John Carlson

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 in Colonia, NJ near the Rockets Organization based in Newark,NJ for Tier II and Juniors and Somerset, NJ for Tier I. He attended St. Joseph High School (Metuchen, 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 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.