Last Word on Hockey’s Puck Drop Previews are back for the 2023-24 season! As the regular season approaches, Last Word will preview each team’s current outlook and stories to watch for the upcoming year. We’ll also do our best to project how things will go for each team over the course of the campaign. Today, we’re previewing the 2023-24 Washington Capitals.
2023-24 Washington Capitals
2022-23 Season
The 2022-23 season was the worst for the Washington Capitals in a decade and a half. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2013-14, and had a losing record by the end of the regular season for the first time in 15 years. Washington won more than two games in a row only two times, both during the month of December. February was the team’s worst month, winning only two of nine games. Shortly after the end of the season, head coach Peter Laviolette and most of his staff parted ways with the team. Several key members of the Capitals’ core missed a dozen or more games, which contributed significantly to the team’s struggles.
The most significant absence was top-line centreman and alternate captain, Nicklas Backstrom. In June 2022, Backstrom had a hip resurfacing procedure to correct a long-lingering injury, which had forced him to miss nearly half the preceding season. The recovery took him until early January 2023. In 39 games, he scored 21 points for 0.54 points per game, a distinct career-low for him. Prior to the 2021-22 season, he had never recorded a points-per-game rate below 0.80.
Injuries Haunted the 2022-23 Capitals
Backstrom wasn’t the only one of the Capitals’ leaders to miss a significant part of the season. Forwards Tom Wilson and T.J. Oshie, and defenseman John Carlson, who have all worn alternate captains’ letters, were also out for stretches. Wilson had a surgical procedure in the summer for a torn ACL which kept him out for the first half of the season. He rejoined the lineup in the same game as Backstrom, but injured his other leg two weeks later and missed an additional six games. Oshie had been dealing with recurring ailments for a few seasons, culminating in a back injury that he played through with short absences, when the pain overcame his perseverance. Carlson was sidelined just before Christmas when a stray slapshot hit him in the head. The impact fractured his skull and severed his temporal artery, requiring overnight attention at a local hospital. He didn’t return until late March, by which point the Capitals’ season was already doomed.
2023 Offseason
The Capitals’ first objective for the offseason was to find a new head coach. It was the third time Washington needed a new coach since the summer of 2018, when Barry Trotz left due to difficult contract negotiations. Brian MacLellan announced on May 30 that he had chosen Spencer Carbery, who had spent about a decade in the organization’s minor league coaching structure.
MacLellan mainly focused on managing his roster assets for the rest of the offseason. Tom Wilson re-signed for seven years, summarily dispelling any rumors that he was available for trade. Washington also locked up young defender Martin Fehervary with a reasonable three-year, $2.675 million-per-year contract. Three players would move on, creating a few vacancies for Washington to consider. Carl Hagelin retired due to an eye injury which kept him out for the entire season; Connor Brown signed with the Edmonton Oilers; and fifth-leading scorer Conor Sheary signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Notable Additions
Two of Washington’s offseason additions will not be available immediately, potentially giving the team a longer window to evaluate young players. Max Pacioretty, who signed a one-year contract on July 1, is still working to fully heal an achilles tendon, which has torn twice in the span of six months. He confirmed when he joined the Capitals that he would miss the beginning of the season.
Washington traded two draft picks in 2024 to Montreal for 30-year-old defender Joel Edmunson. Edmunson was expected to add veteran defensive experience, but he didn’t get a chance to suit up for a preseason game. He fractured his hand during a scrimmage on September 24 and required surgery the following Tuesday. A four-to-six-week recovery timeline means he’s almost certain to miss the first month of the season.
Lineup Predictions
Forwards
Alex Ovechkin – Nicklas Backstrom – Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano – Evgenzy Kuznetsov – T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn – Nic Dowd – Connor McMichael
Top Six
No matter how many things change within the Capitals’ gameplan, Alex Ovechkin’s place at the top of the lineup is essentially eternal. He has led Washington in goals every season of his career. Less than 100 total goals stand between him and Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record. There’s simply no reason not to give him every possible offensive opportunity.
In his pursuit of history, he has often been supported by Backstrom as the team’s top assists contributor. Now that Backstrom has had a full summer to focus on whole-body conditioning, rather than rehabilitating a specific area, he could return to that contribution prowess. If he doesn’t, Evgeny Kuznetsov has proven he can fulfill the position of first-line centre.
With Oshie also at full health entering the season, the Capitals have various options at wing for the top two lines. Tom Wilson set a career-high in points in 2021-22, and is only five points away from reaching 300 in his career. Oshie reached 45 or more points for five consecutive seasons. Sonny Milano spent a lot of time in the top-six mix last season as a free-agent signee.
Bottom Six
The three returns mentioned above will impact the bottom six, causing much more change compared to last year’s lineup. There are several less-experienced but promising prospects who could get a handful of games, especially early in the season. Strome may be bumped all the way down to third-line centre, or he could be shifted to a wing on the top two lines. When Max Pacioretty joins the mix he’s likely to fall somewhere in the middle six as well.
Among the “greener” options, Aliaksei Protas has the most experience: 91 total NHL games, and 15 points in 58 games last season. Connor McMichael, one of several Calder Cup winners vying for a roster spot, is next on the list with 75 games, mostly during the 2021-22 season. Beck Malenstyn, Joe Sniveley and Michael Sgarbossa have also suited up for Washington in the past few years while contributing to the Hershey Bears’ recent championship. Malenstyn scored the opening goal in the Capitals’ Thursday night win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. McMichael had an assist and won over three-quarters of his faceoffs in the game.
Defence
Rasmus Sandin – John Carlson
Martin Fehervary – Nick Jensen
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk
Top Four
Spencer Carbery appears determined to test the adage that “the best defence is a good offence” with his top defensive pair. Rasmus Sandin and John Carlson have been a unit for most of camp and skated together for two preseason games. Each of them had a goal in Washington’s shootout victory over Detroit on September 28, accounting for half the team’s offence. Washington’s second pair will likely follow a more conventional game plan. Martin Fehervary and Nick Jensen have been utilized together consistently for the past two seasons.
Bottom Pair
Until Joel Edmundson returns from his hand injury, the bottom pair may fluctuate quite a bit. Trevor van Riemsdyk will almost definitely find himself mentoring a few young defenders on his left side. Alex Alexeyev has the most experience of the possible options with 33 NHL games played. He could be bumped out by either Lucas Johansen, who has been a staple of Hershey’s defence for the past five years, or Hardy Haman Aktell, a newcomer to North America. Haman Aktell has played three seasons in Sweden’s top league and set a career-high in points last season with 36, 20 more than his previous year. Maybe he can earn a spot on the 2023-24 Washington Capitals blueline.
Goalies
Washington will see the least change in the net. Neither Kuemper nor Lindgren missed any scheduled starts last season, and both are healthy on the approach to the season opener. Kuemper is slated to take the majority of the starts. If either of them do sustain an injury, their backup will be Hunter Shepard. Shepard earned the AHL’s playoffs MVP honour as the starting goaltender for Hershey’s Calder Cup championship run. He had three playoff shutouts in 20 games and recorded a .914 save percentage, only slightly below his regular season mark of .916.
Players to Watch For The 2023-24 Washington Capitals
Rasmus Sandin
Washington traded to acquire Sandin before the trade deadline, and he quickly made an impression. In his first game as a Capital, he skated over 21 minutes, a four-minute increase from his average ice time prior to the trade. He scored 15 points in 19 games and spent time on the first power-play unit before John Carlson came back to the lineup. How will he adjust to being a regular top-four defender; was his strong first impression last spring a reliable taste of what he can offer during a whole season? This is the last year of his current contract. If he does well, the Capitals are going to want to work hard to keep him in Washington. With a full off-season with the team, Sandin could play a large role for the 2023-24 Washington Capitals.
Nicklas Backstrom
It’s hard to pick just one of the players returning from a long-term injury who could have a major impact on the course of the season. Backstrom is the highest-paid and longest-tenured of the bunch. He’s also the only current Washington player besides Ovechkin to score over 1,000 career points. It’s only been two years since he last led the team in assists and points (38 and 53, respectively, in 2020-21). His hip had been bothering him for longer than that. As long as he’s able to remain pain-free, his game should be able to return to elite levels–and stay there.
Prediction for 2023-24 Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals have a lot of options to adjust their lineup as necessary throughout the season. As preseason comes to an end, there appear to be more players able to make an impact than there are roster spots for them to claim. If they’re able to find chemistry and rotate in frequently to stay fresh, that will give the team a measure of resilience against the injury woes that plagued the squad last season. Plus, two veteran players will enter the mix as early as late October.
With that much flexibility, it’s reasonable to see the Capitals qualifying for the playoffs again this year. While the inexperience lower in the lineup may cause some hiccups, there’s enough talent at the top to power through some adversity. Washington should be able to claim a postseason spot somewhere in the middle of the pack. Depending on how the brackets shape up, they could push their way to the second round.
Main Photo: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
