Shocker: Nicklas Backstrom hasn’t fought. (Caps Outsider)
After Lars Eller got into his first professional fight on Wednesday, we wondered – which other Washington Capitals haven’t been in a fight?
Note that, for this list, we’re not just checking NHL, but minor leagues and amateur, though we can’t verify things for sure at those levels.
Nicklas Backstrom
Not only has Backstrom never been in a fight, he’s never even gotten a major penalty. However, an incident in the 2012 playoffs got him suspended.
Michal Kempny
He hasn’t gotten a fighting major, but did get a double minor in a KHL game against a player who was given a fighting major.
Evgeny Kuznetsov
We can’t find any record of Kuznetsov getting into a fight. Aside from his time with the Caps, he played five seasons for Chelyabinsk Traktor of the KHL.
Christian Djoos
Djoos is 24 and still young enough to get into at least one scrap.
Travis Boyd
Boyd is 25. We can’t find any record of him getting into a fight.
Shane Gersich
We can’t find any record of Gersich fighting. Before the NHL, he played three seasons at U. of North Dakota, and three seasons in the USHL.
Jakub Vrana
His only fight we could find occurred in a rookie game, which isn’t official, but after seeing this we can say he has fighting ‘experience.’
Notes:
Both Pheonix Copley and Braden Holtby have been in fights. Aside from being attacked by Ray Emery, Holtby also registered a fighting major in the WHL.
Jayson Megna has fought a handful of times in the USHL, but not in other pro leagues.
Chandler Stephenson has fought a couple of times in the WHL. He also got into it with Max Iafrate at Caps camp.
Jonas Siegenthaler has an AHL fight.
Alex Ovechkin has been in three fights.
