Does anyone want to talk about the Capitals

[stephenball]

Protas has also been huge this season, and not only in actual size haha. He’s improved so much in his skating and his hands, and has used it along with his size to become a beast forechecking. 20 even strength points in 25 games.

 

[Misery74]

The Caps are burning villages. No one is safe.

Logan Thompson < $800k

Protas has also been huge this season, and not only in actual size haha. He’s improved so much in his skating and his hands, and has used it along with his size to become a beast forechecking. 20 even strength points in 25 games.

$3.375 until 2029. He’s been a monster.

BMac playing chess. GM of the year, not especially close.

This isn’t a “death rattle” for the Capitals, it’s a reemergence.

 

[Czechboy]

Curious.. how is Ethan Bear doing? I see he's getting around 15 minutes a night and everyone is saying the Cap's D is great. Bottom Pair or higher? How's he look? I'll always cheer for him as an Oiler fan.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Curious.. how is Ethan Bear doing? I see he's getting around 15 minutes a night and everyone is saying the Cap's D is great. Bottom Pair or higher? How's he look? I'll always cheer for him as an Oiler fan.

Bear has been playing for Hershey in the AHL all season. The way things are going in Washington, I wouldn’t expect to see him get any NHL action unless there were multiple injured Ds.

 

[Czechboy]

Bear has been playing for Hershey in the AHL all season. The way things are going in Washington, I wouldn’t expect to see him get any NHL action unless there were multiple injured Ds.

Lol.. I saw 24 games played and 4 points and thought it was going well. Missed the 2023/24 part.

Well that sucks.. was hoping he had finally found a permanent home.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Lol.. I saw 24 games played and 4 points and thought it was going well. Missed the 2023/24 part.

Well that sucks.. was hoping he had finally found a permanent home.

I think he has a chance to get back on track regardless. The Caps have a super deep blue line this year, and Hershey is a perennial contender in the AHL.

Not sure if he remains in Washington/Hershey, but I could see someone snatching him in the offseason.

 

[Portable Mink]

Been following the Caps about 25 years and this is the best team system and play we have ever had by far.

Carberry is extremely elite and has combined success with development.

Ovi looked his best in 10 years before the injury.

 

[KingsHockey24]

Washington is happy with Dubois, LA is happy with Kuemper.

A rare win/win.

 

[JianYang]

or are they still just a fraud to people?!

They are in great form. The kind of form teams want to be in just before the start of the post season.

They're a nice story but I don't expect much from them for cup purposes.

 

[BKarchitect]

The thing I like about what the Caps are doing is they added prime-age talents on the cheap in the summer (Chychrun, PLD, Thompson) while sacrifcing none of what had quietly become a pretty deep farm/prospect system.

I think you can see some regression potential in the shooting% and on-ice scoring% for some of the guys who have really blossomed so far this season. But the counterpoint is that a guy like Lapierre - who IMO was more impressive than McMichael or Protas by the end of last season - has yet to really find his footin this year. You've got Miroshnichenko slow-marinating still. You've got what is probably the premier AHL development path the last five years in Hershey still going strong, creating yet another season of a winning, cultivating environment for future Caps role players.

So, while there's regression potential - there's also improvement potential on many fronts as well (not the least of which is getting Ovie back eventually). That's kind of why I believe in this roster and depth chart more than I expected I would. They aren't a tier 1 contender like the defending champs or maybe a few other teams like Vegas, Tampa or Dallas...but I think they are definitely a threat to make a run.

 

[stephenball]

It’s funny, they’re playing so well that I have kind of forgotten that Ovechkin is still out and was having the best start of his career. It sucks that he’s missing time, but who knows, maybe the extra rest time while recovering can pay dividends later in the season.

 

[AlexModvechkin8]

Tom Wilson, hockey guy.

 

[Andre Palot]

Sure we can talk about the Capitals.

Hartford should get the Whalers back.

 

[pezpunk]

man with Leonard and Cristall in the pipeline too, this team is set for a long time.

 

[PlushMinus]

Lol.. I saw 24 games played and 4 points and thought it was going well. Missed the 2023/24 part.

Well that sucks.. was hoping he had finally found a permanent home.

His play was very underwhelming in the 23-24 season. Some on the Caps board were suggesting it was because he was still recovering from an injury.

Personally I don't think he's NHL calibre. I didn't see anything in those 24 games that would have him displace any of our top 6. With the addition of Chychrun and Roy he isn't even a top 8 option anymore.

 

[stanleycaps18]

It’s funny, they’re playing so well that I have kind of forgotten that Ovechkin is still out and was having the best start of his career. It sucks that he’s missing time, but who knows, maybe the extra rest time while recovering can pay dividends later in the season.

It actually a hard topic to figure out how to reintegrate him without disrupting the roll the team is on.

 

[stephenball]

It actually a hard topic to figure out how to reintegrate him without disrupting the roll the team is on.

I mean, you put him back in, send Miro back to Hershey for the year or until another injury happens, put Raddysh back with Dowd and Duhaime. Miro has been playing well, but outside of a trade I don’t see him staying up the whole year, he should be here full time next year.

 

[PlushMinus]

It actually a hard topic to figure out how to reintegrate him without disrupting the roll the team is on.

The single biggest question is whether Ovie goes back on the full 2 mins of the power play. Caps PP has gone from among the worst to 3rd best in the league since he's been out. That isn't a coincidence.

My hope is they put him back on PP1 only and park him in front of the net. The Ovie office thing is no good anymore. Too easy to defend and it leaves that left side open for PK unit to clear the puck along the boards. Sure he is still going to get the occassional goal from the office but it's few and far between these days.

And Chychrun is just too good a player to be taken off the power play.

 

[stephenball]

I think another decent option is to move Strome down on the goal line and put Chychrun on the boards opposite Ovechkin. I think one problem has been no credible shooting threat opposite of Ovechkin so it was much easier for team to cheat in coverage. If people want to cheat towards Ovechkin I’m more than happy to have Chychrun skate it for shots, he’s a lethal shooter.

But I could also see him in the slot. Which might be a good place.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Tom Wilson, hockey guy.

View attachment 941964

New haircut?? Something looks different can’t quite put my finger on it tho

 

[BallardEra]

From NHL.con:

"Washington’s road winning streak is a franchise record and tied for the seventh longest in NHL history. The Capitals have outscored the opposition 48-21 during the streak. This was the first of the 10 wins that did not come in regulation."

 

[stephenball]

Getting number 11 is going to be tough, next road game is in Dallas, and if I remember correctly the Caps over the years have mightily struggled in Dallas. But who knows, they’re showing they have the ability to beat anyone.

 

[SkinsFan09]

Aleksai Protas has turned into a REALLY good player. Leads the NHL in points per 60. He gets zero power play time.

 

[SkinsFan09]

The Capitals are for the first time, a winning organization without Ovechkin. Coming into this season they were WELL below .500 in games he didn't play since 2005. With this latest 7-0-1 streak they are 0.514%.

The Penguins without Crosby in his career have earned 0.699% of potential points.