Washington Capitals Season Preview

The Capitals continued their yearly trend of a great regular season then choking in the second round of the playoffs as they once again lost to the Penguins. The team also got a lot worse over the off season as they lost lots of key players in Kevin Shattenkirk, Justin Williams, Karl Alzner, Marcus Johansson and Nate Schmidt. There will be a regression in D.C. but the only question is if it will be big enough to keep them out of the playoffs.

Arrivals/Departures

Arrivals: Devante Smith-Pelly, Tyler Graovac, Anthony Peluso
Departures: Kevin Shattenkirk, Justin Williams, Karl Alzner, Marcus Johansson, Nate Schmidt, Daniel Winnik



Forwards:

Nicklas Backstrom has taken over from Alex Ovechkin as the best forward on the team as he produced an impressive 86 point in 82 games last season. Backstrom has rare play-making abilities making him one of the best passers in the game. Ovechkin is still one of the best snipers in the game but he has lost a step as after three straight seasons with 50-plus goals, he only finished with 33 last season. TJ Oshie caps off the top line after his best season in the NHL scoring a career high 33 goals alongside Backstrom and Ovechkin. Evgeny Kuznetsov may be the best second-line center in the NHL but his production dropped off a lot last season from 77 point to 59 points. Andre Burakovsky will take over Justin Williams' role on the second line. Burakovsky has shown the skill set a second liner needs but his production will need to jump. During his first year with the Capitals, Brett Connolly was a third- or fourth-line player but with all the losses on offence, he will likely need to jump right into the top six as he has goal-scoring potential. Lars Eller remains the third-line center but he will need to improve his play with lots of offence disappearing throughout the off season for the Capitals. Jakub Vrana will need to produce as a rookie after putting up six points in 21 games last year when the Capitals were suffering from injuries. Tom Wilson is evolving as a player out of his fourth-line enforcer role into a scorer after he performed well scoring some clutch goals during the Caps' playoff run. One of the best fourth-line centers in the league is Jay Beagle and he has been for a long time; his whole nine-year career has been spent centering the Capitals fourth line and that trend should continue. Devante Smith-Pelly had all the flash and potential to be a star in this league during his playoff run with the Ducks but things never panned out; the Capitals will be Smith-Pelly's third teams since leaving Anaheim in 2015. Tyler Graovac will probably be the other forward in the opening day lineup; he was acquired from the Wild to meet expansion draft requirements but since the Caps lack depth he should crack the lineup. Chandler Stephenson and Riley Barber will probably be the two depth forwards.



Defencemn:

John Carlson is the team's number-one defenceman and has been for a while now, living up to his potential becoming a solid two-way force on the Capitals' blue line. Carlson is still only 27 years old so he can still get better and has another decade to patrol the Capitals' defence. Plus-minus king Dmitri Orlov had his best season last year and with the departure of Karl Alzner and Kevin Shattenkirk, he should get top-pair minutes to show what he can do. Matt Niskanen remains on the second pair as an offensive defenceman who plays very well on the power play too. Brooks Orpik caps off a good top-four defence but Orpik is no longer the player he once was as he has slowed down. Orpik struggles to produce offence and with his large salary, it could become a problem when their young stars need a contract extension. Madison Bowey should be ready to make the leap to the NHL in 2017 after having two good years for the Capitals' AHL affiliate in Hershey. Taylor Chorney will be the other defenceman in the top six but Chorney is better suited in the AHL. The Capitals lack the depth they used to have on defence.



Goaltending:

Braden Holtby is in the conversation for best goalie in the world with Carey Price as he continues to win games left and right for the Capitals. Holtby seems to always be good for an impressive 40 wins as he should make up for lots of the players Washington lost over the off season. Philipp Grubauer has turned into one of the best backup goalies in the NHL and it may be time for him to start but with Holtby in net that won't happen.

Projected Lineup:

Alex Ovechkin	Nicklas Backstrom	TJ Oshie
Brett Connolly	Evgeny Kuznetsov	Andre Burakovsky
Jakub Vrana	Lars Eller	Tom Wilson
Tyler Graovac	Jay Beagle	Devante Smith-Pelly
Nathan Walker	Chandler Stephenson	Riley Barber

Dmitri Orlov	John Carlson
Brooks Orpik	Matt Niskanen
Madison Bowey	Taylor Chorney
Christian Djoos	Aaron Ness

Braden Holtby

Philipp Grubauer

Pheonix Copley

Top 10 Players:

10. Brooks Orpik

9. Andre Burakovsky

8. Dmitry Orlov

7. Matt Niskanen

6. TJ Oshie

5. John Carlson

4. Evgeny Kuznetsov

3. Alex Ovechkin

2. Nicklas Backstrom

1. Braden Holtby



Projected Finish: 98 Points (3rd in Metropolitan)
Last Year: 118 Points (1st in Metropolitan)

Photo credit for Devante Smith-Pelly goes to https://www.todaysslapshot.com/. Nicklas Backstrom goes to http://www.cbc.ca/. John Carlson goes to http://www.foxsports.com/. Braden Holtby goes to https://www.si.com/.