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John Carlson

Position	Right Defense	Current Team	Washington Capitals
Shoots	Right	Current Contract	8 years
Height	6'3"	Expires	2025-26
Weight (lbs)	220	Expiry Age (Jun 30)	36
Age	35 (Jan 10, 1990)	Expiry Status	UFA
Drafted	2008, Round 1, Overall 27 (WSH)

Date	Team	Transaction
Jun 25, 2018	Washington Capitals	Signed 8 years @ $8.000M AAV starting in 2018-19
Sep 15, 2012	Washington Capitals	Signed 6 years @ $3.967M AAV starting in 2012-13
Nov 4, 2008	Washington Capitals	Signed to an entry level contract.

Status History Coming Soon

2025-26 Player Card

URL: https://www.thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20252026/john-carlson-8474590.png

2024-25 Player Card

URL: https://www.thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20242025/john-carlson-8474590.png

2023-24 Player Card

URL: https://www.thestanleycap.com/cdn/player_cards/20232024/john-carlson-8474590.png

About Player Cards

Player cards present an infographic of a players performance. In this case it shows the player performance over a 3 season span. Each square is separated into three separate sub-boxes with the two smaller boxes on top representing the past two seasons and the larger box on the bottom representing the current or most recent season. This allows the reader to guage how consistent a player has been, and if early in the season it can help identify whether a players performance may be impacted by small sample size and subject to regression or is consistent with recent past performance.

Notes and Definitions

The numbers represent percentiles so the higher the better.
Percentiles are determined by comparing Forwards to Forwards and Defensemen to Defensemen.
Bursts/mi are calculated from NHL Edge Data are are speed bursts above 20mpg per mile skated. The NHL doesn't adjust for ice time so the players that skate more will naturally have more bursts over 20, or at least more opportunity to have more. The NHL also does not provide ice time in the context of NHL Edge Statistics, however, it does provide distance skated. By adjusting for distance skated it will have a similar effect to adjusting for ice time but also adjust for situationional effect. For example, Players don't typically skate as much on the PK, mostly within the defensive zone, so don't get significant opportunity in that ice time to get speed bursts above 20mph. Adjusting with miles skates would account for this better than adjusting with ice time.
Sh%AE is Shooting Percentage above Expected (Sh% - xSh%) and is an indicator of how good a shooter is at converting chances into goals.
Relative statistics are On Ice - Off Ice statistics and can be an indicator of whether the player makes his teammates better or worse.
All data is 5v5 except Shooting Hardest and Average, Skating Top Speed and Bursts/mi which are all situations, ES Average which is even strength (NHL doesn't give a specific definition).

Data Sources

Salary data is from TheStanleyCap.com
Shooting and Skating (except Sh%AE) are from NHL Edge
Other statistics are from Puckalytics.com and derived from data from NHL.com

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5v5 Individual Stats

Season	Team(s)	GP	TOI	G/60	A/60	Pts/60	xG/60	GAE/60	Sh%	xSh%	Sh%AE	%SA Rush	%SA Reb.
2015-16	WSH	55	931:08	0.32	0.97	1.29	0.25	0.08	6.10	4.67	1.43	0.00	0.87
2016-17	WSH	72	1145:04	0.26	0.68	0.94	0.30	-0.04	4.39	5.02	-0.63	1.76	2.94
2017-18	WSH	82	1392:58	0.39	0.86	1.25	0.32	0.07	5.84	4.84	1.00	0.92	3.69
2018-19	WSH	80	1324:02	0.36	1.09	1.45	0.23	0.13	6.56	4.13	2.43	1.74	1.74
2019-20	WSH	69	1171:59	0.56	1.28	1.84	0.27	0.29	8.27	3.97	4.30	1.66	4.42
2020-21	WSH	52	874:42	0.48	1.17	1.65	0.25	0.23	7.61	4.02	3.58	0.00	2.31
2021-22	WSH	77	1255:56	0.24	0.96	1.19	0.29	-0.06	3.91	4.81	-0.91	2.20	1.10
2022-23	WSH	40	651:42	0.28	0.64	0.92	0.32	-0.04	4.00	4.61	-0.61	0.86	3.45
2023-24	WSH	82	1487:19	0.16	0.73	0.89	0.27	-0.11	3.28	5.53	-2.25	1.08	4.86
2024-25	WSH	79	1282:12	0.14	1.26	1.40	0.25	-0.11	2.63	4.62	-1.99	0.00	1.69
2025-26	WSH	23	365:37	0.66	1.48	2.13	0.39	0.26	9.52	5.68	3.84	0.00	6.67

5v5 On Ice Stats

Season	Team(s)	GP	TOI	SAF/60	GF/60	xGF/60	SAA/60	GA/60	xGA/60	GF%	xGF%	xGF Rel	xGA Rel	xGF% Rel
2015-16	WSH	55	931:08	42.66	2.58	2.57	40.72	1.74	2.38	59.70	51.99	0.14	0.16	-0.33
2016-17	WSH	72	1145:04	41.87	2.62	2.56	43.23	2.10	2.58	55.56	49.78	0.12	0.40	-2.90
2017-18	WSH	82	1392:58	42.73	2.67	2.56	46.48	2.46	2.71	52.10	48.53	0.16	0.01	1.50
2018-19	WSH	80	1324:02	46.99	4.08	2.80	45.41	2.81	2.92	59.21	48.93	0.44	0.30	1.52
2019-20	WSH	69	1171:59	46.02	3.23	2.71	43.62	2.97	2.65	52.07	50.62	0.13	0.20	-0.70
2020-21	WSH	52	874:42	42.25	3.02	2.48	40.88	2.68	2.35	53.01	51.33	0.19	0.18	-0.07
2021-22	WSH	77	1255:56	44.24	2.77	2.65	41.32	2.39	2.58	53.70	50.69	0.12	0.22	-1.07
2022-23	WSH	40	651:42	48.34	2.85	3.03	44.19	3.13	2.88	47.69	51.32	0.61	0.36	2.30
2023-24	WSH	82	1487:19	40.66	2.14	2.55	44.82	2.66	2.62	44.54	49.28	0.44	0.22	2.54
2024-25	WSH	79	1282:12	45.72	3.04	2.75	38.09	2.48	2.32	55.08	54.20	0.39	0.05	3.26
2025-26	WSH	23	365:37	46.44	3.77	2.80	38.07	2.63	2.41	58.97	53.77	0.20	0.05	1.30

NHL Edge Stats

		Skating				Shooting					Zone Time
Season	GP	Top Speed	Bursts>20/mi	Avg. Speed	ES Avg. Speed	Top Speed	Avg. Speed	%Long Range	%Mid Range	%High Danger	ES DZ%	ES NZ%	ES OZ%
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Legend

Percentile 0-25

Percentile 25-50

Percentile 50-75

Percentile 75-100

Forwards are compared with forwards and Defensemen are are compared with Defensemen.

5v5 Defense Pairs

Season

Season	Teammate	Team	TOI	GF/60	GA/60	GF%	xGF/60	xGA/60	xGF%	xGF Rel	xGA Rel	xGF% Rel
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Glossary

Type	Statistic	Definition
Individual	G/60	Goals Against per 60 minutes.
Individual	A/60	Assists per 60 minutes.
Individual	Pts/60	Points per 60 minutes.
Individual	xG/60	Expected Goals per 60 minutes.
Individual	GAE/60	Goals Above Expected (G/60 - xG/60).
Individual	Sh%	Shooting Percentage.
Individual	xSh%	Expected Shooting Percentage.
Individual	Sh%AE	Shooting percentage above expected (Sh% - xSh%).
Individual	%SA Rush	Percentage of shot attempts determined to be on the rush.
Individual	%SA Reb.	Percentage of shot attempts determined to be from rebounds.
On Ice	SAF/60	Shot Attempts For per 60 minutes.
On Ice	GF/60	Goals For per 60 minutes.
On Ice	xGF/60	Expected Goals For per 60 minutes.
On Ice	SAA/60	Shot Attempts Against per 60 minutes (lower is better).
On Ice	GA/60	Goals Against per 60 minutes (lower is better).
On Ice	xGA/60	Expected Goals Against per 60 minutes (lower is better).
On Ice	GF%	Goals For Percentage = Goals For / (Goals For + Goals Against)
On Ice	xGF%	Expected Goals For Percentage = Expected Goals For / (Expected Goals For + Expected Goals Against)
On Ice	xGF Rel	xGF/60 when On Ice - xGF/60 when not On Ice.
On Ice	xGA Rel	xGA/60 when On Ice - xGA/60 when not On Ice (lower is better).
On Ice	xGF% Rel	xGF% when On Ice - xGF% when not On Ice.

Individual and On-Ice stats from Puckalytics.com (starting in 2015-16). NHL Edge Stats from edge.nhl.com (starting in 2021-22). Edge statistic definitions can be found at the Edge Stats Glossary.

News and Opinions

Jakob Chychrun and John Carlson set Capitals franchise record for quickest back-to-back goals by defenseman at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Tue Nov 25, 2025)
Nicklas Backstrom congratulates John Carlson for passing him for second on the Capitals’ all-time games list: ‘Love you, buddy’ at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Tue Nov 18, 2025)
John Carlson will overtake Nicklas Backstrom on notable franchise leaderboard if he plays against Kings at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Mon Nov 17, 2025)
John Carlson participates in Capitals optional practice after missing game against Devils with upper-body injury at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Sun Nov 16, 2025)
John Carlson misses game against Devils due to upper-body injury at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Sat Nov 15, 2025)
John Carlson to be game-time decision against Devils after missing morning skate with upper-body injury at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Sat Nov 15, 2025)
Hershey Bears announce John Carlson dual bobblehead giveaway at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Thu Nov 6, 2025)
John Carlson walks his ‘Doggie,’ a barking Brandon Duhaime on all fours, into the tunnel before Blues game at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Wed Nov 5, 2025)
Capitals’ John Carlson Reaches 1,100 Games: A Look Back at His Career so Far at The Hockey Writers (Sun Nov 2, 2025)
Alex Ovechkin, Tom Wilson, and John Carlson all miss Capitals practice for maintenance after loss to Canucks at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Mon Oct 20, 2025)
Rink Roundtable: Previewing the 2025-26 Season at Japers Rink (Wed Oct 8, 2025)
Contract Extension Not Guaranteed for John Carlson & the Capitals at The Hockey Writers (Sat Oct 4, 2025)
John Carlson reportedly wants to sign a contract extension with the Capitals but is looking for a ‘fair deal’ to stay at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Wed Oct 1, 2025)
Giant Center selling shirts of vintage Hershey Bears players like Connor McMichael, Aliaksei Protas, and John Carlson at team store at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Thu Sep 25, 2025)
John Carlson needed Rasmus Sandin’s help to watch Nicklas Backstrom’s SHL games: ‘John’s called me about 65 times this summer trying to get my logins’ at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Sat Sep 20, 2025)
John Carlson admits he and Capitals have not had extension talks heading into final year of contract: ‘I’ve always been pretty good at focusing on what I can control’ at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Thu Sep 18, 2025)
John Carlson models what appears to be Capitals-Nationals crossover jersey in honor of the Nationals’ 20th anniversary season at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Mon Sep 8, 2025)
Pierre-Luc Dubois, Nic Dowd, John Carlson, and Sonny Milano have joined informal Capitals skates ahead of training camp at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Wed Aug 20, 2025)
John Carlson not one of 44 players chosen to attend Team USA’s men’s 2026 Winter Olympics orientation camp at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Tue Aug 19, 2025)
John Carlson, Logan Thompson, and Evgeny Kuznetsov bring out hundreds of Capitals fans to Southern Maryland for autograph signing at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Mon Jul 28, 2025)
Evgeny Kuznetsov to appear at public autograph signing in Prince Frederick, MD, alongside John Carlson, Logan Thompson, and Al Iafrate at Russian Machine Never Breaks (Wed Jul 23, 2025)

Current Contract

John Carlson signed an $64,000,000 8-year contract with the Washington Capitals and General Manager Brian MacLellan on June 25, 2018 with an AAV of $8,000,000. This contract will start in 2018-19 and end after the 2025-26 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 10.06% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (UFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Clause	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2018-19	28	M-NTC	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	-	$6,500,000	$5,500,000	$12,000,000	$12,000,000	UFA
2019-20	29	M-NTC	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	-	$6,500,000	$5,500,000	$12,000,000	$12,000,000	UFA
2020-21	30	M-NTC	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	-	$2,000,000	$6,000,000	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	UFA
2021-22	31	M-NTC	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	-	$5,000,000	$3,000,000	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	UFA
2022-23	32	M-NTC	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	-	$2,000,000	$4,000,000	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	UFA
2023-24	33	M-NTC	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	-	$2,000,000	$4,000,000	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	UFA
2024-25	34	M-NTC	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	-	$2,000,000	$4,000,000	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	UFA
2025-26	35	M-NTC	$8,000,000	$8,000,000	-	$2,000,000	$4,000,000	$6,000,000	$6,000,000	UFA
Total					-	$28,000,000	$36,000,000	$64,000,000	$64,000,000

Signed: June 25, 2018

Team: Washington Capitals

GM: Brian MacLellan

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 10.06

Clause: Player submits a 15 team no trade list for 2018-19 to 2021-22 and then a 10 team no trade list for 2022-23 to 2025-16.

Previous Contracts (show) (hide)

John Carlson signed a $23,800,000 6-year contract with the Washington Capitals and General Manager George McPhee on September 15, 2012 with an AAV of $3,966,667. This contract will start in 2012-13 and end after the 2017-18 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 6.61% of the salary cap.

Standard Contract (RFA) ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2012-13	22	$3,966,667	$3,966,667	-	-	$3,800,000	$3,800,000	$3,800,000	RFA
2013-14	23	$3,966,667	$3,966,667	-	-	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	RFA-arb
2014-15	24	$3,966,667	$3,966,667	-	-	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	RFA-arb
2015-16	25	$3,966,667	$3,966,667	-	-	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	RFA-arb
2016-17	26	$3,966,667	$3,966,667	-	-	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	RFA-arb
2017-18	27	$3,966,667	$3,966,667	-	-	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	$4,000,000	UFA
Total				-	-	$23,800,000	$23,800,000	$23,800,000

Signed: Sep 15, 2012

Team: Washington Capitals

GM: George McPhee

Exp. Status: UFA

Cap %: 6.61

John Carlson signed a $2,625,000 3-year contract with the Washington Capitals and General Manager George McPhee on November 4, 2008 with an AAV of $875,000. This contract will start in 2008-09 and end after the 2011-12 season. In the first season of the contract the cap hit was equivalent to 1.54% of the salary cap.

Entry Level Contract ( ) (0 ratings)

Season	Age*	Cap Hit	AAV	Perf. Bonus	Sign. Bonus	Salary	Compensation	Minors Salary	Status
2008-09	18	$875,000	$875,000	-	$87,500	-	$87,500	-	ELC
2009-10	19	$845,833	$845,833	-	$87,500	$787,500	$875,000	$65,000	ELC
2010-11	20	$845,833	$845,833	-	$87,500	$787,500	$875,000	$65,000	ELC
2011-12	21	$845,833	$845,833	-	-	$787,500	$787,500	$65,000	ELC
Total				-	$262,500	$2,362,500	$2,625,000	$195,000

Signed: Nov 4, 2008

Team: Washington Capitals

GM: George McPhee

Exp. Status: RFA

Note: This entry level contract slid one season as player did not meet the games played threshold to start the contract.

Career Statistics

			Regular Season									Playoffs
Season	League	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Shots	Sh%	TOI/G	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	Shots	Sh%	TOI/G
2003-04	AYHL 13U	New Jersey Rockets 13U AAA	25	20	15	35		50
2004-05	AYHL 14U	New Jersey Rockets 14U AAA	25	15	18	33		32
2005-06	AtJHL	N.J. Rockets	38	2	10	12		42
2006-07	AtJHL	N.J. Rockets	44	12	38	50		96
2006-07	USHL	Indiana	2	0	0	0	-2	6
2007-08	USHL	Indiana	59	12	31	43	+11	72				4	1		1	+2
2008-09	AHL	Hershey										16	2	1	3	+3
2008-09	OHL	London	59	16	60	76	+23	65				14	7	15	22	+11	16
2009-10	WJC-A	USA	7	4	3	7		2
2009-10	AHL	Hershey	48	4	35	39	+37	26				13	2	4	6	+7	8
2009-10	NHL	Washington Capitals	22	1	5	6	+11	8	21	4.8	15:15	7	1	3	4	+6		14	7.1	20:14
2010-11	NHL	Washington Capitals	82	7	30	37	+21	44	144	4.9	22:39	9	2	1	3	-2	4	23	8.7	24:24
2011-12	NHL	Washington Capitals	82	9	23	32	-15	22	152	5.9	21:52	14	2	3	5	-1	8	27	7.4	24:02
2012-13	NHL	Washington Capitals	48	6	16	22	+11	18	97	6.2	23:01	7		1	1	-4	4	21	0.0	22:29
2013-14	NHL	Washington Capitals	82	10	27	37	-3	22	208	4.8	24:31
2013-14	Olympics	USA	6	1	1	2	+1		5
2014-15	NHL	Washington Capitals	82	12	43	55	+11	28	193	6.2	23:04	14	1	5	6	+3	4	41	2.4	23:57
2015-16	NHL	Washington Capitals	56	8	31	39	+16	14	124	6.4	23:42	12	5	7	12	-2	4	49	10.2	26:54
2016-17	WCup	USA	2	0	0	0	-3
2016-17	NHL	Washington Capitals	72	9	28	37	+7	10	180	5.0	22:43	13	2	2	4	+1	4	38	5.3	22:24
2017-18	NHL	Washington Capitals	82	15	53	68		32	237	6.3	24:47	24	5	15	20	+11	8	80	6.2	25:38
2018-19	NHL	Washington Capitals	80	13	57	70	+21	34	185	7.0	25:04	7		5	5		6	23	0.0	26:14
2019-20	NHL	Washington Capitals	69	15	60	75	+12	26	189	7.9	24:38	5		6	6	-11	2	11	0.0	24:50
2020-21	NHL	Washington Capitals	52	10	34	44	-5	12	128	7.8	23:47	5		2	2	-2	6	8	0.0	25:55
2021-22	NHL	Washington Capitals	78	17	54	71	+13	20	195	8.7	23:49	6	1	4	5	-5	2	12	8.3	24:36
2022-23	NHL	Washington Capitals	40	9	20	29	-7	12	124	7.3	23:23
2023-24	NHL	Washington Capitals	82	10	42	52	-7	40	176	5.7	25:54	4	1	1	2	-1	2	14	7.1	29:12
2024-25	NHL	Washington Capitals	79	5	46	51	+17	22	167	3.0	23:34	10	1	2	3	+3	2	13	7.7	24:15
2025-26	NHL	Washington Capitals	25	6	16	22	+9	6	58	10.3	23:02
NHL Career			1113	162	585	747	+112	370	2578	6.3	23:37	137	21	57	78	-4	56	374	5.6	24:33