For the past two years Capital fans and players have claimed it to be their “year”, after back to back President trophy season’s and no Stanley Cup to walk away with, plus not reaching an Eastern Conference final in 19 years, along with being knocked out in the 2nd round three years in a row after claiming it to be their “year”. The famous Alex Ovechkin sporting a golf bag over his head haunts many Washington fans, the city of Washington longs for a Stanley Cup and some sport in the area to be successful. Being that the Capitals have finished first in the NHL the last two years and been a top 10 NHL team in the last five years, with nothing to prove leaves many fans heartbroken and fans wondering if maybe it’s the Capitals year again this year?
The simple answer is, NO.
Heading into this off season the Capitals were faced with major questions regarding cap space and player resigning issues. After allowing Karl Alzner, Kevin Shattenkirk, Marcus Johansson and Justin Williams walk, the Capitals roster will look very different, to say the least. A projected line set up for Washington(contributed by Fishbowl Fantasy via Instagram), prospect Jakub Vrana, Nathan Walker, Christian Djoos and Madison Bowey will be cracking the Capitals line up next season.
It appears signing T.J. Oshie for 8 years $46 million at age 30, Evgeny Kuznetsov for 8 years at $62.4 million, Dmitry Orlov for 6 years at $30.6 million and last but not least back up goaltender Phillip Grubauer for 1 year at $1.5 million, was more important to the Capitals than having a possible shot at the Stanley Cup next season. The only contract I can condone is the Kuznetsov one due to his age, production, and relationship with Ovechkin, but the other three don’t make too much sense to me.
With Ovechkin aging and the Capitals losing three very big pieces to their playoff success and regular season success in past seasons, it will be extremely difficult for the Capitals to stay afloat the top the NHL with the Rangers, Devils, Blue Jackets, Maple Leafs, Hurricanes, Lightning, Islanders, and Penguins in contention with them. When a team loses three guys who combined for 244 games played, 51 goals, 71 assists and 119 points while only gaining a player who has contributed nearly nothing to NHL line ups during his career(Devante Smith-Pelly), it’s tough to say who will fill that void, can Lars Eller and Andre Burakovsky score 25 plus goals next season, possibly? Can Brooks Orpik or Matt Niskanen play the minutes Karl Alzner saw plus more due to the rookies slotted in the roster, possibly?
The theme is Washington has a lot of questions to be answered heading into next season with every surrounding team only getting better and Washington taking a step back this offseason, many if not all fans can confidently say next year is not the Capitals year, nor is the next year or the year after that or after that.
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