Washington Capitals team preview: What’s to come for Alex Ovechkin?

They didn’t walk away with a Stanley Cup, but the 2024-25 season should be considered a success for the Washington Capitals.

They finished top of the Metropolitan Division, first-place in the Eastern Conference, won a playoff round, and saw breakout performances from some key players — including Dylan Strome, who finished at a point-per-game clip for the first time in his career.

Oh, and their captain made some NHL history. Not a big deal.

So besides Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, the Capitals had much to celebrate.

Can they do it again, though? Sure, it’s possible.

They already had an above-average PDO, however, and there’s no guarantee that players with career seasons will perform at that level again. Their core continues to age and it seems inevitable that the Capitals will be heading towards some kind of transition sometime soon.

• 32 Thoughts: The Podcast

  Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

  Latest episode

But, if they were going to go for broke, now would be the time to do it again. After all, you never know how long you’ll have hockey’s greatest goal-scorer at your disposal.

Our penultimate 32 teams in 32 days stop lands in Washington as we preview how the Capitals will shake out this season.

The Capitals added a young depth option when they acquired Justin Sourdif from the Florida Panthers in exchange for two draft picks, and in doing so, they may have offered the the 23-year-old his first real chance as an everyday NHLer. Sourdif has just four NHL games under his belt, three of which came in 2023-24 — the rest of his two-year tenure in the Panthers organization came in the AHL. Dropping a second-rounder, in addition to a sixth-round sweetener, for an inexperienced forward raised some eyebrows at the time, but general manager Chris Patrick insisted it was necessary to acquire a player they’d been high on for a while.

“(The Panthers) had a bunch of people calling on him, so it got to be a competitive situation… we had to decide, ‘Do we want the guy, are we willing to pay up for it, or do we want to take a backseat?â€â€ Patrick told reporters in the summer.

Sourdif developed a scoring acumen during his 149 AHL games, with 35 goals and 96 points across three seasons and it appears Spencer Carbery will give the youngster some reps on the fourth line alongside Nic Dowd and Brandon Duhaime. The Capitals aren’t expecting him to lead their offence by any means, but with an $825,000 cap hit, Washington has a young, low-risk depth option in their pocket.

Buried among some of the more historic storylines for the Capitals last season was the meteoric breakout from forward Aliaksei Protas. The 24-year-old had 30 goals and 66 points in 76 games last season, demolishing his previous career highs of six and 29, respectively. Likely assisting in his career year was the increased opportunity; Protas was playing in the top six for the first time and found chemistry with Pierre-Luc Dubois, who also had a bounce-back year in Washington.

Is it probable he replicates that level of production this season? No. He finished the year with a 21.1 shooting percentage and that is bound to regress. But he’ll likely be paired up with Dubois once more and will get some reps on the second power-play unit — if he maintains a 20-goal pace and provides some solid, consistent secondary scoring, he’ll be more than worth his $3.375 million salary.

Ryan Leonard got his first taste of NHL hockey last April, nine games of it when the Capitals were first-place in the Eastern Conference and vying to lock in favourable playoff seeding. Now, the 2023 eighth-overall pick is heading into his first full regular season with the trust of his coach, who appears ready to slot Leonard in on the top six. The Hobey Baker finalist didn’t immediately light it up after transitioning to the NHL — he had one empty-net goal and one playoff assist across 17 total games — but that’s to be expected.

There is benefit to starting his first full season in October when the slate is fully clear. He’ll have more runway to establish himself, more leeway to make mistakes and rectify them. Leonard scored at least 30 goals in both his Boston College seasons — he won’t do that in his rookie season, but showing he can hang with the Capitals’ top six will be more than enough for his debut campaign to be considered a success.

1. Will this be it for Alex Ovechkin?

The way Alex Ovechkin played last year, you’d think that the winger has several more years of elite hockey left in his system. And that may very well be true, but let’s look at the facts: He just turned 40 years old, he’s already won a Stanley Cup, become the most prolific goal-scorer the NHL has ever seen and is entering the final year of his contract. He has been eligible to sign an extension since July 1, if he so desired. So it’s worth asking, besides making another run at the Cup — which is what the Capitals have in mind for this season — what else is left for the Great Eight to achieve in his career?

For his part, Ovechkin has indicated he wants to play out the year before making a decision on his next steps. He could, for instance, go for 1,000 goals — potentially achievable for him in three years or less. Zdeno Chara played his final NHL game at 45 in 2022, so it’s not unbelievable that Ovi could still be lacing up the skates at 43. But retirement — at least from NHL hockey — seems to still be on the table. Will this be the final season we see Ovechkin on NHL ice? Or will he treat Capitals fans to yet another run at NHL history?

2. Will Pierre-Luc Dubois hit 30 goals?

Dubois has often been one of the most maligned forwards in the league. Perhaps for good reason — the 2016 third-overall pick possesses talent, but not necessarily the penchant to show it. The Capitals are his fourth team, and his latest landing spot after a brief and unsuccessful pit stop in Los Angeles. Dubois has managed to bounce back in his first season with the Capitals, scoring 20 goals and 66 points while suiting up for all 82 regular-season games.

Throughout his eight-year career, Dubois hasn’t found the consistency expected from a top-five pick and has more than once followed up a promising season with a bit of a dud. Still, the 27-year-old has flirted with the 30-goal mark in the past. He’ll be put in similar situations, with similar linemates, in his second season in Washington. Can he follow up a career high in points with a career-high in goals, too?

In his first season with the Capitals, Logan Thompson quickly played his way into the starter’s crease. Starting 42 games last season, he finished the year with a whopping 31-6 record, a career-best 2.49 goals-against average and a very respectable .910 save percentage. He was also playing with a chip on his shoulder, having been snubbed from Team Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster. He’ll enter this year with a similar grudge as he was snubbed from an invite to Canada’s Olympic orientation camp.

Team Canada general manager Doug Armstrong has indicated the goaltender spots are the most wide open on their Olympic roster. With a strong start to the season, Thompson can not only put his NHL team in a great position — he can also force the attention of Olympic recruiters.

Source link