Washington made the playoffs in 2024 which was a surprise to many, so can they do it again? Can they win a round for the first time since 2018?
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29 Comments
I truly believe that the caps will be very surprising this year and will blow away people’s expectations. Caps have a winning mentality and they know how to win close games as they did plenty of times last year. Shocking to see how low their expectations still are, despite how busy they were this offseason. Also, the goalie tandem looks fantastic and the depth on defense will be a huge help. Tough to win a playoff game when half of your defense played in the AHL for part of the year.
i think the caps added some bite to their aging roster and it's a good thing. a team of "if" but it could go a long way. new faces must compete if they want to get in the Metro top 3
I think they got a lot better in the offseason. I am really excited for the Capitals' future.
I wasn't a big fan of the trades for Dubois or Mangiapane. I feel better about those trades after the moves to get Chychrun, Roy, and Thompson. Picking up Dubois and Mangiapane wouldn't be enough to give them a good chance to return to the playoffs. But picking up those two, plus Chychrun, Roy, and Thompson does give them a good chance to return to the playoffs.
They gave up a bit too much for a one year rental in Mangiapane, but they did pay market value for him. Teams generally overpay for one year rentals in my opinion, and the Capitals were definitely not a good enough team to be overpaying for a one year rental. You really gotta be a cup contender to be overpaying for a one year rental. The Capitals are still not cup contenders, so I'm still not a fan of the Mangiapane trade. But they did make the team a legit playoff contender, which they weren't at the time of the Mangiapane trade. Adding Chychrun, Roy, and Thompson makes the Capitals much better.
I still think that the Capitals need to give more of their younger players from Hershey a chance. I really want to see Dube and Frank to get a chance this upcoming season. I think Sgarbossa deserves to be the Capitals 5th center, and a healthy scratch on the NHL team who moves into the lineup when players inevitably start getting banged up.
I don't think that Miroshnichenko has top line upside anymore, but I do think that Leonard and Cristall do.
I don't think that the Capitals are on the same level as the Rangers. But I do think that they're on the same level as the Canes, Islanders, and Devils. And I think they're ahead of the Flyers, Penguins, and Blue Jackets.
My prediction for the Capitals is that they'll finish fourth in the division, behind New Jersey and Carolina, but slightly ahead of the Islanders. And this time they'll actually win a couple of games against the Rangers in the playoffs. But not four of them.
I like the moves they made but it's definitely a dice roll. I think some of this is because of a promise to Ovi that the team stay competitive during his contract. Carbery did an excellent job. And though they got swept, I was very happy they made the playoffs. That showed grit through some difficult circumstances down the stretch.
PLD will be given every chance to click with Ovi on the first line. I like what the Caps did with the defense. Some of that will give Carlson more of a rest. In net, besides Lindgren and Thompson, they have Hunter Shepard and Clay Stevenson waiting in the wings at Hershey. I could see them moving one of the goalies at the trade deadline if a good deal comes up. As to Kuemper, he was not good last year. I remember his time with the Coyotes when for a time, he was arguably the best goalie in the league. And of course he has the cup with Colorado. I hope he bounces back with LA.
I don't know if the Caps plan to be more aggressive now in terms of deals or if this was temporary. I also don't think it will be much of a change now with Chris Patrick taking over GM duties while Brian MacLellan stays as the President of Hockey Operations. With the little cap space they will have, I could see maybe a deal for a 3rd/4th line type player.
I just love these off season videos! Great to speculate next season already.
I don't think people realize how much Ovi has carried the offense for the Caps. In the 19 seasons he has been in the NHL, there has been one season with another player reaching 40 goals(Semin in 09-10) and four seasons with at least one other player reaching 30 goals.
Green was the last NHL defenseman to get 30 back in 08-09. Backstrom hit 30 in 09-10. Besides the 40 goal season for Semin, he had 30 in 06-07 and 08-09. Chris Clark has 30 in 06-07. The last time another player hit 30 was Oshie in the 16-17 season.
This was a retool
They didn't get rid of any major prospects or high draft picks.
Been waiting for this one. This team is a heart attack in slow motion lol. I think they can make the playoffs even push for a devisional spot rather than a WC. Playoffs might be something they are built for with such a dynamic D core and the mix of vets and great youth coming up
if the capitals make the playoffs, *RYAN* Leonard will 100% be in the lineup, he stated to the media, he planned on doing two years at BC (entering his second year this upcoming colliegate season)
Shannon, I just want you to know that you make every day a better day. Much love from The Netherlands❤️
The Caps should absolutely be mortgaging the future to get OV to 894-900 goals. I do not believe they are truly building for playoff success though. Id say achieving that glory for OV is in WSH's best interest all things considered even if it adds a few years to a rebuild.
As a season ticket holder you are missing a couple of important people. Fehervary and Leonard. The Caps had their best off season at least 10 years.
Been really impressed with almost all of the Caps' off-season moves. Although Dubois is a huge risk, it may pay off for them as in theory he should have a chip in his shoulder for next season and is a decent bounce back candidate. They fleeced the Sens and Golden Knights for Chychrun and Thompson.
Wow good for the caps. Wish the Blues went for it like this lol I like their D a lot and goalies. All the sudden I'm rooting for the caps now
I know people are harping on the PLD trade but I dont think you get a center with his upside and age for much cheaper. The caps will have to rebuild sooner rather than later anyway so might aswell give it a few more goes for OV.
Please, Hockey Gods, let us get just one more Penguins Capitals series while Ovi and Sid are still playing.
Caps fans get ready to scream at your TV like the Letterkenny Irish Sr team "number 80, SKAAAATE!"
I don't think Washington made it into the playoffs because they were a strong team. It was that the other teams were just worse. Ottawa or the Sabres should be taking that spot in 2025.
Hendrix Lapierre. Not having him as a "wildcard" is wild. Gonna be better than Mcmichael for sure. Already is i think.
In addition to McMichael, there's Hendrix Lapierre and Alexsei Protas, who had varying degrees of success but are definitely factors to the team this coming season and long-term (Protas played a great all-around game but struggled to produce, while Lapierre earned more playing time in the second half of the season, scoring at a top 6 rate, and then was the MVP of the Calder Cup). The additions to the roster means that the top 9 and top 4 are going to be a bit fluid, as THG pointed out, but those two guys also could be factors. They're going to have four players who could center in the top 3–Strome, Dubois, McMichael, and Lapierre. This is a team already in transition to the post-Ovi era, with some reinforcements brought in to bolster the aging core (now just Ovi, Carlson, and Wilson) and support the younger guys in taking the next step (Sandin, Fehervary, McMichael, Protas, Lapierre, with Miroshnichenko and Leonard further out).
I can see why teams never want to do a full rebuild anymore. When 2/3rds of the league is competing for a playoff spot, its a long road back from the bottom.
No but next playoff push is delayed even more
Ovechkin is a liability to the team and is only there for the publicity of breaking Gretzky's record.
Also an important note to make is that the Caps gained an extra 3.9 mill with Kuznetsov terminating his contract. A small bump in cap relief.
The Caps should've started "rebuilding" a few seasons ago, and it feels like they're trying to keep the playoff hunt alive (like my Red Wings were doing in the early-mid 2010s), and it's just not gonna end well for them.
Ryan Leonard
These two years have been the re-tool on the fly. Last year mostly to assess the youth and get Carbery acclimated. This year is the roster re-tool. Im soooo pumped to see this re-vamped d-corps. Sandin is gonna break out with Matt Roy at his side
It's not an either/or. Ovie wants the record but he also wants to play on a good team. Many of these new guys are on expiring deals so the Caps aren't hamstrung if these additions don't work and if they do and can be resigned, the retool/rebuild is ahead of schedule. They need more scoring. Lapierre will bring some. Miro and Leonard eventually too.
And as one friend noted, a lot of these acquisitions are square pegs that other teams were trying to force into round holes. Hopefully with square peg deployments, they'll bounce back.