Washington Capitals’ John Carlson set to return to lineup versus Blackhawks

The Washington Capitals will be getting a familiar face back on the blue line. The Caps’ announced that defenseman John Carlson will be making his return to the lineup tonight versus the Chicago Blackhawks. He will be slotted on the first pairing with Martin Fehervary.

Carlson has missed the last 36 games due to an upper-body injury. He has registered 21 points (eight goals, 13 assists) in 30 games this season. The Capitals were 18-10-2 throughout the 30 games that Carlson played.  

The 33-year-old left the Dec. 23rd, 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets after taking a slap shot to the face from Jets’ defender Brenden Dillon. Carlson collapsed to the ice in a significant amount of pain and was helped off. Upon further evaluation, Carlson was transported to the hospital for precautionary reasons.  He was placed on injured reserve just a couple of days after the incident. 

Last season, the Natick, Massachusetts product registered a whopping 71 points (17 goals, 54 assists) in 78 games. Carlson was originally selected 27th overall by the Capitals in the 2008 NHL Draft and has spent his entire 14-year and 914-game career with the Capitals so far, compiling 140 goals and 474 assists for 614 points. He is in year five of an eight-year, $64 million extension he signed in 2018; the contract has a cap hit of $8,000,000. 

The Capitals currently sit fourth in the Wild Card race in the Eastern Conference with a record of 33-31-8 for 74 points and a points percentage of .514%. They trail the Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders.