Hockey fans! Guess what? Hockey starts next week! We are so close to NHL hockey! But first, we have some business to attend to. Last Word on Hockey continues the “Puck Drop Preview” series by taking a look at the 2024-25 Washington Capitals.
Puck Drop Preview: 2024-25 Washington Capitals
2023-24 Season
The Capitals entered the 2023-24 season looking to return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after failing to qualify the season before. The Capitals did return to the playoffs, albeit in an unorthodox manner. The team gave up more goals than they scored. Furthermore, they had a losing record on the record. Nonetheless, the Capitals clinched a playoff spot on the final day of the regular season. Unfortunately for Capitals, they campaign for a second Stanley Cup ended in a four-game sweep in the first round.
Alex Ovechkin led the Capitals with 31 goals, his lowest goal total since the 2016-17 season. The “Great Eight” is just 42 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky for the most goals in NHL history. But, we will get to that. Elsewhere on the roster, Dylan Strome led the team with 67 points and between the pipes, Charlie Lindgren led with 25 wins and a 2.67 goals against average.
2023-24 Off-Season
The Capitals made a series of trades over the summer. The most notable was trading goaltender Darcy Kuemper in exchange for forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. In addition, the team added goaltender Logan Thompson in another trade.
Unfortunately for the Capitals, the off-season was not completely full of good news and player additions. Forward T.J. Oshie will miss the entire season as will forward Nicklas Backstrom. Both are expected to be placed on long-term injured reserve once the season starts in order for their cap hit to not count against the team’s salary cap.
Projected Lineup
Forwards
Ovechkin-Strome-Mangiapane
McMichael-Dubois-Wilson
Milano-Lapierre-Protas
Duhaime-Dowd-Raddysh
Top Six
We all are aware of Ovechkin’s resume and abilities, even after what is a down season by his standards. Dylan Strome will centre Ovechkin’s line coming off of back-to-back 60+ point seasons. At 27-years old, it seems Strome has settled into a scoring role. The final member of the line will be Andrew Mangiapane. With the exception of a 35-goal season a few years ago, Mangiapane has not reached 20 goals in a season. It will be interesting to see if playing alongside Ovechkin and Strome will help Mangiapane reach higher goal and point totals.
Newcomer Pierre-Luc Dubois will centre the second line between Connor McMichael and Tom Wilson. McMichael is coming off a breakout season, scoring 18 goals in 80 games. Wilson, more known for his physicality and numerous suspensions, has three 20+ goal seasons in his 11-year career. He is certainly capable of contributing offensively. Dubois is another play who can contribute points. The question is how many. The second line has a great deal of potential, but each player has their own question marks heading into the season. This is a line that needs to produce offensively if the Capitals want to return to the playoffs.
Bottom Six
Sonny Milano has yet to play in more than 66 games in a season. This creates uncertainty as to what he can do with a full-time role. The good news is, in that 64-game season, Milano recorded 34 points. In an 82-game season, that could result in around 45 points. That is decent production for a third line forward. Joining Milano will be Hendrix Lapierre. The 2020 first-round pick has only played in 57 games. Lapierre should get a full-time role this season, a great chance to show what he is capable of. Meanwhile, Aliaksei Protas and his 6’6 frame brings a strong physical presence to the line.
Veteran Nic Dowd will centre the fourth line coming off a season where he got votes for the Selke Trophy. On the wing, Taylor Raddysh is a former 20-goal scorer and has played in the Stanley Cup Final. This is an underrated signing by the Capitals and could pay big dividends. On the other wing, Brandon Duhaime is playing for third third team in four seasons to begin his career. He played in 80 games between two teams, making an impact with his defensive ability.
Defence
Top Four
John Carlson returns for his 16th season in the NHL. Carlson will have a new partner this year, Jakub Chychrun. Chychrun is coming off his first 82-game season is looking to make an impact on the Capitals defence. Assuming both can stay healthy, this is a solid top pair for the Capitals. Both can contribute offensively as well as defensively.
On the second pairing, Matt Roy has only missed one regular-season game the last two seasons. Furthermore, Roy has consistently registered point totals in the mid-twenties. While the Capitals will like to see more offensively speaking, what they have seen from Roy so far has certainly been great. Joining Roy is Martin Fehervary. A defensive-minded defenceman, Feheravry is a strong presence on the second pairing.
Bottom Pair
Rasmus Sandin and Trevor Van Riemsdyk will pair up on the bottom pair for the Capitals. Both are veterans who have playoff experience. Their presence should help the Capitals have a stronger defensive season compared to last year. However, both were on the team last year, so both will need to make sure they are their best to the team as a whole can be at their best.
Goalies
Lindgren set a career high in starts last season and was a major reason the Capitals made the playoffs. The 30-year old has a career .907 save percentage and has been reliable for every team he has played for. The Capitals should expect the same this season.
Logan Thompson was a great add for the Capitals to fill their backup position. The goaltender has a career .912 save percentage and had a career high 46 games played last season. Whether or not the Capitals to play that amount of games remains to be seen, but he is a strong backup for the Capitals to have.
2024-25 Washington Capitals Season Prediction and Player to Watch
We are combining these for reasons you will soon understand. The Capitals brought in some help to make up for the losses they sustained the off-season. They also upgraded their backup goaltender position. However, there are many who feel the Capitals got lucky by making the playoffs last year, and they are not necessarily wrong. The Capitals are bringing back close to the same roster from last season. If players improve, then the Capitals have a chance to return to the playoffs. If the same problems persist, do not expect to see history repeat itself regarding the postseason.
And yet, that is not the story line this season. The story for the 2024-25 Capitals is about one thing. That is Alex Ovechkin may break the record this season. He needs 42 goals to do it, which is not a tall order, even after last season. Wayne Gretzky‘s records have been considered unbreakable, and yet, here we are, on the brink of seeing perhaps the greatest record in hockey broken. Is this a bigger story than the Capitals competing for the playoffs? Based off this roster, yes. Of course, the Capitals could accomplish both. In fact, that is likely their expectation.
The hockey world, no, the entire sports world will be on “Ovechkin Watch” this season. Right now, that seems like the bigger story heading into the season. It goes without saying, but Alex Ovechkin is the player to watch for 2024-25 Washington Capitals.
Main Photo: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
