Future prospects in the Washington Capitals Ethan Frank He had an amazing regular season, scoring 30 goals and 19 assists in just 57 games. His performance during the 2022-23 season eventually earned him an NHL contract with the Capitals starting next season.
But Frank didn’t show up in the postseason, scoring no goals and only 2 assists in 10 playoff games. Frank shot production is also way to low. During the regular season, he averaged 3.3 steals per game for a success rate of 16.1%. During the postseason, Frank averaged just 1.8 shots per game and had yet to convert.
Frank’s ultimately disappointing pitch led to healthy scrapes in his last four postseason games, including a seat in the press box for Game 6 on Friday night. Scorer of 30 healthy scratch target? what gives?
Frank may be tired. There’s a very good chance he hit a wall. Frank has played 67 matches so far this season, which is the most he has played in one season in his entire playing career. In fact, Frank has averaged 35 games a season (nearly half of the games this season) dating back to the 2016-17 season, when he scored the second most games in a single season, playing 55 games for the Lincoln Stars of the USHL . .
Hitting the “AHL Rookie Wall” is real and can happen at any time during the season (see Hendrix Lapierre), Frank is probably dealing with some of that.
Or does Frank miss one of his buddies? During the regular season, Frank spent most of his time on the left wing in the top line with Mike Vecchione on the right wing and Mike Sgarbosa in the center. Sgarbossa was injured for the majority of the postseason, and has played in only four of the Bears’ 13 playoff games to date. We should add that Mike Vecchione is also struggling to score this postseason, scoring just two goals and two assists in his first 12 games. She missed Sgarbossa badly, regardless.
Or is it something convenient? Some skeptics would say that Frank’s output began to wane immediately after his deal with the Capitals. His downward trend really began around the same time, but he scored six goals in his last 12 regular season games, including a hat-trick in the last game of the season. It’s interesting fodder, but his new deal is unlikely to have anything to do with it.
Other factors such as an increase in pace and physical play in the post-season are valid concerns, but this was not an issue for Frank during similar “heavy” or fast games in the regular season. Frank himself is a speed game. It may be a very small part of the overall problem, but I would say it’s a minor one, if a factor at all.
So what are we to take away from Frank’s disappearance in the postseason. Most likely it is a combination of all of the above factors, with the possible reliance on Sgarbossa being the biggest concern. However, Frank did well as his oddball All-Star game buddies, and even scored and tackled well during occasional line changes during the regular season with the Bears. Frank was also dealing with an undisclosed injury at the end of the season, which could also have been a contributing factor.
Bottom line, Frank will get a chance in September at Capitals training camp, and how he performs after that is what matters most. It should be a very interesting hour.
Written by John Sorensen