Will The Capitals Really Take A Step Back? Predictions, Logic & What To Make Of The Team's Outlook
The Capitals surpassed expectations this year. What does it mean for next season?
This past season, the Washington Capitals were one of the more surprising teams if you looked at preseason predictions.
Despite a busy offseason and overturning roughly a third of the roster, several critics had the team missing out on the postseason. Instead, Washington turned heads, with several players hitting career highs as the team rocketed to the top of the Eastern Conference while showing potential as top contributors.
Going into next season, though, will the Capitals be able to maintain the standard they set, or will they take a step back?
The Daily Faceoff surveyed its staff regarding which teams eliminated in the second round have the most worrisome outlook, with a handful of experts pointing to Washington. And the reasoning makes sense — if you don’t regularly watch the team.
Alex Ovechkin is pushing 40, and No. 1 defenseman John Carlson isn’t playing like he used to. The Capitals’ numbers were beyond expectations, with an incredibly high shooting percentage, a fortunate lack of injuries and several players pulling off career-best seasons. And of course, things fell apart in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with Washington running out of gas at the hands of the red-hot Carolina Hurricanes.
Does it really make sense, though, that D.C. will regress after having so much success? Let’s take a look.
First, when it comes to Ovechkin, I’ll relay a warning that T.J. Oshie once gave me (and still sticks with me to this day): “Never bet against the big man.” The 39-year-old intends to be back and still loves the game and can do what he does best: score goals.
That said, he’s aware of the point he’s at in his career, and amid some late-season struggles at 5-on-5, his role is poised to change with the GR8 Chase said and done. And while the underlying numbers are still in Ovechkin’s favor, Washington is transitioning and getting younger, and the team should benefit from him having a different role in 2025-26.
As for Carlson, 35, it was a rough season for him, though he’s shown he can still produce. He was used heavily over the course of the regular season and does a lot of little things for the team, but ultimately, Washington is looking toward the next wave on defense, as his role is poised to change as well.
Jakob Chychrun signed a long-term deal to take over as the next top puck-moving defenseman, but the team may need to add another piece to an already-deep core to start to prepare for the future, as evident by what happened when Martin Fehervary wasn’t available for playoffs.
Whether that’s from within, with Vincent Iorio making the jump, or in free agency or the trade market, remains to be seen.
When it comes to players who had career years being able to keep pace, there’s no reason to expect centers Dylan Strome or Pierre-Luc Dubois won’t be able to maintain the performance that they did this past season. Strome has gotten better with each season and continues to thrive in his role, and the Capitals have proven to be the perfect fit for Dubois’ game and ability.
For younger players like Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas, it’s a bit of a different question. McMichael hit a rough patch after a hot start, but picked up the pace in the playoffs, and Protas likely would’ve been able to remain consistent had he not been injured at the end of the regular season. Both are eager to show, though, their career years weren’t flukes as they aim to play bigger roles.
The biggest question mark for D.C. going into the summer is the bottom six, specifically that third line. Lars Eller likely isn’t coming back, and the future’s not clear for fellow pending free agents Anthony Beauvillier, Andrew Mangiapane and Taylor Raddysh.
Secondary scoring will mean a great deal if this team wants to remain a contender, and that’s why the front office intends to fill that void with either internal or external options. Luckily for the Capitals, they have an impressive prospect pool already as they’ve been long prepared for the next era, with Ryan Leonard and Andrew Cristall making noise, Hendrix Lapierre and Ivan Miroshnichenko on the fringe and guys like Ilya Protas coming up the pipeline.
Management also didn’t rule out taking a “big hack” this summer, though general manager Chris Patrick noted it would have to be a “really big hack” if it were to happen. That one add, though, could be a major difference maker and help the team maintain its place as a top contender in the East.
Lastly, the goaltending leaves little area for concern; the team is thrilled with where its tandem of Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren sits, especially after years of frustration following Braden Holtby’s departure. Thompson is the bona fide No. 1, but Lindgren is eager to show he can still be part of a 1A/1B rotation, and that healthy split puts D.C. in a good spot.
At the end of the day, the Capitals don’t necessarily mind being written off; it’s what fueled the fire they played with to open the season.
“I don’t know if it really surprised us more so than it motivated us, but I think it was a little shocking,” McMichael noted. “I think you look at our team, we got a lot of good players that are proven in this league and proven they can win and have won before.”
But writing them off this early may be a bit premature, especially with the young core in place, only a couple needs to address this summer, Spencer Carbery with another year of experience under his belt and the team already focused on the future.
