Tending to the Capitals

13 Games into the 2023-2024 RHL season, and the Capitals are in a familiar spot. Being one of the worst teams in the RHL, to the tune of 1 win in 13 attempts. Surprisingly the Flames out west have managed to become more of a tire fire than what's happening in DC (0 wins so far this season going into day 36 of the season schedule), but nevertheless here we are at the 13 game mark and most of the Capitals front office has spent time evaluating who may be joining one of the league’s strongest prospect pools. Currently the Caps are penciling in 5 of their draft picks to join the pro roster next year, headlined by the number 1 pick in last year's draft Connor Bedard.

While there is a bit of a gamble on how big of a boost these next generation of Capitals could be, there is some time to see what moves GM Karp could make to build upon that injection of youth into the lineup next season. With a number of contracts set to expire (including Jakob Silfverberg’s 6.5M), and a current cap allotment of roughly 45 million, there will be plenty of room on the roster to add some free agents and shore up what has been a perennial bottom feeder of the last few seasons. A number of positions could be targeted, but one of the most glaring issues to anyone who takes a look at the roster is the lack of a top end goaltender in the league.

Current netminder Alex Lyon certainly has been able to steal a few games over the last few seasons (a total of 1 shutout last season), but he has averaged a goals against average over 3.5 and a sub-0.890 save percentage the last 2 years (and is currently on pace to continue again this season). Those numbers just aren't acceptable when you start to look at what previous cup winners have been able to rely on in net: Darcey Kuemper 2~ GAA and .931 sv% for Columbus, and Markstrom 2.2 GAA and .926 sv% for the Devils the year prior. Its no small task as goalies of their calibers don’t tend to fall off of trees but its certainly a market that would likely yield the most immediate impact while waiting on any of the current 8 goalie prospects that have been drafted to potentially make their way to the pros.A number of current netminders are set to have their contracts expire, and it may be worth a look into seeing if those GMs are willing to part with them (Vasilevskiy, Hellebuyck, and previously mentioned Kuemper to name a few). Or could GM Karp pursue a goalie already on a deal and tout a package of picks and prospects to bring them in and be looking to compete right away (rumors have it that Karp has been a huge fan of a certain Russian netminder and could be aggressive in pursuit of them given the need).

In whichever way the Caps look to improve their puck-stopping situation, I think most fans out here in the capital would agree that things can start looking better as soon as next season.