The Washington Capitals have had their struggles this season, but their checking line of Jason Chimera, Eric Fehr, and Joel Ward has been the least of the team's worries. Ward is currently tied with Troy Brouwer for second in scoring among Capitals players with 21 goals.
At 33-years old and a history of bottom six duty, Ward is an unlikely source of offense on a club that boasts several highly skilled forwards. So how has a former CIS standout turned NHL checking line forward in his mid-30s become one of Washington's most reliable sources of offense?
It's not as though Joel Ward the goal scorer was born overnight. The former University of Prince Edward Island forward potted 17 goals with the Nashville Predators in his first full NHL season. He's also shown a propensity to get hot at times, as evidenced by his otherworldly 18.3% career shooting percentage in the postseason. Ward's seven goals in 12 games was a big part of the Predators brief, yet impressive playoff performance back in 2010-11. The winger effectively parlayed that hot streak into a four-year, $12 million deal with Washington, but his first season in D.C. was relatively disappointing, at least in terms of production.
Flash forward to the present, and Ward seems to have found his role in Adam Oates' system. In addition to his duties on the Capitals checking line, Ward is taking a regular turn on both sides of the special teams spectrum, resulting in six power play goals - a career high.
The North York native offered his own seemingly vague reasoning for his offensive success this season to Chris Gordon at the Capitals blog Russian Machine Never Breaks: “For me, I just hide in the weeds and try to look for some loose pucks.”
That's the kind of explanation that makes analytic types facepalm, yet there's some merit to it. Take Ward's 21st goal of the season:
He's left alone at the side of the net, free to scoop up the puck and throw it past Jonas Hiller.
His 20th goal of the season, versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, sees a similarly uncovered Ward (albeit in a 5v4 situation) left to bury a ridiculous feed from Dustin Penner.
A wide open net here, a wide open net there, a couple of lucky deflections and you have 20 goal potential if the minutes are available.
Ward has shot 10.9% for his career, but sits at 16.6% in two seasons playing under Oates. Does Oates hold the key to 'quality shots'? Hardly, but he deserves some credit for his deployment of Ward. It's unlikely the forward will continue to score at his current rate, but he's become a pretty nice value at an annual cap hit of only $3 million.
Ward provides serviceable play in 5v5 situations, and his ability to navigate the power play down low has helped him put up a career season at the ripe old age of 33. His skill set is not unique, nor is he a super sniper. It's all about opportunity, and Ward has capitalized on Oates' faith in him as a special teams player, proving you're never too old to make the most of opportunity.
