We are one week away from the start of the NHL season. Next Friday (10.8) the Caps kick off their quest for the Cup.
The Caps 09-10 run ended in extreme disappointment as they blew a 3-1 lead to the Montreal Canadians and failed to get out of the first round of the playoffs. It was still a tremendous season for the Caps, the best regular season in team history, but their playoff performance brought a lot of questions to mind. Can Bruce Boudreau get this team to the finals and win a cup? How come Semin and Green completely disappear when the playoffs start? Do the Caps need defensive help? Is their goaltending good enough?
The offseason saw minor changes to the Caps lineup. Theodore was not resigned. Belanger was also not brought back. Backstrom signed a mega deal that will keep him a Cap for the next 10 years. Semin, Fehr, and Fleischmann were all resigned. They brought in DJ King as an enforcer. A handful of small signings but the Caps are really looking to keep their core group of players in tact and bring up players who helped Hershey win the Calder Cup last year. So where do they stand?
Offensively you can't argue that the Caps are pound for pound, the best offensive team in the NHL. Ovie, Backstrom, and Knuble on the front line is probably the second best first line in all of hockey (only the Blackhawks with Kane, Sharp, and Toews is better). The Caps are a solid 4 lines deep and I agree with Andrew Gordon (Caps Forward) that they could probably send out 2 teams and both be pretty good. The Caps probably won't storm through the NHL like they did last year but they could. 2 years ago they jumped out to a huge lead in the East early in the season but stepped off the pedal and gave up a lot of ground late in the year. Last year they never took their foot off the pedal and crushed everyone in the East. They won't dominate in the same way this year but they will clearly win their division and be in the top 3 , if not the top seed in the East.
Defensively the Caps still didn't go get that big bruising defensemen that all fans would've liked to see them get. They are better on the defensive front though. Having Karl Alzner and John Carlson in DC for the entire season makes their defensive lines better. Green and Shultz line 1, Alzner and Carlson line 2. Line 3 is iffy. They kept John Erskine, who made fans cringe every time he hit the ice. Tyler Sloan is their weakest defender. Defense isn't his natural position and it shows. Tom Poti is still strong on line 3 but if he ever gets hurt an Erskine/Sloan line is bad. They did bring in Fahey and McNeil but it's yet to be seen how they play out.
Goaltending might be more of an issue this year. Although I have faith that Varly and Neuvirth can get it done, Varly already has a minor injury. Holtby is supposed to carry the load in Hershey and although they brought in another netminder on a twoway contract, I'm starting to question whether or not Varly can go a whole season. Yes, Neuvirth is good enough if the Caps score like madmen and the more experience the better he'll be. Antti Niemi was available for most of the summer and I wish the Caps had picked him up. Varly is solid come playoff time but if he gets hurt early in the season goaltending is going to be a huge issue for the Caps.
So where do they go? On the offensive front the Caps will be crazy good this year. We know if they have to score 5 or 6 goals a game to win they can. I wouldn't be surprised if the Caps traded Semin or Flash at the deadline. Both of those players signed 1 year deals and if you have to go out and get a defensemen or veteran goalie for the playoffs Semin is great trade bate.
The defense will be better. They have to be. Carlson and Alzner is a line that will help improve the defense from the get go. It's a solid line you didn't have last year and having that frees Poti for the third line, which makes that third line better. Like I said, I can still see them seeing a need for a big bruising defender to help them in the playoffs. The defense might be really solid this year and McPhee might not make that trade. But if the Caps have a ton of 5-4, 4-3 games this year, they'll need another blue liner.
Goaltending is up in the air for me. I like Varly a lot and Neuvy proved himself in Hershey last year. Neuvirth is a better prospect then Varlamov which made me think Neuvirth could be traded this year (because Holtby is a better prospect then both of him and after a year in Hershey, he'll be a full time Cap next year). But they just gave Neuvy an extension... So I don't know if that means Varly could be traded, or they're set with what they have. I could see the Caps trading for a goaltender with experience for the playoffs but it's not essential that they do so. If you look at the goaltenders last season, only Nabkov and Brodeur were proven vets and Brodeur got bounced in the first round. Niemi was a young goalie, Boston went with Rask and did well. Experience is good for the bench and the Caps had experience last year. It's time for the young guys to prove themselves.
The Caps will win their division this year and make the playoffs again. Games will be more spread out because there's no 2 week break mid-season this year and that will give players more rest and help for minor injuries. Ovie will get back to playing like Ovie did before the second (or third, I can't remember) suspension. The Caps need to make a serious playoff push this year. Anything less then the Eastern Conference finals is unacceptable. I don't think Gabby can last as coach if they get bounced in the first round again. Even if the Caps don't completely destroy and dominate the regular season like they did last year, I think the team will be more focused and concerned about their playoff performance when that times comes then they were last year. The Caps got cold at the end of the regular season last year and couldn't beat Halak when it mattered. I don't think that will happen this year.
Most notable game: January 1st. Winter Classic vs the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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