Boone Jenner Helps Capitals Centers Improve Faceoff Skills

Washington Capitals veteran forward Boone Jenner is helping the team's younger centers develop their faceoff skills while contributing to special teams, following an impressive debut against the Carolina Hurricanes last week. Jenner won 13 of 17 faceoffs, a 76.5 percent success rate, in Washington's 5-2 victory, and has begun sharing his experience with Ilya Protas, Justin Sourdif and other teammates.

Jenner's influence is already reflected in Protas' early results. After losing four of his first five faceoffs against Carolina, Protas won 11 of his next 21, according to the statistics in the source report. He also went 3-for-3 on power-play faceoffs, helping Washington's second unit establish its offensive formation.

Protas, who is playing his first full NHL season at age 20, said he has been learning from several experienced centers on the roster. Jenner discussed working with the young forward and other teammates to develop their technique.

"I know [Protas is] a young guy, and we've talked even before camp a little bit about it, and whenever we get the chance, we want to try to work on it, along with the other centermen, you know, Stromer and Dubie and guys who have been around for a while," Jenner said last month. "I've played quite a bit of center in my career and take a lot of pride in the faceoff circle too, so just trying to help him out. He's only got a few games under his belt, so he'll learn that. But just trying to teach him a few things, and I think for all of us, just continuing to work on it."

Protas said he has sought advice from multiple teammates rather than relying on one mentor. The young center emphasized the value of learning different approaches from Washington's established players.

"I tried to get a little bit of everyone: Sourds, Boone, Stromer, Dubie," Protas said. "They're all great centers, and I'm always looking up to them and try to always ask, talk to them (about) what they're doing, what they think, and learn from them. So that's a great opportunity when I'm here. I try to get every little detail from everyone here."

Sourdif has also benefited from playing alongside Jenner. The pair have appeared together in all three of Washington's games so far this season on a fourth line frequently assigned defensive responsibilities.

Sourdif said Jenner's experience as a longtime captain with another organization has made him a valuable source of guidance on and off the ice.

"Anytime you get a guy who was a captain for a number of years in a different organization, you get that leadership quality," Sourdif said. "I can pick his brain with anything. He's been around for a while, and he's a tremendous player. Even just getting to know him as a person too, it's been unreal, and he's a great human being."

The two centers also divide faceoff responsibilities according to game situations and their handedness. Jenner shoots left-handed, while Sourdif shoots right-handed, allowing them to take draws from their preferred sides when appropriate. Through three games, Jenner has won 13 of 20 faceoffs at five-on-five, while Sourdif has won five of eight.

Jenner has won 54 percent of his faceoffs over his NHL career, ranking 37th among centers with at least 1,000 faceoffs taken since his rookie season in 2013-14. The 33-year-old said winning draws remains a priority, particularly in critical defensive situations.

"I've always taken a lot of pride in being a good faceoff guy," Jenner said. "I think they're very important, especially on the penalty kill or late in games. Playing with Sourdi, even last game, where he's a righty and I'm a lefty, so maybe we can play on our strong sides.

We'll play with all that. But obviously, he's really good in the dot too, so I'm not worried about that."

Jenner's experience is also helping veteran center Dylan Strome refine his approach. Strome has won 51.7 percent of his career faceoffs and recorded a career-best 58.2 percent success rate last season, according to the source report.

Strome said Jenner's strength, positioning and ability to use different techniques make him a useful teammate to consult. Their previous matchups have also given Strome opportunities to study Jenner's methods.

"I think he's a great guy to bounce ideas off of," Strome said of Jenner. "He's strong. He gets low on his faceoffs.

He can win draws multiple ways, which is what we were talking about yesterday a little bit, doing some after practice there. At the end of the day, you know every faceoff guy you're going against. I probably took roughly 50 to 100 draws against Boone in the last five or six years, so you can kind of learn some things from how low he gets, how strong he is on the puck, and how there are different ways to win the draw.

"Like, he can tie up; you can go forehand, you can go backhand, you can do multiple different things. But I think just getting the sense from how good he is at faceoffs and how low he gets, I think that's going to be a benefit for myself, for Sourdi, for Pro, for whoever's taking the draw to see."

Beyond his work with the team's centers, Jenner has taken on a significant role in Washington's penalty kill. Through the team's first three games, only Tom Wilson, averaging 4:00 of shorthanded ice time per game, has played more in that situation among Capitals forwards than Jenner, who averages 3:30.

Jenner previously captained the Columbus Blue Jackets. Although his role with Washington may be different at this stage of his career, his faceoff expertise and penalty-killing responsibilities have added to his contributions to the Capitals.