Washington Capitals 2014-15 Season Primer

The Washington Capitals are the last Metro division and Eastern Conference team in our season primer series.

Use the below Tabs to view Capitals info for this upcoming season, as well as some numbers from last year.

2013-14 record: 38-30-14, 90 points
Where they finished: 5^th in the Metropolitan; 9^th in the East; 17^th in the NHL

Player Salaries: $70,700,000 (22)
Cap Payroll: $67,886,795
Bonuses: $2,325,000
Cap Space: $1,113,205
Forwards: $36,174,295 (12)
Defensemen: $28,762,500 (8)
Goalies: $2,800,000 (2)
Source: CapGeek.com

In: Barry Trotz Head Coach, Brian MacLellan GM, Brooks Orpik D, Chris Conner LW, Edward Pasquale G, Jon Landry D, Justin Peters G, Kris Newbury C/LW, Matt Niskanen D, Mike Moore D, Tim Kennedy LW/C

Out:Adam Oates Head Coach, Brandon Segal RW, David Leggio G, George McPhee GM, Jaroslav Halak G, Joel Rechlicz RW, Julien Brouillette D, Mikhail Grabovski C/LW, Peter Leblanc LW/C, Ryan Stoa LW, Tom Poti D, Tyson Strachan D

2014-15 Team Outlook:

Last season the Capitals had Alexander Ovechkin return to 50 goal status, finally got longtime top prospect Evgeny Kuznetsov to join the team, and acquired established players Dustin Penner and Jaroslav Halak at the trade deadline. However, that wasn’t enough, as they missed the playoffs by only three points.

Rather than shake up the main core as a way to improve, this offseason the Capitals made a few key acquisitions via free agency and re-evaluated their front office staff.

Out went general manager George McPhee, head coach Adam Oates, and assistant coach Calle Johansson, while goaltending coach Olaf Kolzig stepped down but remains with the organization. In came three former members of the Nashville Predators front office in head coach Barry Trotz, goaltending coach Mitch Korn, and assistant coach Lane Lambert, as well as former Penguins assistant coach Todd Reirden, who will have the same role with Washington. Brian MacLellan was promoted from assistant GM to the new GM, while Ross Mahoney was also promoted, this time from the director of amateur scouting to assistant GM.

With the new faces in the front office, Washington is looking to change the feel of the team on the ice, not with different players, but with new philosophies.

On offense the Capitals will be led by the fierce duo of Nicklas Backstrom and Ovechkin, with one of Kuznetsov or Troy Brouwer to likely be the other winger. On the second-line there is a hole at the centre spot, maybe for Brooks Laich or Marcus Johansson, with wingers,  Kuznetsov, and rookie Andre Burakovsky, Eric Fehr and Brower will be battling to fill. If Burakovsky doesn’t win the spot, he will likely be returned to junior hockey, rather than burning a year of his entry level contract to be used on a lesser line.  The third-line is likely to see either Laich or Johansson in the middle, with veterans Jason Chimera, Joel Ward and the as his wingers. Rounding out the offensive unit will be Jay Beagle at the centre spot on the fourth-line, with some combination of Aaron Volpatti, Fehr (if he doesn’t earn a spot higher up), or Tom Wilson on the wing. Veteran forwards Kris Newbury, Casey Wellman, Tim Kennedy, and Chris Connor will all also be battling for a spot on the fourth line/extra forward, while prospects Michael Latta and Chris Brown will join Burakovsky in trying to force their way into the mix.

Defense is where the Capitals will look a bit different this year. Assistant coach Todd Reirden wasn’t the only person that Washington took from their division rival, the Pittsburgh Penguins, this offseason. Following Reirden (who was in charge of the defense in Pittsburgh) to the Capitals was Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik, who should help improve the team defense significantly. A top pairing of Niskanen and Orpik seems likely, while Karl Alzner and John Carlson will make up the second-pair and Dmitri Orlov and former number one defenseman Mike Green will make up the last pairing. Green has had his name floated around all season as a potential trade candidate, which makes sense when you consider his price tag (just over $6 million), the depth of the Washington blue-line, and their need for a second-line centre. Watch for Green to be a trade piece this year around the trade deadline, especially if they are out of contention. Other players that will be fighting for the title as the team’s seventh defenseman are John Erskine, Jack Hillen, and Steven Oleksy, while prospects Connor Carrick, who made the team as an 18 year old last year, will likely spend the year in the AHL.

In net the Capitals are hoping that Braden Holtby can fully emerge as the number one goalie he has shown flashes of being, while former Carolina Hurricane Justin Peters was brought in to back him up. Last season was the best of Peters’ career, posting a 2.50 goals against average and a .919 save percentage in 21 games for the Hurricanes. Behind Holtby and Peters at the AHL level, the Capitals also possess some serious talent. Twenty-two year old Philipp Grubauer played in 17 games for the Capitals last season, posting a 2.38 goals against average and a .925 save percentage, but despite his success, figures to be the odd man out. Behind Grubauer even, the Capitals have Edward Pasquale, a 23 year old goalie who posted solid number in the AHL last season that they acquired from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for draft picks at this year’s Entry Draft.

With the defensive minded Barry Trotz as the head coach, paired with the talent that the Capitals have on the back-end, this should make for a good season in Washington. Combine that with top end talent that is by far skilled enough to be in playoff contention every year, the Capitals should find themselves in that spot come next April. With that said, the second-line centre spot should really be addressed through a trade, as playing wingers in that position hasn’t worked well for Washington in the past. Expect the Capitals to push for the playoffs as one of the lower seeds, with a deep playoff run looking like a long-shot. They are solid, but still have lots of questions that need to be answered going into 2014-15.

Written by Greg Stamper, who can be found on twitter @g_stamp91.

The depth chart listed below was taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30. 

FORWARDS
Brooks Laich – Nicklas Backstrom – Alex Ovechkin
Eric Fehr – Evgeny Kuznetsov – Troy Brouwer
Jason Chimera – Marcus Johansson – Joel Ward
Aaron Volpatti – Jay Beagle – Tom Wilson
Chris Brown – Michael Latta

DEFENSEMEN
Brooks Orpik – John Carlson
Karl Alzner – Matt Niskanen
Dmitry Orlov – Mike Green
John Erskine

GOALTENDERS
Braden Holtby
Justin Peters

A look at the Washington Capitals top prospects heading into this season. Each source may use different classifications as to if a player is deemed a prospect or has graduated on from a prospect.

* Dobber Prospects – Prospects based on relevance in a fantasy-hockey keeper league, not actual talent on the ice.

Washington Capitals Draft History from the past five years

Performance and Usage Charts for the Washington Capitals from last season, from Extra Skater.