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John Carlson

#74 · Defence · Tampa Bay Lightning

Born Jan 10, 1990 in Natick, Massachusetts, USA (age 36) · 6'3", 225 lb · Shoots right · Drafted 27th overall in 2008 by WSH (round 1)

Trophy case

Stanley Cup NHL Champion 2017-18

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2009-10. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Ruslan Salei COL · 6 P in 14 GP Jay Harrison CAR · 6 P in 38 GP Tyler Sloan WSH · 6 P in 40 GP Derek Meech DET · 6 P in 49 GP John Erskine WSH · 6 P in 50 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

02040602009-10: 6 points609-102010-11: 37 points372011-12: 32 points3211-122012-13: 22 points222013-14: 37 points3713-142014-15: 55 points552015-16: 39 points3915-162016-17: 37 points372017-18: 68 points6817-182018-19: 70 points702019-20: 75 points7519-202020-21: 44 points442021-22: 71 points7121-222022-23: 29 points292023-24: 52 points5223-242024-25: 51 points512025-26: 60 points6025-262026-27: 4 points4

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2009-10 WSH 22 1 5 6 11 8 21 29 0.27 $846K
2010-11 WSH 82 7 30 37 21 44 144 70 0.45 $846K
2011-12 WSH 82 9 23 32 -15 22 152 83 0.39 $846K
2012-13 WSH 48 6 16 22 11 18 97 59 0.46 $3.967M
2013-14 WSH 82 10 27 37 -3 22 208 64 0.45 $3.967M
2014-15 WSH 82 12 43 55 11 28 193 74 0.67 $3.967M
2015-16 WSH 56 8 31 39 16 14 124 46 0.70 $3.967M
2016-17 WSH 72 9 28 37 7 10 180 58 0.51 $3.967M
2017-18 WSH 82 15 53 68 0 32 237 47 0.83 $3.967M
2018-19 WSH 80 13 57 70 21 34 185 54 0.88 $8M
2019-20 WSH 69 15 60 75 12 26 189 55 1.09 $8M
2020-21 WSH 52 10 34 44 -5 12 128 52 0.85 $8M
2021-22 WSH 78 17 54 71 13 20 195 73 0.91 $8M
2022-23 WSH 40 9 20 29 -7 12 124 42 0.73 $8M
2023-24 WSH 82 10 42 52 -7 40 176 69 0.63 $8M
2024-25 WSH 79 5 46 51 17 22 167 49 0.65 $8M
2025-26 WSH 55 10 36 46 11 26 115 20 0.84 $8M
2025-26 ANA 16 4 10 14 -2 6 38 6 0.88
2026-27 TBL 5 2 2 4 -1 0 15 5 0.80 $8.5M
18 seasons Career 1164 172 617 789 111 396 2688 955 0.68

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2009-10 WSH 7 1 3 4 6 0 14 5 0.57
2010-11 WSH 9 2 1 3 -2 4 23 15 0.33
2011-12 WSH 14 2 3 5 -1 8 27 30 0.36
2012-13 WSH 7 0 1 1 -4 4 21 4 0.14
2014-15 WSH 14 1 5 6 3 4 41 26 0.43
2015-16 WSH 12 5 7 12 -2 4 49 24 1.00
2016-17 WSH 13 2 2 4 1 4 38 21 0.31
2017-18 WSH 24 5 15 20 11 8 80 36 0.83
2018-19 WSH 7 0 5 5 0 6 23 14 0.71
2019-20 WSH 5 0 6 6 -11 2 11 4 1.20
2020-21 WSH 5 0 2 2 -2 6 8 6 0.40
2021-22 WSH 6 1 4 5 -5 2 12 14 0.83
2023-24 WSH 4 1 1 2 -1 2 14 4 0.50
2024-25 WSH 10 1 2 3 3 2 13 10 0.30
2025-26 ANA 12 0 6 6 -5 4 25 14 0.50
15 seasons Playoffs 149 21 63 84 -9 60 399 227 0.56

2009-10 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
22 1 5 6 11 8 21 29 0.27 4.8 15:15

Contract

$846KCap hitends in 2012, then RFA
$141KCap dollars per point6 points in 22 games

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up.

The contract

Signed by the Washington Capitals on Nov 4, 2008, as an entry-level contract: 3 years and $2.625M, beginning in 2009-10. It runs through 2011-12, with 2 seasons left after this one, and he is then a restricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2009-10 $846K $788K $88K $875K
2010-11 $846K $788K $88K $875K
2011-12 $846K $788K $0 $788K

Each season of the contract, with this one marked. The cap hit is the same every year; what he is paid is not. The pay is as written when the contract was recorded in October 2024, so a later change, such as the rise in the lowest salary for 2026-27, is not shown.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jul 1, 2026 Tampa Bay Lightning New contract 2026-27 to 2027-28 2 $17M $8.5M
Jun 25, 2018 Washington Capitals Extension 2018-19 to 2025-26 8 $64M $8M
Sep 15, 2012 Washington Capitals New contract 2012-13 to 2017-18 6 $23.8M $3.967M
Nov 4, 2008 Washington Capitals Entry-level 2009-10 to 2011-12 signed for 2008-09, slid 3 $2.625M $846K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2009-10 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Apr 11, 2010 vs BOS L 3-4 (SO) 0 1 1 0 2 1 2 15:24
Apr 9, 2010 vs ATL W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 15:56
Mar 30, 2010 vs OTT L 4-5 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 09:06
Mar 28, 2010 vs CGY L 3-5 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 13:04
Mar 25, 2010 @ CAR L 2-3 (SO) 1 0 1 1 0 3 4 16:44
Mar 24, 2010 vs PIT W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 17:39
Mar 20, 2010 @ TBL W 3-1 0 0 0 1 2 1 1 14:16
Mar 18, 2010 @ CAR L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 0 1 14:21
Mar 16, 2010 @ FLA W 7-3 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 19:48
Mar 14, 2010 @ CHI W 4-3 (OT) 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 17:49
Mar 10, 2010 vs CAR W 4-3 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 13:40
Mar 8, 2010 vs DAL L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 18:11
Mar 6, 2010 vs NYR W 2-0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 14:15
Mar 4, 2010 vs TBL W 5-4 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 14:46
Mar 3, 2010 @ BUF W 3-1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 16:15
Feb 13, 2010 @ STL L 3-4 (SO) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 13:35
Jan 21, 2010 @ PIT W 6-3 0 1 1 2 2 0 2 17:43
Jan 17, 2010 vs PHI W 5-3 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 15:51
Jan 15, 2010 vs TOR W 6-1 0 0 0 2 0 2 1 14:32
Nov 23, 2009 @ OTT L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 11:33
Nov 21, 2009 @ TOR L 1-2 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 1 2 13:33
Nov 20, 2009 vs MTL L 2-3 0 0 0 0 0 1 5 17:24