The Washington Capitals had a difficult number of seasons at the beginning of their history following their expansion into the NHL. Due to these struggles, they had to pick at the top of the NHL Draft quite a bit. Putting their 1974 first-overall pick Greg Joly aside because that was an expansion selection, the Caps had to pick at the top due to poor results on the ice, as expansion teams experienced most of the time. They had to pick in the top three draft spots on multiple occasions.
Defender Rick Green was selected as the first overall pick in 1976, defenseman Robert Picard was picked third overall in the 1977 Draft, and forward Ryan Walter was selected second overall in 1978. The next time that the Caps would have to pick that high was 1981, when the team had the third overall pick and chose Bobby Carpenter. They originally had the fifth pick in this draft, but swapped picks with the Colorado Rockies who had the third pick. Carpenter showed during his time in D.C. how good of a talent he was, and the end of his time as a Capital also benefited the club going forward as well.
Landing the Third Overall Pick
The 1980-81 Capitals finished with a record of 26-36-18, which accrued them a total of 70 points. That was only good enough for fifth place in what was the Patrick Division. The team had some stars reach their own individual success that season. Center Dennis Maruk, in his second full campaign with the club, notched 50 goals and 47 assists for 97 points. Mike Gartner, who Washington selected as the fourth overall pick in 1979 and was in his second season in the league, tallied 48 goals and 46 assists for 94 points in 80 games. Walter, who was the captain of this team, had 68 points himself (24 goals and 44 assists). The Caps also had solid contributions from others like Bengt-Ake Gustafsson, Bob Kelly, and Jean Pronovost among others.
As for their goaltending, they had quite a few netminders in there sharing the crease. They definitely would have had better success if history was different and there was Olaf Kolzig or Braden Holtby in there for them. There were five goalies who suited up for them. The one who played the most games was Mike Palmateer. He played in 49 contests for the Caps and posted an 18-19-9 record. His save percentage (SV%) was .878 and his goals-against average (GAA) was 3.86. Palmateer also had two shutouts. Following him in the crease was almost split down the middle between Dave Parro (18 games played) and Wayne Stephenson (20 games played). Then, following them, were Gary Inness (three games played) and Rollie Boutin (two games played). The ages of these goalies were a mix as well. Palmateer was 27 years old, Parro was 23, Stephenson was 36, Inness was 31, and Boutin was 23.
The Caps ended up with the fifth overall selection but made a deal with the Rockies so that they could move up to third overall. There were a lot of star players in the 1981 Draft to pick from. Dale Hawerchuk went first overall to the Winnipeg Jets and other significant talents who got their names called included Ron Francis, Grant Fuhr, Al MacInnis, Chris Chelios, and Mike Vernon among others. With the third pick, the Caps chose Carpenter, and the rollercoaster ride with his tenure there began.
Carpenter Before the Capitals
Carpenter was born on July 13, 1963, in Beverly, Massachusetts. He played hockey for his high school, St. John’s Preparatory School. He posted solid numbers while there. In his first campaign for St. John’s, he netted 23 goals and provided 31 assists for 54 points in just 23 games. He only continued to get better with each season. Below are his stats from three seasons with St. John’s:
- 1978-79: 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points in 23 games
- 1979-80: 28 goals and 37 assists for 65 points in 33 games
- 1980-81: 14 goals and 24 assists for 38 points in 18 games
Carpenter also represented his country by playing for Team USA during the 1981 World Junior Championship. He got to play with fellow future NHL players like Brian Mullen and future Capital Kelly Miller. In five games, Carpenter posted five goals and four assists for nine points. He was showing that he could compete on multiple levels. He was dominating in high school and then took it a step further by playing against some of the best younger players in the sport.
It was a possibility that Carpenter could be picked in the first round of the 1981 Draft with how well he was doing. If that became the case, it would be significant, as he would be the second American to be chosen as a first-round selection in an NHL Draft (the first was the Buffalo Sabres picking defender Mike Ramsey in 1979). That is exactly what happened, as Carpenter was picked third overall by Washington. He had a choice about whether to play for the Caps or go play college hockey at Providence College. In the end, he chose to make a considerable jump from high school hockey to the NHL.
Carpenter’s Capitals Career and Management Relationship Issues
Carpenter made an easy transition into the league in his rookie season. He played in 80 games and accumulated 67 points (32 goals and 35 assists). He finished tied on the team for fourth in points with Chris Valentine. Carpenter had a great cast of teammates around him who provided a solid offensive punch as well. Maruk led the squad in points with 60 goals and 76 assists for 136 points. Following him was Walter, who produced 38 goals and 49 assists for 87 points. Lastly, the only other player ahead of Carpenter statistically that season was Gartner, who was a point-per-game with 80 points in 80 games (35 goals and 45 assists).
Despite the individual successes of their players, the Caps actually took a step backward and finished with only 65 points with a record of 26-41-13. Parro led the way in net with goalie games played (52), while Palmateer only had 11 games played and 23-year-old goalie Al Jensen had 26. Parro finished with a record of 16-26-7, had a SV% of .874 and a GAA of 4.21. Simply put, the Caps had an offensive bunch at this time, but their goaltending was a bit problematic. Things with Carpenter went solidly though, and he was not going to slow down any time soon. Here are his stats while in D.C.:
- 1981-82: 32 goals and 35 assists for 67 points in 80 games
- 1982-83: 32 goals and 37 assists for 69 points in 80 games
- 1983-84: 28 goals and 40 assists for 68 points in 80 games
- 1984-85: 53 goals and 42 assists for 95 points in 80 games
- 1985-86: 27 goals and 29 assists for 56 points in 80 games
- 1986-87: five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 22 games
His best point totals all came from his time in Washington. 1984-85 was his best single-season performance, hitting and surpassing the 50-goal mark. He helped pave the way and show that U.S. players could also reach those milestones in goals, as evidenced by Scottsdale-born Auston Matthews doing that for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2023-24 with 69 goals.
As good as he was doing though, not all was well with Carpenter and the Caps. He had multiple issues with team management, involving general manager David Poile and head coach Bryan Murray. These included the subjects of salary as well as ice time. It got ugly between both sides, and eventually, something had to give. Tony Kornheiser wrote, “Carpenter, who had scored 53 goals just two seasons before — then signed a big bucks, three-year contract, had worn out his welcome in a hurry by getting the deadly combination of big head and timid body. Murray had publicly criticized Carpenter’s insufficient ‘work ethic,’ and amplified that by adding, Carpenter was ‘unwilling to go to the net and take the physical abuse you have to take,’ a slanderous indictment in the NHL” (from ‘Carpenter Mends Some Fences,’ The Washington Post, July 1, 1992).
Kornheiser also wrote about how bad things got between coach Murray and Carpenter specifically. He wrote, “During this time Carpenter and Murray traded insults, with Carpenter accusing Murray of every heinous crime in the book short of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby, and Murray steadfastly dismissing Carpenter as a pouty, spoiled brat. Poile attempted to stay above it, but wearily admitted: ‘We’ve been unable to motivate him to play to the best of his potential. We had expectations, and we paid him accordingly. He didn’t live up to them.’ Shaking his head sorrowfully, Poile concluded: ‘Sometimes a marriage doesn’t work, and you have to separate. This is a divorce.’”
When all was said and done, the Caps were ready to move on from Carpenter and that is what they did in the middle of the 1986-87 campaign.
Trading Carpenter and Verbal Words
Carpenter was dealt along with a 1987 second-round draft pick to the New York Rangers in exchange for Mike Ridley, Kelly Miller, and Bob Crawford. Crawford only played in 12 games for Washington and that was it. However, the Caps got a big win in the deal by landing both Ridley and Miller. Ridley went on to become one of the best point producers in Caps history. He had 218 goals (which is good enough for fifth all-time in franchise history) and 547 points (10th all-time) in Washington in parts of eight seasons. Miller, meanwhile, played in 13 campaigns for the Capitals. He was a significant offensive threat as well, and had his best stretch of hockey from 1988-89 to 1993-94:
- 1988-89: 19 goals and 21 assists for 40 points in 78 games
- 1989-90: 18 goals and 22 assists for 40 points in 80 games
- 1990-91: 24 goals and 26 assists for 50 points in 80 games
- 1991-92: 14 goals and 38 assists for 52 points in 78 games
- 1992-93: 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points in 84 games
- 1993-94: 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points in 84 games
Carpenter, on the other side of the trade, went to the Rangers but still had things to say about how stuff transpired with the Caps. As Thomas Boswell wrote, “All Carpenter had to do to win his war against the management of the Washington Capitals was keep his mouth shut after he was traded to the New York Rangers three weeks ago…Instead, as cameras rolled from New York to Quebec, he put his raw emotions on public display. Murray hadn’t been fair to him; Murray hadn’t recognized his talent. Murray was the reason he had been kicked off the Capitals indefinitely, until he could be traded. Murray panicked under pressure in big games. Murray should have won two Stanley Cups by now with all the talent he had in Washington. Murray’s players no longer respected him, and many wished they could have escaped from Washington as he had. As long as Murray was coach, the Capitals would stay pretty much where they were — in last place” (from ‘Bobby Carpenter Betrayed by Own Words : His Outbursts Took the Heat Off Washington Capital Management,’ Los Angeles Times, January 25, 1987).
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Carpenter only played in 28 games for the Rangers before he was moved for the second time during the 1986-87 season. He was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in a deal that brought Hockey Hall of Fame talent Marcel Dionne to the Blueshirts. Up to that point, Carpenter had tallied two goals and eight assists for 10 points for New York. He finished the rest of that season in LA, where he had two goals and three assists for five points in 10 games.
An Unlikely Reunion
Believe it or not, even despite the division between the Caps and Carpenter, the two sides eventually came back together again. He spent the seasons in between his two D.C. stints with the Rangers, Kings, and Boston Bruins. Before the 1992-93 campaign began, he reunited with his old team. Poile was still at the helm as GM, but Murray’s brother Terry was now the bench boss for the Caps. It was only for one season that Carpenter returned and he did not have as much offensive flare as he had in his first tenure, but he was back and was a nice complementary talent. He suited up for 68 games, where he produced 11 goals and 17 assists. The team was run by a different group that consisted of Peter Bondra, Ridley, Kevin Hatcher, Dale Hunter, Michal Pivonka, and Al Iafrate among others. Carpenter did not have to help run the show like the first time. Instead, he could just play his game and let other teammates like Bondra and Hatcher lead the charge.
Devils’ Advocate
After his brief one-season reunion in D.C., Carpenter went to the New Jersey Devils. This was the last stop of his career as a player. He was not the same offensive talent he once was, but his supporting role turned out to be substantial. He played in New Jersey for six seasons, winning the Stanley Cup in 1995. He was just one spoke on the wheel of the Devils’ talent. He played alongside Stephane Richer, John MacLean, Bill Guerin, former Capital Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, and Claude Lemieux during that 1995 run to the Cup.
After the six seasons with the Devils, he hung up his skates. In total, he amassed 320 goals and 408 assists for 728 points in 1,178 games. He was not done with the game though, as he won a second and third Stanley Cup ring as an assistant coach in 2000 and 2003.
More recently, Carpenter continued his coaching career as an assistant under longtime NHL head coach Mike Keenan, who was the bench boss in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) with the Kunlun Red Star, located in Beijing, China. He replaced Keenan as interim coach for the rest of 2017-18, but he was not head coach again the following season for the Red Star.
Looking Back on Carpenter’s Capitals Career
During Carpenter’s first stint as a Capital, things started well. He was a vital offensive producer and ended up accomplishing the 50-goal mark. Then, somewhere along the way, things soured between him and management. Poile and Bryan Murray figured it was best to move on without him on the team while Carpenter pointed fingers. He bounced around with a few teams but was able to return to the team and somewhat make amends for the past. In the end, he was able to win a few Cups when all was said and done. He was a great goal scorer for the Caps and he also helped land another franchise face in Ridley. Overall, the Carpenter story has good, bad, and ugly parts to it. Fortunately, it appears that everything in the end went well for both sides.
