender Jonathan Quick. It was the first of Carlson’s two highlight-reel goals Wednesday in Los Angeles during the Capitals’ California road trip, exemplifying perfect execution on both ends of the ice.
Carlson’s strong defence created offence. As his point total continues to soar — 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists) in 31 games this season — his teammates and coaches find themselves reminding reporters of Carlson’s defensive strengths. They don’t want Carlson to be typecast as an “offensive defenceman.”
“He’s not all offence; he’s not carrying the puck the entire game like some of the other guys in the league that I would call offensive,” Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. “He’s a guy that understands his role, his importance and his strengths in supporting the rush from behind, defending with his stick and with his body, and he is able to play a two-way game.”
The “offensive defenceman” label has been thrown around for years, but in this era, what is its true definition? Do players get miffed when they are categorized as “offensive?” The answers vary.
Drew Doughty of the Los Angeles Kings, the 2015-16 Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenceman, considers himself “one of the most well-rounded defencemen in the league” — someone who is proficient at both
ends of the ice.
But call Doughty an offensive defenceman and he’ll start listing his defensive attributes: his ability to play against the other team’s best players and his status as the first player on the penalty kill and the first on the ice in the last minute of games. It’s a similar reaction from Carlson, who will point to the changing game.
“Everyone has got to be able to move the puck — maybe not the second defenceman jumping into the rush, but in the offensive zone if someone is coming up the wall, a defenceman isn’t just going to stand there,” Carlson said. “You are (a) making it harder for the guy with the puck and (b), you know, making it easier for them to play two guys on the one guy coming up the wall.”
Erik Karlsson, a two-time Norris Trophy winner who four times has finished among the Top 10 in Hart Trophy voting for the league MVP, said there has been an evolution at the position.
When he entered the league in 2009, Karlsson said, defencemen “didn’t need to skate as well.” Instead, they needed to handle the puck more.
Now, “you just have to be able to skate and move it fast to someone who is fast.”
In the offensive zone if someone is coming up the wall, a defenceman isn’t just going to stand there.”
John Carlson