Washington Capitals season snapshot awards

With the NHL pausing the 2019-20 regular season on March 12 due to the concerns surrounding the coronavirus, NHL.com is taking stock of each of the League's 31 teams.

Today, the award-worthy candidates for the Washington Capitals at the pause:

Much of the Washington Capitals core remained intact after they lost to the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2019 Eastern Conference First Round, and despite struggling with consistency this season, they are positioned to make a run at their second Stanley Cup championship in three seasons.

After going 26-6-5 in their first 37 games, the Capitals are 15-14-3 since but lead the Philadelphia Flyers by one point for first place in the Metropolitan Division.

To showcase some of the strong performances that have helped the Capitals get to where they are, here are the top players in various categories:

MVP

Alex Ovechkin continues to amaze in his 15th NHL season. The forward is tied with David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins for the NHL lead with 48 goals, two away from his ninth 50-goal season, which would tie Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy for the most in League history. With two more goals, Ovechkin would also tie Hockey Hall of Famer Mike Gartner for seventh in NHL history with 708.

Rookie

With Ilya Samsonov going 16-6-2 with a 2.55 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and one shutout, the Capitals' future in net appears safe regardless of whether Braden Holtby re-signs or leaves as an unrestricted free agent after this season. The 23-year-old was pushing Holtby (3.11 GAA, .897 save percentage) for playing time before going 0-4-1 with a 4.34 GAA and .869 save percentage in his past six games (five starts).

Defenseman

A leading contender to be voted winner of the Norris Trophy as the best NHL defenseman, John Carlson has set NHL career highs in assists (60) and points (75), and tied his career high with 15 goals. In addition to leading NHL defensemen in assists and points, he is fourth among all players in assists and tied with Mika Zibanejad of the New York Rangers for 12th in points. Carlson also leads Washington in average time on ice per game (24:38).

Defensive forward

Carl Hagelin's contributions go well beyond his 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 58 games. He leads Capitals forwards in average ice time per game while shorthanded (2:55), and his speed has helped their penalty kill improve from 24th in the NHL last season (78.9 percent) to sixth this season (82.6).

Comeback player

Lars Eller had a decent season in 2018-19, with 36 points (13 goals, 23 assists) in 81 games. However, the center wasn't satisfied, so he spent the offseason working with a skating coach. That decision has paid off for Eller, who has an NHL career-high 39 points (16 goals, 23 assists) in 69 games and also leads the Capitals in face-off winning percentage (51.9 percent; minimum 20 draws) and shot-attempt differential at 5-on-5 (plus-191).