30 Caps in 30 Days: Jay Beagle

(During the thirty days of September, I'll be trying to preview the seasons of thirty players currently under contract with the Washington Capitals and who have a good chance of spending some time in red, white, and blue this season. Advanced stats are given from behindthenet.ca ranked against other players at the same position, in the same organization, at 5-on-5, unless otherwise noted. Age is on opening night. Today, Jay Beagle.)

(Image courtesy Caps Snaps)

Jay Beagle: age 24, 6'1", 208 pounds, shoots right.

Contract: two-way, $513k cap hit, RFA in 2012

2009-2010 linemates: 28% Matt Bradley and David Steckel, 12% Jason Chimera and Eric Fehr

2009-2010 raw stats:
NHL: 7 GP, 1-1-2, -1, 10 shots, 2 PIM

AHL: 66 GP, 16-19-35, +10,  98 shots, 25 PIM
Playoffs: 21 GP, 2-7-9, +6, 26 shots, 0 PIM

2009-2010 advanced stats: 2nd in Corsi QoC, 4th in Corsi Rel QoC, 6th in Corsi QoT, and 7th (second-to-last) in Corsi Rel QoT.



WOWY (yellow is how much better the player is with Beagle, green how much better Beagle is with the player)


There's not much to say about Beagle. The only players on the Caps who saw an increase in their Corsi% with Beagle were John Erskine (who continues to baffle) and Tyler Sloan. Beagle is a good hockey player, but it doesn't look like he's cut out for a scoring role. He looks primarily like a checking-line type of player, and while serviceable at the NHL-level, he looks like he needs a bit more development before he can be a full-time NHLer. At age 24 and more concerned with defense, which comes with experience, rather than offense, which is more skills-based, Beagle has a bit more time to improve his game. I wouldn't expect more than fifteen games, a couple of goals, maybe four or five points, playing on the fourth line at the NHL level. He should be able to take an increased role on the Bears, though, with the departures of Kyle Wilson, Chris Bourque, and Alexandre Giroux, and may break 40 or even 50 points, possibly chipping in with 20 goals.