Metropolitan Division rivals: Washington Capitals preview

The Metropolitan Division is considered the toughest division in the NHL.  That means the New York Rangers will have a tough time making the playoffs, but it also means that they will control their own destiny by playing well against the teams that they have to beat.

We will be taking a look at all of the teams in the Metropolitan Division as we preview the 2021-22 season.  We’ll start with the opening night opponents, the Washington Capitals.

Is this the year?

The Capitals have made the playoffs 13 out of the last 14 years, but they haven’t won a playoff series since they won the Stanley Cup in 2018.  Ousted in the first round of the playoffs for three straight years, the Caps are an aging team whose window as a Stanley Cup contender is closing fast.

How old are they?  12 of the players in the starting lineup are over 30 years old including six defensemen. Alex Ovechkin is 36.  Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie are both almost 35.  John Carlson is 32.  Evgeny Kuznetsov is 29.   There are two rookies on the roster so the Washington Capitals ooze experience, but they are getting old.

While Ovechkin appears to be ageless, even he is showing his age  He may miss the start of the season with a lower body injury. .  Backstrom has a nagging hip injury that will keep him out of the lineup when the season starts.  COVID protocols will hopefully not hamper their lineup as it did last season, but you have to wonder how long Ovechkin can keep going.

Still, the Caps are not to be taken lightly, precisely because of that experience.  They still finished second in the East Division last year with a 36-15-5 record.  They were third in the NHL in scoring and were in the middle of the pack (17th overall) in goals allowed.

Their strength is their depth as they have in scoring from all four lines.  Their fourth line of Carl Hagelin, Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway is one of the best in the NHL.

If any part of their lineup is suspect, it’s their defense with the departures of Brenden Dillon and Zdeno Chara.  Losing two of their more physical defensemen won’t help.  Rookie blueliner Martin Fehervary has stuck with the varsity out of training camp.

Finally, there is the Tom Wilson factor.  There’s no denying that he is one of the more effective players in the NHL, but there is also no denying that he can be a menace on the ice and every game between the two teams will be overshadowed by the incident last May.

Let’s look at how the team fared against each other last season.