2011-2012 Washington Capitals Player Profile: Tom Poti
When Tom Poti signed with Washington, I had high hopes for him. While injuries have kept him from living up to those high hopes, he has still been a solid defenseman for the
Poti won a silver medal as a member of the 2002 USA Men's Olympic Hockey Team.
Capitals while healthy.
Poti began his NHL career with the Edmonton Oilers in 1998. In 2002, the Rangers traded for Poti. He was not well-liked in New York because he never really lived up to their expectations. He was expected to be the top point man of their power play, and in his first year he was exactly that. After that, inconsistent forward play and injuries forced Poti to try to do too much. In 2006, Poti signed a one year deal with the Islanders. In 2007, the Capitals signed Poti to a 4 year deal worth $14 million. At the time, I thought it was a great signing. Paired with Mike Green, I expected some legendary numbers from the Capitals powerplay.
Poti has always been an offensive-minded defensemen, but not in a traditional sense. Most offensive-minded defensemen are goal scorers. They’ll score somewhere around 20 goals a year, maybe around 30 in a really good year. That is definitely not Poti’s style. In fact, the most goals he’s ever scored in a season is twelve. Where his value comes is through his passing. He’s a very smart passer and he can get your passing game going on the powerplay.
Like most offensive-minded defensemen, Poti doesn’t do too much for you defensively. Doesn’t have good instincts, and he won’t win anything against the boards. As long as you can produce, teams will usually at least tolerate those things. Unfortunately, Poti doesn’t produce as much as he should, so he gets criticized for it.
Poti is currently on the IR, and judging by his health history, I would not be surprised if he retired. Poti’s taken quite a bit of abuse over the years.
For Tom Poti’s career stats, click here.
