Keith Aucoin‘s call-up was a side effect of the Great Center Drought of 2012, that point in time when all of our centers were either dead, or wingers disguised as centers. Even when the Caps are in need, they don’t typically send for Aucoin, but they did this year — and to the surprise of most people, Aucoin became a regular player, even into the postseason. We liked this, because Aucoin is a good guy who has been in our system for a long time, and because we love to be surprised. Go, tiny Cap.

Cap Hit: $512.5 thousand. Aucoin is UFA this July.

Milestones: Played more then 20 NHL games in a season for the first time in since 2007-08, had his first-ever NHL playoffs point. Also, had his first baby.

Photo credit: Sweetest Hockey on Earth

Best Moment: Three-assist night against the Islanders. We hear he was so hot that night that he helped an old lady across the street later.

Things We Said About Keith Aucoin: “Please do not get stepped on.”

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

First Irrelevant Google Images Result:

Media Consensus: “We appreciate you more or less for what you are, but we would appreciate you more if you got off the power play.”

Alternate Universe Superhero Identity: The Coin

Spirit Animal: This mouse.

Team Role: Emergency depth player, Washington Capital when the Caps are in “whoever can stand gets a jersey” mode.

Execution of that Role: Much better than expected. Keith is subject to all those pieces of conventional hockey wisdom that say you can’t ride if you are not This Tall, but he did everything asked of him in his time with the Capitals, and did it better than many of those who would be his competitors for a jersey. In short, he stuck.

Postseason Performance: Aucoin was able to find some chemistry with Mike Knuble and Joel Ward on the fourth line, though he only contributed two assists throughout.

Beard Rating: Five out of ten.

Photo credit: Cheryl Nichols

As we have discovered in years past, Keith Aucoin’s facial hair basically does whatever it wants.

Likeliness to Return: Likeliness to return to the Caps’ system, seven out of ten. His contract expires this summer, but he’s been a star in Hershey for a long time and it’s likely they will try to hang onto him. Likeliness to return to the Caps…we’ll say three.

Usefulness in a Post-Apocalyptic Setting: Well, he seems to be awfully tough to squish — the cockroach of post-apocalyptic companions. Seven out of ten.

Other: Dear Hershey Bears: We are really sorry that we took your top-line center for the last third of the year, hope you weren’t using him, sucks to be a farm team sometimes. Love, RMNB

Overall Year-End Rating: Six Good Sashas.

Photo credit: Paul Bereswill

Hey you: thanks for reading RMNB. Crazy season, right?

We started the year with our Winter is Coming promotional series. We documented a crazy winning streak, and then its astonishing decline. We said goodbye to one coach and hello to another. We saw gruesome injuries. We analyzed the Caps’ struggles at and before the trade deadline in our Capitals During Wartime series. We made posters and signs to pump up the fans and the team both. And we tracked the Caps as they made the playoffs by the skin of their teeth.

Yeah, we had exhaustive coverage this season, but there are so many questions left unanswered. Here are few we’d like to address this summer.

Collective Bargaining

The NHL Players Association and the league have to find common ground this summer lest they risk another lockout. No one wants a repeat of the lost season, but with hockey’s popularity on the rise the stakes are pretty high. Many decisions hinge on the outcome of these negotiations.

Free Agency

The following Caps players will be unrestricted free agents this summer: Alex Semin, Mike Knuble, Jeff Halpern, Keith Aucoin, Dennis Wideman, and Tomas Vokoun. If McPhee doesn’t re-sign him, Semin will command a lot of attention on free agency day. Mike Knuble is getting older but wants to keep playing. Jeff Halpern is a hometown boy with fantastic talent on the faceoff dot. Dennis Wideman is an all-star/playoff goat who might want a big pay day. Tomas Vokoun’s crummy goaltending is mostly responsible for Bruce Boudreau getting fired. Anyone wanna take bets?

On the RFA side, Mathieu Perreault, Jay Beagle, John Carlson, and Mike Green are all on the docket. Will the Caps risk a qualifying offer on Mike Green? Perreault didn’t play in the postseason, but Jay Beagle was a star– who gets paid?

Dale Hunter

Word leaked that Hunter’s contract as head coach of the Capitals was for one year only. George McPhee and Brooks Laich each have said they want him back next year, but Hunter has a very comfortable gig as demigod of the London Knights association. We’ve been very critical of Hunter hockey here, but his postseason results were attractive. Will Hunter give it another shot?

Hershey Bears

The Capitals’ current AHL farm team, the Hershey Bears, do not have contract for next season yet. They signed a one-year extension over a year ago. Both teams struggled this season, and the Caps pretty much depleted Hershey’s talent in the spring– so what will happen during the offseason? And will the Norfolk Admirals, who were freaking amazing this year but who have a similarly frayed relationship with Tampa Bay, be involved?

And why do we keep hearing about Baltimore whenever this topic pops up?

Alex Ovechkin

Ovi is probably going home to Russia this summer. There’s no real drama here; we just wanna know what kind of wacky hijinx he’ll get in to. No way he can beat the wookiee suit. I mean: no way, right?

Evgeny Kuznetsov

The KHL superstar has been playing games with our heart all year. Will he come to the Caps this year or not? We don’t know. We’re gonna keep on translating and covering anything we can get our hands on– but at this point we trust nothing until there is ink on paper one way or the other. We’d love to have another Russian on the team for selfish reasons, so we’re firmly in the “C’mover, Kuzya!” camp.

Braden Holtby

For a span of 16 hours last year, Braden Holtby was the presumptive #2 netminder for the Washington Capitals. Then the Caps acquired Tomas Vokoun for a song, and Holtby had to toil in Hershey all year. He had a disappointing season until the Caps called him up for some late-season heroics. Holtby became a star, besting one future hall of fame goalie and nearly felling another. But goalies are passed around like sriracha in the offseason, and you know he’s an object of desire for many teams (Brian Burke, what up.) So is Holtby our future franchise goalie? If not, will the Caps use him to acquire what they truly need…

Second-line Center

Aside from deadline acquisitions that didn’t last, the Capitals have been without a strong second line pivot for the past few years. Whereas many other teams are supposedly built from the middle out, Washington has treated its 2C as a swappable part. Brooks Laich, Marcus Johansson, and Mathieu Perreault have all given it a shot, but it hasn’t worked out. Having a talented top-six guy backing up the top line can give the Capitals options on offense that they’ve never had before.

That’s all I’ve got. What did I miss? What other questions will be plaguing you between now and September? Whatever happens, we’ll be here writing and cracking jokes. Don’t be a stranger.

Braden Holtby has not lost back-to-back games in the NHL in 29 games now. The Caps are the first team ever to win four straight games following overtime losses.

Let’s talk about resilience. Two wins this series following some of the most heartbreaking losses in recent memory, two instances of the Caps picking themselves back up and putting themselves back together. Two times when it wasn’t just talk. For the second time this postseason, we’re going to seven games.

The Great 8 scored on the power play, 88 seconds in. I could not make this up if I tried. Chimera finished off a strong play from Semin to make it — stay with me — an actual two-goal lead. It lasted for most of the game, but unfortunately someone on NBC said “shutout”, so Marian Gaborik scored. Caps beat Rangers, 2-1. 

• It was…a pretty good start. Anton Stralman got two minutes for not being as fast as Jason Chimera, and the Caps executed a PP sequence that had previously only existed in your dreams. As we know, the scoring of the first goal has become the most important event in the entire universe, so we all breathed a sigh of relief to see the Caps go up early, but luckily the team decided to continue to play the rest of the game. They had The Fire tonight, and clearly had no intention of going down easy.
• Some #fancystats from @hiredgun0213, 52-19-8 on the PP…5 + 2 + 1 + 9 + 8 = 25, who put them on the PP in the first place. Spooky.
• Mystery of Jay Beagle, Parts One and Two: Beagle was not at practice, which was significantly a bigger deal than it would have been, say, six months ago. Dale Hunter quickly soothed our concerns, stating that Beagle was in tonight, simply “resting his legs”. Cut to pregame warmups, dramatic reveal: Beagle was not in. Beagle was in fact very, very out, prompting the first Jeff Halpern appearance since March 23. Just when faceoffs thought they were safe.
• Tim Thomas probably still thinks those flashy, unnecessary Holtby glove saves are funny. Braden Holtby thinks Tim Thomas being out of the playoffs is funny. Either way, it’s a fabulous way to get shooters to think twice about going glove-side, while the Caps shot blockers take away the low. Carry on, Braden.
• Slight threat to Ovechkin’s future children from Brandon Prust after the Ranger failed at hockey for a shift or so and resorted to cheap shots instead, sticking Ovechkin right in the produce section. “It’s recoverable,” said John Walton, tactfully. “It’s not a whole lot of fun, though. We’ll leave it at that.”
• The Verizon Center was in fine voice tonight — when Keith Aucion missed a point-blank chance in the second period, you all sounded like you were being murdered. It was excellent.
• The PK was once again the most unassailable of solid objects, despite being without Beagle. The penalty killers never let us down (except for that one time that we are not talking about). Their magnum opus was a beautiful four-minute kill late in the second period tonight to preserve a two goal-lead. Heroism. There will be books and songs written about these penalty killers, there will be busts of them sitting on people’s mantels.
• You didn’t misread that, I said two-goal lead. For the first time in these playoffs, the Caps were able to get and hold a two-goal lead for more than three minutes — in fact, they held it until the last 50 seconds of the game.

This postseason is all about the adjectives that you never thought would be applied to the Washington Capitals. Resilient. Gritty. Defensive. Committed. Here we are on the edge of another Game Seven, once again flying directly in the face of any conventional logic about what this team was expected to accomplish. It’s been breathlessly intense and terrifying. You have new ulcers that you can probably name after defensemen.

But the Caps are still alive. Isn’t that amazing, and ridiculous? Prepare yourself for the cardiac stress test of Saturday, and you might yet come out of this alive, too.

The Capitals are back in Washington with a chance to keep their season alive. It didn’t have to be that way. With half a minute left to protect their lead in Game Five, Joel Ward high-sticked Carl Hagelin. The ensuing Rangers powerplay cost the Capitals the lead and the win– and what would have been a veritable chokehold on the series.

After he bested the Bruins in the quarterfinal round, Ward was the target of some vile and feckless trash from Boston fans. After his double-minor penalty led to Monday’s loss, that same pernicious evil erupted from Caps fans as well.

Here are Three True Things:

1. Joel Ward is not at fault for the team’s loss.
2. This hate is as rare as it is unacceptable.
3. Joel Ward is a great hockey player and a great addition to the ’11-’12 Washington Capitals.

Joel Ward has earned himself a sterling reputation. He’s a playoff stud with 10 goals in 30 games. He’s a clutch player with a pair of game-winners in the postseason. He’s strong on the puck– with the 4th best Corsi score relative to quality of competition among Caps forwards despite starting most of his shifts near his own net [BtN 1, BtN 2]. Yeah, he’s exactly the guy you want in an elimination game.

If the Caps are to shake off the reputation of psychological frailty that has followed them the last few years, they’ll have to come out on Wednesday night as a united front. No one should be singled out for blame. The stories about Joel Ward’s terrible play have to be brushed aside. The criticism has to be hushed. Here’s how we’re gonna do it.

RMNB’s “This Means Ward” & “Caps In Seven” Signs

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This Means Ward is an affirmation. Joel Ward represents the kind of hockey that has got the Capitals so far. In spite of critics and doubters and demagogues, Ward executes Hunter Hockey better than anyone. His fourth line, paired with Keith Aucoin and Mike Knuble, has become a grinding dynamo, wearing down the other team’s D in their own zone and getting the greasy goals when they’re needed most.

Ward is an fitting conscript for the hockey team that Dale Hunter has marshaled. And now, as the team faces the precipice of summer once more, he’s the likely guy to bring them back from the brink.

Crash the net.

Posters by Ian Oland.

Photo credit: Graig Abel

Saturday night, during the Capitals’ 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, future AHL hall-of-famer Keith Aucoin scored his first NHL goal of the season, and his first since October 24, 2009. For those who are counting, that’s 854 days.

“It’s been about two years now, I think, since I last scored a goal,” Aucoin said with a smile to The Washington Times’ Stephen Whyno. “It’s only been 10, 11 games, but it feels like forever, and it was nice to finally get one and help the team win.”

General Manager George McPhee, clearly unimpressed by his feat (or more likely saving cap space ahead of tomorrow’s trade deadline), sent Aucoin back down to Hershey early this morning.

Coiner’s goal was so pretty, it deserves a closer look. Let’s set the scene. After going down 2-0 to the Caps within the first five minutes and then 3-0 by the second period, the Leafs were left scrambling to climb out of a hole. The play starts at 5:13, with the Caps in possession of the puck in their own zone.

Mike Green looks to exit their defensive zone by passing it to Marcus Johansson.

Mojo takes the pass along the boards.

And fumbles it!

Tim Connolly takes the turnover. Ugh.

And looks to wrist a shot past Neuvirth.

Green utilizes the kamikaze dive to force Connolly to deke.

Now Connolly fumbles the puck and it goes to the corner.

Matthew Lombardi retrieves the puck and sends a centering pass to…

Alex Ovechkin!

Go!

Ovi!

Go!

“Hm, looks like my boi Aucoin is guarded.”

“Let’s try pass to Mojo!”

Mojo shoots!

Just kidding!!

Reimer: “Omigosh, my defense isn’t guarding anyone.”

BAM!

“Just how Dale drew it up!”

Reimer: “Kill me now.” Leafs fan at bottom-left corner: “What in the hell was that?”

Aucoin: “So this is what it feels like to score an NHL goal again!”

And that concludes terrible hockey by both teams.

Video

Photo credit: Graig Abel

Not a bad way to go out. The Washington Capitals’ domination of the Toronto Maple Leafs was likely the last we’ll see from this version of the team. Knowing this, the Caps busted out all their greatest hits from the last few years. Let’s review!

Marcus Johansson wrapped around Reimer’s net for an unchallenged goal in the first minute. Alex Semin fought off Luke Schenn and scored five-hole. Jeff Halpern took two whacks and hit top shelf. Keith Aucoin finished a bang-bang sequence from Johansson and Ovechkin to make it 4-0.

Colby Armstrong cracked the shutout with a wristshot early in the third period. Tim Connolly got a greasy one on a power play to make it interesting, but they ran out of time. Caps beat Leafs 4-2.

• The Capitals have won back-to-back games for the first time in over a month. They have peaked over 30 shots a game for the 5th time in the last 10 games.
• Michal Neuvirth was almost perfect in Toronto, including denying the dirtiest player in the NHL, Dave Steckel, on a breakaway significant more for the bloodlines involved rather than any fancy stickwork. 28 saves for Mikey, many of them k-rad.
• 5’9″ Keith Aucoin had not scored in the NHL since October of 2009. A two-step plan to ending that drought: pair him with dynamic players like Ovechkin and Johansson, and put him against a Toronto defense that might have been high.
• Also busting slumps is Jeff Halpern, whose post-sunset goal on Saturday was his first since December 13 and his first point in over a month.
• Also on the topic of faceoff specialists, Dirty Dave went a hearty 9 for 14 on the dot. Less awesome when he’s on the other team, but it’s been 2 years, so we should probably get over it.
• What is with Marcus Johansson and wraparound goals? He’s got three this season. And here we were thinking that wraparound went extinct with passenger pigeons and thylacines.
• Dennis Wideman used his wrist to absorb a hit into the boards late in the second period. It didn’t look good, but Wides returned in the third. Heh. That rhymes.
• Toronto goalie James Reimer is embattled. He’s getting criticism from his own GM, and this game sort of tells you why. Reimer wasn’t flawless, but he is also playing behind a defensive unit that looked unengaged when it mattered. It’s fun to comment on other teams’ misery for once.
• Yes, CSN’s Jill Sorenson jinxed the shutout. That’s just superstition, so we won’t hold it against her. But her awful non-apology apology afterwards (“sorry if I jinxed that for you”) just made it worse. You don’t apologize if something; you apologize for something.

Joe B suit of the night

This game was just fantastic. Withstanding a late-game rally, the Caps won a crucial road games and stole another pair of points from the Eastern Conference.

The Leafs are struggling– that’s obvious– but let’s not allow that to detract from the Caps’ jam session. Those long offensive shifts, dangling pucks and threading passes between befuddled defenders, remind us of a team we’ve been missing as dearly as an amputated limb.

The Capitals host the Islanders on Tuesday, but we don’t know exactly who will be rocking the red in Caps uniforms by then. Elliotte Friedman says George McPhee is not interested in rentals, so a shopping spree of free agents at the end of their contracts is unlikely. GMGM is thinking long-term, which is bold.

Either way, a change is coming. Get ready.

The Washington Capitals returned to Verizon Center for a matinee match with the Boston Bruins, their second game in 24 hours. Disaster.

Milan Lucic scored after a bad read by Dennis Wideman gave him an opening. Brad Marchand made it 2-0 after Karl Alzner and John Carlson funneled the puck to their own crease. Marchand set up Tyler Seguin for the game’s third– and the second in which Dennis Wideman lost his man. A gorgeous 200-foot series culminated in a goal by Marcus Johansson (or Ward, whatever) and the end of Tim Thomas’s Sovereign Shutout. Peverly got the empty netter. Bruins beat Caps 4-1.

• 

  Photo credit: Ann Heisenfelt

  During the second period, Brooks Laich chased a puck behind the Boston net with Dennis Seidenberg in close pursuit. Seidenberg apparently connected with Laich’s left knee. Brooks tried to crawl to the bench but needed help to get down the tunnel. He tried his leg out during a TV timeout, but quickly retreated back to the locker room.

• Brooks Laich isn’t a center, but he plays one on TV. Already weak at center and without Nick Backstrom, the Caps are… well… totally f#@&ed without him. Knee injuries are finicky things. If his MCL or ACL is torn, we’re talking months not days. If that’s the case, hope for a Capitals’ postseason becomes a refuge for the naive and scurrilous.
• Or maybe it’s just a bruise, and Laich will play him on Tuesday. We’ll find out, but we can’t pretend like we’re not completely distraught over this. [UPDATE: Via Stephen Whyno at the Washington Times, Brooks Laich is on crutches. He says he is okay and that his exit was precautionary.]
• After nearly 7 minutes without any offense whatsoever, Alex Ovechkin unleashed his fury with 3 shots in the first period. That’s two more shots than he took during Saturday’s entire game (and more than 20 minutes TOI). His 7-shot game is his best since December 20th.
• Keith Aucoin had his moment in the sun during a second period breakaway. His shot was so far off the mark, he might’ve been aiming for a net in Hershey. After Laich got sidelined, Aucoin got a shift or two centering Alex Ovechkin and Alex Semin, who are each 5 inches taller than he is.
• Dmitry Orlov took ANOTHER puck to the face. As you remember, a deflected puck bloodied his nose yesterday and required some tampon utilization. Poor baby might need some rhinoplasty.
• Blocked shots are a scam: when your count is high,  you’ve been playing in your own end too long. But Karl Alzner deserves the hard hat today for blocking a team-best-by-a-mile 10 shots. That’s one fewer than the entire Bruins team blocked. Alzner was partially at fault for Marchand’s goal, although his partner and quisling John Carlson was the one who directed the puck to the paint.
• Mike Knuble will break out of his funk eventually, but he’s gotta actually shoot first. 0 attempts tonight and only 6 shots in the last 7 games.
• The Capitals got more than thirty shots for just the fifth time since Dale Hunter took over– and for the first time since December 13.  The total was 36-30, meaning the Caps are on the right side of the shot differential for the first time in 14 games.

Brooks Laich’s status is unknown. Backstrom and Green are still on the shelf. But the worst thing for us to do right now is allow these injuries to mask the failure of this team– even when two of those three were healthy– to generate offense. We shouldn’t use the recent absence of Backstrom and now Laich as an excuse for Dale Hunter’s dysfunctional system. It shouldn’t continue once they return.

I know this looked like an awful game, and it really was. But there were bright spots that we must not ignore. Alex Ovechkin’s inspired-if-frustrated performance was his best since the new year, and the team mounted a  thunderous comeback attempt in the third.

The Capitals host the Florida Panthers at home on Tuesday and the Jets on Thursday. That’s two big division games. Even with today’s loss, they’re still within striking distance of the Southeast lead. You’ve seen how tough this schedule is down the stretch. They’ve gotta get points meow before it’s too late.

Crash the net. Save Brooksy.

Centers, centers, centers, everyone knows what the Capitals need right now, and Keith Aucoin is the latest attempt to fix the problem, or at least to temporarily plug the hole. Most of you should know a little more about Aucoin than most call-ups – he’s a lifetime AHLer, a future AHL Hall of Famer, and from what we’ve heard an all-around great guy. We haven’t seen him much in the big leagues, but he’s been part of the organization for awhile now. He’s not going to look nearly as flashy in the NHL as he does in the AHL, but you can bet that he will do his job.

Name: Keith Aucoin
How to Pronounce That: AH-COYN. Like a coin you put in a pinball machine.
Nicknames: Coiner
Age: 33
Hair: Dad hair.

In a Nutshell: At 5’8, Keith Aucoin is small for the NHL, but the other skills have always been there. He’s a sturdy playmaker who passes extremely well and can put it in the back of the net, though it’s doubtful that will be his role here.
Not His First Rodeo: Aucoin is pretty used to being an emergency fill-in. He’s even got 3 goals and 11 points in his 21 overall games with the Capitals, as well as five goals with the Carolina Hurricanes before us.
Why He’s Getting a Shot: Since the Capitals are have been struggling offensively, maybe the the AHL’s leading scorer and former MVP can lend a hand. Keith Aucoin leads the NHL’s development league with 70 points – his line mate, Chris Bourque, has 69, and the next closest player is Peoria’s T.J. Hensick with 53. Unfortunately, much like former teammate Alexandre Giroux, Aucoin is a tweener who’s size and lack of consistency will forever keep him from cracking an NHL roster full-time. That said, Aucoin will bring energy, skill, and a savvy that is sorely missing at center with Nicklas Backstrom out.

Unexpected: He’s not afraid to drop the gloves, even though he’s teeny. We are sensing a theme here.

Maybe Don’t Worry About: His size–at least not for this game. For the same reason that less developed players like Perreault and Eakin weren’t hassled too much when we last played Montreal, this is not a team that’s going to press the issue. The Habs’ lineup has gotten bigger overall but they still don’t play a terribly physical game, so Aucoin should do all right. With Perreault, Johansson, and Aucoin down the middle, though, the Caps now may have the shortest center corps in the league–stack them up, and they make one Nicklas Backstrom.
Awww: Aucoin’s wife is having a baby.

He’s On Twitter: Follow him, or just go say congratulations!
Question of the Day: Upgrade, or downgrade?

Videoclip via the Hershey Bears YouTube page

It was a milestone night in Hershey on Saturday. Keith Aucoin registered his 700th career AHL point, Brian Willsie scored his career-high 30th goal of the season and Dmitry Orlov tallied his first career goal at Giant Center. The Bears went on to defeat the Albany Devils 7-4 in front of a sold-out crowd. With the win, Hershey clinched a playoff spot and earned the right to defend their back-to-back Calder Cup Championships.

The most fascinating part of the evening, however, was the line-brawl that was ignited after Brian Willsie scored against the Devils’ fourth line. As the five Bears on the ice went to congratulate each other, Albany tough-guy Chris Murray gave Mathieu Perreault a shove. The feisty, 174 lb. Perreault responded with a flurry of punches and Hershey’s entire line engaged Murray. Pierre-Luc Leblond – yes, the same guy who was suspended earlier in the year for jumping Marcus Johansson – then came to his teammate’s aid, charging towards the pile of Bears as if he were a bowling ball looking for a strike. Mayhem ensued thereafter, as everyone on the ice squared off except for the goalies.

All in all, 34 penalty minutes were doled-out between the two teams, including 14 PIM’s to Leblond and 12 PIM’s to Louis Robitaille. The Bears swept the contentious and brutal season series with Albany, 6-0-0.  Below the jump, Sweetest Hockey On Earth‘s Kyle M. has shared his photos of the brawl.

Photos by Kyle M. (Click to enlarge)

Photo credit: Chris Gordon (Click to enlarge. He’s got beautiful blue eyes, you know.)

Evgeny Kuznetsov has had quite a year. Not only did he win a gold medal with Team Russia in the 2011 World Junior Championship, become the youngest player to ever be in the KHL All-Star Game and get engaged, but he also had the second-most goals ever in a season for a Russian player under 19-years old (17 to be exact). But how can we measure his success compared to the NHL?

Gabe over at Behind the Net adopted Bill James’ concept of minor league equivalencies to estimate how well a player’s scoring ability will translate to the NHL. For example, if a forward scores 70 points in the AHL we don’t expect that same player to score 70 points in the big leagues due to a decrease in ice time and power play minutes with other factors including the quality of line-mates also playing in.

These equivalencies are not predictions of what a player will do, but instead an evaluation of what that player has done. When I looked at the Hershey Bears last summer it was evident that Keith Aucoin and Alexandre Giroux, while having strong AHL campaigns, would struggle to find a spot at the National Hockey League level based on the translation of performance to the higher level of NHL play.

As for Kuznetsov, let me say first that the competition level in the Kontinental Hockey League is much greater than the AHL. The game may be slower and less physical, but make no mistake: given two players at the same position and age, with the same ice time and stats, the KHL player will be the better bet in the NHL.

The KHL has come a long way in providing detailed stats, including ice time, so we can get a complete picture of not only what his NHL performance will translate to but also what we could project for him going forward.

First, the NHL equivalency:

Forty-five points scored would put him fourth highest on Washington’s leaderboard, just ahead of Brooks Laich and alongside Derek Stepan of the New York Rangers in rookie production for centers. With Kuznetsov’s gold medal performance and regular season play, I don’t find this out of the realm of possibility if he was given a full 82 game schedule .

Now that we know what he would have produced at the NHL level, we can project the next two years and see if it makes sense to rush him or let him develop in the KHL one more year.

Kuznetsov would be projected to play more NHL games in 2012-13, but his production would suffer a bit. This is not unexpected — we see phenoms regress in their sophomore season all the time. It is important to understand that it is not really a “sophomore jinx” as much as it is a rookie overachieving his first year. In 2013-14 we can expect to see Kuznetsov beginning to realize his full NHL value, with Tom Awad’s GVT metric climbing over NHL replacement level. This is when an organization wants to start the clock on a player’s salary-controlled years in order to maximize their draft asset to its fullest potential.

Caps fans should hope Kuznetsov is just posturing when he says he may stay in the KHL long-term, but let’s feel good he is developing in a tougher environment so when he does come to the big club his impact will be felt right away.

Additional reporting by Ian Oland and Chris Gordon.