Introduction
John Carlson (born January 10, 1990) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League. He was drafted by the Capitals in the first round, 27th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Playing career
Carlson began his ice hockey career with the New Jersey Rockets Youth Hockey Organization of the Atlantic Youth Hockey League.
Carlson lived near the New Jersey Rockets Organization based in Newark, New Jersey for Tier II and Juniors and Somerset, New Jersey for Tier I. He attended St. Joseph High School in New Jersey for three years before he attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis.
Carlson played in the United States Hockey League with the Indiana Ice in 2007–08, but signed to play for the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League in 2008–09.
Carlson made his professional debut for the Capitals' AHL affiliate Hershey Bears on May 2, 2009 in a Calder Cup playoff game versus the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. The following night he scored his first professional goal in Game 2 of the series.
Carlson made his NHL debut for the Capitals on November 21, 2009 against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On January 21, 2010, Carlson was recalled by the Capitals. Carlson would go on to score his first NHL goal against Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes on March 25, 2010.
Carlson scored his first career playoff goal, which was a game tying goal with just over one minute to play in game 2 against the Montreal Canadiens, in round 1 of the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs. Later that season, he scored the game winning and Calder Cup winning goal in Game Six of the Hershey Bears/Texas Stars finals.
International play
Carlson was an alternate captain for the United States in the 2010 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. On January 5, 2010, Carlson scored the game-winning goal in overtime of the Gold Medal game as part of a two-goal effort to beat Team Canada 6-5. Additionally, he was named to the WJC all-star team.
In December 2010 Carlson was named to NHL.com's All-Time World Junior Championship team.
On January 1, 2014, Carlson was named to the USA Men's Ice Hockey Team for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. On February 13, 2014, Carlson scored Team USA's first goal of the tournament, at 15:27 of the first period of the opening match vs. Slovakia. His goal was scored on his first shot in the tournament, giving him consecutive goals on shots in international play for Team USA.
Personal life
Carlson was born in Natick, Massachusetts, but grew up in the Colonia section of Woodbridge Township, New Jersey.
On September 6, 2014, he married his long-time girlfriend Gina Nucci, and in June, 2015, they welcomed their firstborn child, a son they named Lucca.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2006–07 | Indiana Ice | USHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007–08 | Indiana Ice | USHL | 59 | 12 | 31 | 43 | 72 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2008–09 | London Knights | OHL | 59 | 16 | 60 | 76 | 65 | 14 | 7 | 15 | 22 | 16 | ||
| 2008–09 | Hershey Bears | AHL | — | — | — | — | — | 16 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2009–10 | Hershey Bears | AHL | 48 | 4 | 35 | 39 | 26 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 8 | ||
| 2009–10 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 22 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 2010–11 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 82 | 7 | 30 | 37 | 44 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | ||
| 2011–12 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 82 | 9 | 23 | 32 | 22 | 14 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | ||
| 2012–13 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 48 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 18 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| 2013–14 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 82 | 10 | 27 | 37 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014–15 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 82 | 12 | 43 | 55 | 28 | 14 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 4 | ||
| 2015–16 | Washington Capitals | NHL | 56 | 8 | 31 | 39 | 14 | 12 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 4 | ||
| NHL totals | 454 | 53 | 175 | 228 | 156 | 51 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 20 | ||||
International
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | United States | WJC |  | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | |
| 2014 | United States | OG | 4th | 6 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2016 | United States | WCH | 7th | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Junior totals | 7 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 4 | ||||
| Senior totals | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | ||||
Awards
Junior
| USHL Second All-Star Team | 2007–08 |
| USHL All-Rookie Team | 2007–08 |
| London Knights MVP | 2008–09 |
| London Knights Booster Club Player of the Year | 2008–09 |
| London Knights Best Defenseman | 2008–09 |
| London Knights Rookie of the Year | 2008–09 |
| London Knights Playoff Performer of the Year | 2008–09 |
| World Junior Championships All-Star Team | 2010 |
Professional
| AHL All-Star Game selection | 2010 |
| Calder Cup | 2010 |