A Season to Capitalize

The Washington Capitals certainly had a minor up and big down season. What started out as a 4 team quickly fell apart when the scoring couldn't keep up with how poorly the performances they had gotten in net. Here a look at how effective (or perhaps how ineffective) their netminders were this season:

As most fans could have guessed, without showing record, how well would you expect a team to perform with an average GAA around 4 and Sv% at roughly 0.87? If you guessed they’d end up with the second best odds in the draft lottery you would be weirdly accurate as to how the season ended up, as that is exactly where the Capitals sit, eagerly awaiting to hear if they land the 1st overall pick in the lotto, where perhaps the highly touted Shane Wright could be taken. 

Enough of the negatives though, there are plenty of positives to look back on that may have been lost in the dust of this season.

Martin Necas elevates play

In a surprising move during the season, the Capitals moved the exquisitely talented Trevor Zegras for Martin Necas and Pierre-Luc Dubois. We’ll talk more about PLD in just a bit but, boy did Necas not disappoint in his campaign with the Capitals. Prior to the trade, Necas had a dismal 2G-6A in 28 games played, but being bumped to first line minutes seemed to make everything click for the 23 year old. Catching fire and finishing the season with a statline of 22G-25A in 53 games played. That would put him on pace for 34G-38A over a 82G span. Hes got a strong future ahead of him and certainly looks to be a top line player for the caps going forward.

Pierre-Luc Dubois looks to bounce back, excellent World Championship showing

PLD, a former top 3 pick, also had a slight uptick in production once arriving in DC. And while, there are certainly loft expectations for what he can bring to the table, Coach Laviolette says not to worry, a full offseason with the team should have him in prime shape come next season. PLD seems to be having a great time in the offseason playing in the World Championships posting a 4G-3A statline in 6 games.

Sean Durzi is on the way

In a pipeline that looks to have some serious help on the way (looking at you Jake Sanderson and Justin Barron), the first wave looks to be coming in the form of Durzi and Salo. Durzi in his NHL rookie season with the Kings posted an impressive 3G-24A en route to a playoff birth. The first look at what could be a very talented blue line for the RHL CAPS is something we’ll have to monitor when he becomes a regular next season.

What will the pick be?

After every rainstorm comes a rainbow, and for the Capitals that comes in the form of the second best lotto odds. While fans are hoping that they end up with the potential to pick whomever they want at 1st overall, at worst the CAPS will end up with 3rd overall and still selected either a talented forward from Cooley, Slafkovský, and Kemell or build onto their very impressive blueline prospect pool with Nemec or JiÅ™íček. Either way the team will keep in mind that their window is a few years away and that once the kids arrive, they should be a force to contend with in the East. So while the road here is rough, hopefully there aren't too many more seasons like this, but a possible addition of either of next years top end draft prospects in Bedard or Michkov wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to this young team, before we might see GM Karp spending and starting to acquire players.