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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 2019-20. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Roman Josi NSH · 65 P in 69 GP Victor Hedman TBL · 55 P in 66 GP Quinn Hughes VAN · 53 P in 68 GP Tony DeAngelo NYR · 53 P in 68 GP Alex Pietrangelo STL · 52 P in 70 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

2019-20 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
69 15 60 75 12 26 189 55 1.09 7.9 24:38

Contract

$8MCap hitends in 2026, then UFA
$107KCap dollars per point75 points in 69 games
$675KCap dollars per goal above replacement11.9 goals above replacement
$10.6MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
+$2.6MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

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. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 668 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Washington Capitals on Jun 25, 2018, as an extension of the contract he was on: 8 years and $64M, beginning in 2018-19. It runs through 2025-26, with 6 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit Base salary Signing bonus Performance bonuses Paid in all Clause
2018-19 $8M $5.5M $6.5M $12M M-NTC
2019-20 $8M $5.5M $6.5M $12M M-NTC
2020-21 $8M $6M $2M $8M M-NTC
2021-22 $8M $3M $5M $8M M-NTC
2022-23 $8M $4M $2M $6M M-NTC
2023-24 $8M $4M $2M $6M M-NTC
2024-25 $8M $4M $2M $6M M-NTC
2025-26 $8M $4M $2M $6M M-NTC

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 2019-20 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.

2019-20 analytics

Regular season Playoffs

Rating

+11.9Goals above replacement26th of 670 skaters, 9th of 231 defencemen
+2.0Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
+6.2Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 231 ranked defencemen: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence+6.9 99th percentileEven-strength defence-1.9 22nd percentilePower play+1.7 99th percentilePenalty kill+0.3 75th percentilePenalties-0.7 41st percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among defencemen. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

0510152010-112013-142016-172019-202022-232025-26Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

51.6Corsi for %1214 attempts for, 1138 against
+0.1CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
51.2Expected goals for %54.5 expected for, 51.9 against
0.0xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
51.4Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
52.7Goals for %68 for, 61 against
100.9PDO10.3% shooting + 90.7% saves
256Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

Each share is coloured by where it ranks among the 583 skaters who played enough to be ranked: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile. PDO and attempts taken are left plain, since neither is good or bad on its own.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
John Carlson · Michal Kempny55596:2848.949.035-24
John Carlson · Dmitry Orlov69211:1658.556.511-13
John Carlson · Jonas Siegenthaler46188:2451.247.96-7
John Carlson · Brenden Dillon10131:1751.756.06-9

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net. Before 2023-24 the NHL timed events less exactly, and differently from rink to rink, so expected goals for this season are rougher than for recent ones.

14Goalsnot counting empty-netters
10.2Expected goalsfrom 269 unblocked attempts
+3.8Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.36 expected goals per 60 minutes95th
Shot quality 3.8% chance per attempt86th
Finishing +3.8 goals above expected95thOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 229 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

0510Game 20Game 40Game 60Goals 14Expected 10.2

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. Darker red means more attempts from that spot, and each dot is a goal. "Show every shot" switches to a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Mar 9, 2020 @ BUF L 2-3 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 26:24
Mar 7, 2020 @ PIT W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 24:36
Mar 5, 2020 @ NYR L 5-6 (OT) 0 2 2 0 2 2 1 22:00
Mar 4, 2020 vs PHI L 2-5 0 0 0 -3 0 4 1 22:18
Mar 1, 2020 @ MIN W 4-3 0 1 1 3 2 3 0 27:12
Feb 27, 2020 @ WPG L 0-3 0 0 0 -2 0 1 1 23:16
Feb 25, 2020 vs WPG W 4-3 (SO) 0 0 0 -1 0 4 0 25:10
Feb 23, 2020 vs PIT W 5-3 0 1 1 2 2 1 1 22:00
Feb 22, 2020 @ NJD L 2-3 0 1 1 0 0 5 1 24:00
Feb 20, 2020 vs MTL L 3-4 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 2 1 25:36
Feb 17, 2020 @ VGK L 2-3 0 1 1 -1 2 1 3 24:18
Feb 15, 2020 @ ARI L 1-3 0 0 0 -1 0 3 2 25:45
Feb 13, 2020 @ COL W 3-2 0 2 2 -1 0 2 1 26:34
Feb 10, 2020 vs NYI L 3-5 1 1 2 -2 0 5 0 27:56
Feb 8, 2020 vs PHI L 2-7 0 0 0 -2 0 1 0 22:34
Feb 4, 2020 vs LAK W 4-2 1 2 3 3 0 2 0 23:00
Feb 2, 2020 vs PIT L 3-4 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 23:32
Jan 31, 2020 @ OTT W 5-3 0 2 2 2 0 1 1 23:08
Jan 29, 2020 vs NSH L 4-5 0 0 0 -2 0 3 0 23:44
Jan 27, 2020 @ MTL W 4-2 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 23:48
Jan 18, 2020 @ NYI W 6-4 0 2 2 3 0 5 1 24:02
Jan 16, 2020 vs NJD W 5-2 0 2 2 1 0 2 0 22:26
Jan 13, 2020 vs CAR W 2-0 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 23:41
Jan 11, 2020 vs NJD L 1-5 0 1 1 -3 0 1 0 23:06
Jan 8, 2020 @ PHI L 2-3 0 0 0 -1 0 1 0 24:47
Jan 7, 2020 vs OTT W 6-1 0 2 2 1 0 4 0 21:04
Jan 5, 2020 vs SJS W 5-4 (OT) 0 1 1 1 2 3 1 25:25
Jan 3, 2020 @ CAR W 4-3 0 1 1 1 0 4 2 25:11
Dec 31, 2019 vs NYI L 3-4 0 0 0 -4 0 6 1 23:38
Dec 28, 2019 @ CAR L 4-6 0 2 2 -1 0 1 1 27:04
Dec 27, 2019 vs CBJ W 2-1 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 28:06
Dec 23, 2019 @ BOS L 3-7 0 1 1 -2 2 3 3 25:00
Dec 21, 2019 vs TBL W 3-1 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 25:21
Dec 20, 2019 @ NJD W 6-3 1 1 2 3 0 4 0 20:34
Dec 16, 2019 @ CBJ L 0-3 0 0 0 -1 2 1 1 26:39
Dec 14, 2019 @ TBL W 5-2 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 24:09
Dec 11, 2019 vs BOS W 3-2 1 1 2 0 2 3 1 24:43
Dec 9, 2019 vs CBJ L 2-5 0 0 0 -1 0 3 0 23:55
Dec 6, 2019 @ ANA W 3-2 0 1 1 -1 0 5 2 22:06
Dec 4, 2019 @ LAK W 3-1 2 0 2 3 0 4 0 22:04
Dec 3, 2019 @ SJS W 5-2 1 2 3 2 0 2 0 22:34
Nov 30, 2019 @ DET W 5-2 0 1 1 3 0 2 1 22:48
Nov 29, 2019 vs TBL W 4-3 (OT) 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 27:09
Nov 27, 2019 vs FLA W 4-3 0 0 0 -2 2 1 0 23:56
Nov 23, 2019 vs VAN L 1-2 (SO) 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 27:19
Nov 20, 2019 @ NYR L 1-4 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 26:52
Nov 18, 2019 vs ANA W 5-2 0 3 3 1 0 0 2 20:00
Nov 16, 2019 @ BOS W 3-2 (SO) 0 1 1 1 0 5 0 26:53
Nov 15, 2019 vs MTL L 2-5 0 1 1 -2 0 3 0 21:50
Nov 13, 2019 @ PHI W 2-1 (SO) 0 1 1 1 0 4 1 25:52
Nov 11, 2019 vs ARI L 3-4 (SO) 0 1 1 0 0 3 1 27:17
Nov 9, 2019 vs VGK W 5-2 0 2 2 1 0 4 1 24:11
Nov 7, 2019 @ FLA W 5-4 (OT) 1 2 3 2 0 5 1 24:08
Nov 3, 2019 vs CGY W 4-2 0 0 0 2 0 6 0 24:50
Nov 1, 2019 vs BUF W 6-1 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 23:33
Oct 29, 2019 @ TOR W 4-3 (OT) 2 0 2 1 0 7 2 27:58
Oct 25, 2019 @ VAN W 6-5 (SO) 0 0 0 -3 0 2 0 25:27
Oct 24, 2019 @ EDM L 3-4 (OT) 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 25:26
Oct 22, 2019 @ CGY W 5-3 2 0 2 2 2 3 1 23:11
Oct 20, 2019 @ CHI W 5-3 0 1 1 2 0 1 1 25:04
Oct 18, 2019 vs NYR W 5-2 0 3 3 2 2 1 1 25:13
Oct 16, 2019 vs TOR W 4-3 1 2 3 1 0 4 1 28:05
Oct 14, 2019 vs COL L 3-6 0 1 1 -2 0 2 1 25:32
Oct 12, 2019 @ DAL W 4-1 1 1 2 1 0 2 0 24:14
Oct 10, 2019 @ NSH L 5-6 0 3 3 0 2 1 0 27:30
Oct 8, 2019 vs DAL L 3-4 (OT) 1 1 2 1 0 4 0 26:06
Oct 5, 2019 vs CAR L 2-3 (OT) 0 0 0 -1 0 4 0 25:40
Oct 4, 2019 @ NYI W 2-1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 24:05
Oct 2, 2019 @ STL W 3-2 (OT) 0 2 2 2 0 0 2 27:06