Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals are the next team for our team overviews. The Capitals made it into the playoffs last season as the last wildcard team and were bounced in the first round by the Florida Panthers. This offseason, the Capitals had the new broken to them that their center Nicklas Backstrom is going to be out for the whole season due to a hip injury. They also have Tom Wilson starting the season on the injured reserve, not scheduled to come back until about December. But they Caps made some moves this offseason that very much lessen the blow of those injuries. They went out and made a trade for Connor Brown from the Senators, who is a power forward that has an knack for finding the net and playing in gritty areas. They also went out and signed Dylan Strome, a second line center from the Blackhawks, who won't quite fill the Backstrom void, but should be able to put up 50-60 points in his role this season. Another acquisition this offseason is defenseman Erik Gustafsson. Gustafsson is an offensive defenseman who the Capitals signed to replaced the departed Justin Schultz. And the most important signing of the offseason for the Capitals is goaltender, Darcy Kuemper. Kuemper came over from the Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche and was excellent last year for them. The Capitals were plagued with inconsistent goaltending last season and Kuemper will be their answer. The Capitals forwards are the strongest part of their team, headlined by the best goal scorer in NHL history, Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin scores at will and is chasing the all time goal scoring record and will end up breaking the record in the next 3 seasons. They also have Evgeny Kuznetsov who is one of the most gifted players in the league with his game-breaking offensive abilities. Kuznetsov plays alongside of Ovechkin and those two together are dangerous. More big players on the Capitals forwards are Anthony Mantha and TJ Oshie. Both of these players serve different roles for the Caps, but are each useful. Mantha, who came over at the trade deadline in the 2020 season has not been healthy much as a Capital, but when he is in the lineup he makes a difference using his big frame to generate offensive chances for himself and his linemates. Oshie has been a big part of the Capitals success since he came on the team. He is an excellent playmaker and has the ability to find the soft areas in the defense to generate shots on goal and drive offense. Washington has a great 3rd line center in Lars Eller and a 4th line that is great in all situations and can be relied upon in key point of every game. The Capitals defense is okay. They have a top 10 defenseman in the league with John Carlson. Carlson has developed the offensive side of his game tremendously in the past couple seasons, but his defense has regressed. Another defender on this Caps roster whose game centers around offense is Dmitry Orlov. Orlov can lay the lumber on opposing players and make good defensive plays, but his skating opens things up in transition and on offense. They do have a defensive defenseman in Nick Jensen. Jensen is the Capitals best defender in the d zone and is a penalty kill specialist. Their other defensemen, Martin Fehervary and Trevor Van Riemsdyk both are offensive minded dmen as well, but Van Riemsdyk is much better defensively than Fehervary. Darcy Kuemper being being this group is huge. He will play a vital role to the Capitals' success as a team, and he will rise to the occasion this year. Their backup, Charlie Lindgren is an average backup, who should be able to find success when he plays due to a good team being in front of him. The Capitals will get back in the playoffs this season. With their experience on this roster, look for them to make a run if they can stay healthy.

Record Prediction- 46-31-5

Playoffs- Yes