2021-22 Rink Wrap: Garnet Hathaway

From Backstrom to Wilson, we’re taking a look at and grading the 2021-22 season for the players who played a significant role for the Caps during the campaign, with an eye towards 2022-23. Next up, Garnet Hathaway.

The Stats:

Regular Season

Playoffs

The Charts:

via The Athletic

via @JFreshHockey

via Evolving-Hockey

via HockeyViz

via HockeyViz

The Key Stat: Hathaway had a career-high 14 goals this season, providing useful secondary scoring from the 4th line.

The Good: There was quite a bit of good in Hathaway’s season, as he posted his most complete season since coming to D.C. As mentioned above, Hathaway posted a career high in goals, tied a career high in assists, and generated a (surprisingly) excellent 126 shots on goal. He even had fewer PIM’s this year, despite playing in 20 more games.

But beyond the boxcar stats, Hathaway really excelled defensively, and there’s indication that his play really drove the fourth line forward. Hathaway posted consistently stellar defensive stats, and the Caps consistently outshot and outchanced the opposition when Hathaway was on the ice. All this good, and Hathaway only made 1.5 million against the cap, providing stellar value all year.

The Bad: For a fourth line role, it’s hard to ask for more than what Hathaway brought this season. The fourth line excelled for the Caps all year, and Hathaway was one of the engines behind that.

…that said, that empty net miss against Florida really stings.

The Video:

Not going to argue that Hathaway is better than Connor McDavid, but he sure got the better of him here:

The Discussion: Hathaway seems destined for another fourth line role, but should he perhaps see some time on the third line? Additionally, although Hathaway had a pretty complete season, is there anything else you’d like to see him add to his game? Hathaway is also a UFA at the end of the year, so would you like to see the Caps re-sign him, and, if so, for how much? And finally, what would it take for you to give Hathaway a 10 next season?

The Vote: Rate Garnet Hathaway below on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best) based on his performance relative to his potential and your expectations for the season – if he had the best year you could have imagined him having, give him a 10; if he more or less played as you expected he would, give him a 5 or a 6; if he had the worst year you could have imagined him having, give him a 1.