It’s no secret that this year is being viewed as almost a make or break season for perpetual “almost there” forwards Tomas Fleischmann and Eric Fehr. Both have struggled with injuries and inconsistent production since getting the call, and yet both have enormous potential coupled with high expectations.

What doesn’t get mentioned nearly as much is that the same pressure might also exist for the longest-tenured Washington Capital, Boyd Gordon.

Gordon has long been a major asset to the penalty kill, a highly skilled and highly ranked faceoff man and an unsung hero in his third/fourth line duties. The 26-year-old was also a key contributor, like so many others on this Caps roster, to the 2006 Calder Cup run by the Hershey Bears.

And yet this offseason the Caps eschewed the idea of locking Gordon in for any longer than a year, extending just a qualifying offer. Two summers ago it was the same thing – the same offseason in which Dave Steckel, a similar breed of player, was rewarded with a two-year deal.

The two will both be coming up for new deals again this summer (Gordon as an RFA, Steckel as a UFA), but it’s hard to ignore the vote of confidence given to one while the other only received a moderate raise and another one year tryout.

Beyond the contract uncertainty, there are the injury concerns that seem to plague him annually. Before making it onto the full-time roster Gordon had appeared in all 80 games for the Bears the year of the lockout. He then played in 83 games the following year between the Caps and Bears – with another 21 games leading up to the Calder Cup.

Since then, however, injuries have forced him to miss more and more time each season, down to just 63 games played last year. Most of his absences have been related to a chronic back problem that is troubling and yet not unexpected for someone with his skill set and style of play.

Gordon’s never been relied on to provide much in the way of offense during his time in the NHL, but even that has steadily decreased. His first full season with the Caps, 2006-07, saw him put up 29 points (22 of which were assists); in the next two years his point production dropped to 16 and 14, with his assist totals taking the heaviest hits.

It admittedly hasn’t been a banner year for Gordon so far. He has just one assist and has seen minimal ice time when healthy, and his 4 minors are already halfway to his career high…though I’d wager a guess that his back problems played a key role in making him take uncharacteristically undisciplined penalties.

So his situation right now is a tricky one. There’s a lot of depth and skill up front and yet his role is well-defined and not easily filled. He’s a cheap and reliable option for the Caps down the middle but his low salary and pending RFA status could make him an easier target as part of a budget-friendly trade.

If he were to leave the team, whether by way of a trade this season or by being cut loose next summer, there’s no question he would be missed in a lineup that too often relies on skill over pure hard work.

The assets he brings to the lineup aren’t easily summed up on a scoresheet or in a contract; he is and always has been a reliable workhorse for this team, doing those little things we’re always talking about but rarely praising. He routinely sacrifices his body and has probably played through more injuries than we know about.

Gordon is the type of player that a Cup contender needs in its lineup – whether he stays with this Cup contender remains to be seen.