Better Days Ahead

Mar 20, 2023 - 3:00 PM

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Things are not great for the Caps right now, as injuries and inconsistent play just continue to make them a shell of what they should be - and those playoff hopes? Well...let’s just say that you probably shouldn’t worry about working ticket costs into your budget this spring.

But we’re nothing if not hopeless optimists around here (...just go with it), and while we’ve already talked about reasons to keep watching this team as they play out the string (and one of them was on full display yesterday), something else that might get us through is looking further ahead, beyond the end of this season, to what we hope will be a time of resetting, retooling, and returning this team to contender status.

Happy, Healthy Caps

Look, there’s no way to sugarcoat this: the Caps got absolutely, completely screwed over by the injury bug this year, to an unreal extent. Between starting the season without two of their top forwards, a revolving door of injuries that seemed to kick in just as someone else got healthy, and - likely the most damaging of all - the terrifying injury that knocked John Carlson out of the lineup for three months, the team has never been able to quite get their feet under them for more than that one very good month to close out 2022.

So...it has to be better in 2023, right?

The concern with this team going into the 2022-23 campaign was the age factor; older players are just more prone to injury - and there were a fair number of injuries this year that could be chalked up to age. Not all of them, though (unless getting hit with a puck in the head is a product of old age, in which case.../ducks), and there have been plenty of holes in the lineup caused by injuries that are just a product of the game being the game.

The hope then is, maybe, this team will return to some semblance of relatively good health next season - a full year with Tom Wilson, with a rejuvenated Nick Backstrom, potentially even with Connor Brown (should the team bring him back)? Yes, please.

The Kids are Alright...We Hope

GM Brian MacLellan has spoken about, and has already taken steps toward, the team’s need to get younger. It’ll be interesting to see how he continues that trend over the next few months, whether it’s bringing in more new faces à la Rasmus Sandin or giving some of the young’uns down in Hershey (or up in DC) more of a chance to prove that they deserve spots in the lineup.

There’s plenty of talent waiting in the wings, whether we’re looking at unproven commodities like Alex Alexeyev (who’s going to get a nice long look over these last 10+ games) or Hendrix Lapierre, looking further down the road to potential stars-in-the-making like Alexander Suzdalev, or even returning exiled Connor McMichael to DC.

Flexibility for New Additions

As we’ve previously discussed, the moves MacLellan has made so far this season have set the team up for a tremendous amount of flexibility, even after re-signing a couple of guys around the deadline. There’s room on the roster and in the budget to make the necessary upgrades at forward and on defense - and without the pressure of an impending trade deadline and the excess of rental players that fly around at that time every year, there’s the luxury of time to work out the right trade or bring in the right free agent.

It’s something MacLellan has proven to be pretty adept at in his tenure so far - so let’s see what he can do with a little more wiggle room than in the past.

A New Bench Boss?

This is hard to say, because I’m on record as being a Peter Laviolette fan, and I stand by my belief that he has been dealt a seriously tough hand during his three seasons here that have made success very difficult. That said...it may be time to move on.

This isn’t about him “not playing the kids” - because I hate to break it to some of you, but very few coaches will play the kids over the veterans if they have any choice in the matter. Just look at *gestures at basically every coach in the league over the last few decades*.

It just seems like maybe his time as a coach in DC is coming to an end, especially as the team stumbles and fumbles to the finish line this spring. His contract is up at the end of the season, and while it sounded like Brian MacLellan was interested in extending that contract earlier this year, it hasn’t happened yet, and the way the season has gone since might have him rethinking his plan.

Of course, that opens up a whole new can of worms when it comes to finding his replacement - which can be fun. For example, do the Caps go to the same recycling bin that every team sifts through and pick out some tried-and-sort-of-true guy? Do they promote from within and bring up Hershey’s ? Or do they maybe go off the board, break another barrier in coaching and give one of these tremendously qualified women a shot?

The Goat Chases the Great

It’s a reason to keep watching this season. It’s a reason to get excited about next season. As of this posting, Alex Ovechkin is 75 goals away from tying, 76 from passing Wayne Gretzky’s career goal total of 894.

...do we need to say more?