Where to project The Washington Capitals?

By: Michael A. Chase Jr.

9/15/2018

         A busy off-season could make for an intriguing NHL season.

 By some measures, however, the Washington Capitals had a relatively quiet off-season. With few signings or trades, now’s the time to picture which team will take the ice in the upcoming season. They are certainly due for a breakout and bounce-back year.

            Mostly, the team attempted to either shed salary to open cap space or add depth. Washington saved $1.150M with the departure of 38-year old defenseman Brooks Orpik (retirement after 15 years in the league) and Matt Niskanen (trade). The team will avoid Niskanen’s $5.75 salary hit over the next couple of years. The team replaced him with Radko Gudas, who is three years younger and has just a $2.345M cap hit. Gudas will be a solid bottom pairing defenseman for Washington.

            While it was a tough decision to move on from these players --- especially because of how key they were to the team during their 2018 Stanley Cup run --- the changes are important moving forward and in helping address several other key roster moves.

            Re-signing winger Jakub Vrana was key to keeping him a part of their elite top six forward group and ensuring flexibility down the road. Giving Vrana the epitome of a ‘bridge’ deal with a 2-year $6.7M contract after his 24-goal, 47-poimt season also gives the team time to plan.

Other re-signings include forward Chandler Stephenson and defenseman Christian Djoos. Again, these were low-risk, one-year deals as the Caps watch their development.

Their other acquisitions were small-scale signings, including forwards Richard Panik, Garnett Hathaway, and Brendan Leipsic, along with goalie Vitek Vanecek. Panik and Hathaway both got 4-year deals, Leipsic received a one-year deal, and Vanecek received a three-year-deal. All these deals will help address the team’s depth issues.

Panik, a player who can play up and down the lineup and on both the power play and penalty kill, adds versatility to their third line. He will be key in the revitalization of the bottom six. After uneven play and production last season from their bottom six group, Panik could easily solve that issue. In Arizona, he scored 14 goals with 19 assists for a total of 33 points in 75 games --- all solid numbers for a third line forward on a team that struggled to score most of the year. As a potential 20-goal scorer, he would help the Caps’ scoring depth immensely. Panik is also very solid defensively after playing a key role on Arizona’s penalty kill last year.

Hathaway and Leipsic bolster their fourth line, which struggled to produce down the stretch and, in the playoffs, last year. Vanecek gives the Capitals a quality backup goalie on their AHL team that can fill in when needed. His youth is a plus.

But defenseman Nick Jensen, acquired from Detroit, and Panik still remain the key for the Capitals if they intend to avoid another first-round exit. Jensen’s expected to have a more elevated role as one of the team’s top four defenseman. Jensen’s 4 year, $10M extension shows the team’s belief in him. He’ll play big minutes just as he did in the playoffs last year. They’ll need Jensen to be more offensively productive after collecting just five assists in 27 games. He has the potential for more point production thanks to his mobility and instincts with the puck. Asking him for a 30-point season with a full year in D.C. is not outlandish. If this occurs --- along with continued steady play defensively --- Washington’s defense will improve after a slight drop-off in their overall performance last season.

            Re-signing Jakub Vrana was the team’s biggest off-season move. His ability to be a two-way player will be huge for the Caps, especially with the loss of 20+ goal scorer Brett Connolly going to Florida and Andre Burakovsky being traded to Colorado.

            Despite finishing last year with a 48-26-8 record for 104 points and first place in the Metropolitan Division, the Caps could not advance past the first round, losing to their division rival Carolina Hurricanes.

            Now the question is how the Caps rebound from this setback. They appear to stack up well against the rest of the league and look to be in good shape. Led by veteran captain Alex Ovechkin, center Nicklas Backstrom, and stud-defenseman John Carlson, and other young players like Tom Wilson and Jonas Siegenthaler, the Caps have addressed all their needs and now have the nucleus to compete with teams like Tampa Bay, Boston, Pittsburgh, and others.

With improved play form the defensive core and better penalty killing numbers, there’s no reason why the Caps shouldn’t remain amongst the strongest Cup contenders. I believe they are still the favorites to win their division and finish with 100 or more points. Only time will tell!