2017-18 record: 49-26-7 (105 points)
Won the Stanley Cup
Captain: Alexander Ovechkin
For the last two years, the Washington Capitals were the best regular season team by a country mile, yet come playoff time, their hopes and dreams died in round two. So, what to make of a team that had struggled at times to actually win their division and had trouble in the first two games of their playoff lives, yet came through in the end to win their first Stanley Cup? Now, their title defense is all about what they can do with a new head coach and higher expectations.
The offense was ranked ninth, which is actually good, but given that Alexander Ovechkin struggled a little in the regular season, it was something of a revelation that he would experience a yearly revitalization come playoff time, something that was helped this time around by his supporting cast providing the help that they hadn't before. Ovechkin will once again lead the way, with Nicklas Backstrom playing the role of sidekick and a supporting cast that includes Devante Smith-Pelly, TJ Oshie, Lars Eller, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Defensively, the team was the definition of average, as they weren't great in the regular season and worse, Braden Holtby was awful. If not for Phillipp Grubauer playing lights out, the Capitals would not have taken the division and possibly worse, been on the edge of playoff contention. Now, Grubauer is gone and Pheonix Copley is likely the backup to start the season, so if Holtby struggles again, it may be look out below. As for the team in front of him, it was a major coup for the Capitals to not only get Brooks Orpik's contract off the books (and re-sign him to a one year deal for less money), but also re-sign John Carlson to a new deal. Carlson figures to be the leader of the defensive unit while Orpik will help the likes of Dmitry Orlov and Matt Niskanen with depth. The biggest change is behind the bench, where Barry Trotz has moved on and assistant coach Todd Rierden is now the man in charge. Things shouldn't change much, since Rierden knows the team well.
Prediction: 2nd in the Metropolitan Division
It is fair to expect a small drop-off for a Capitals team that did't actually add any significant pieces in the off-season, and with a shorter rest period, fatigue looms as an issue. Ovechkin finally got to party it up with a Finals win, and that taste may be enough to motivate the Capitals to make another deep run.
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