Équipe: 2021-22 Capitals de Washington

Date de création initiale: 4 sept. 2021

Publié: 4 sept. 2021

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

I know many still have high hopes on the Caps. (pretty sure The Hockey Guy projected the Caps to finish 1st in the Metro) I thought they would be a wild card team before Carolina got KK, but I think Carolina is not done and will make some more moves that will improve them. The Caps haven't changed at all. Except they lost Dillon and Chara. The LD is weak. Kempny missed all of last year and I'm pretty sure Dillon when he came replaced him on the LD spot with John Carlson. The Bottom LD spot is either going to go to young Martin Fehervary or Matt Irwin. That's not a recipe for success. I would rather have them bring back Chara even though it's very unlikely. Besides the Islanders, each Metro team has questions will their goaltending.
Carolina: Can Freddy and Raanta bounce back and stay healthy?
Pittsburgh: Is Jarry the guy?
Rangers: Is Georgiev the backup? Or the legendary Keith Kinkaid?
Flyers: Will Hart and jones both bounce back?
Jersey: Will Bernier help Blackwood and improve his numbers after having like no consistent backup.
Columbus: Will Korpi bounce back after a miserable season? How good will Elvis do after an eventful off season?
And for the Caps are Samsonv and Vanacek the goaltenders of the future. Vanacek started his rookie season amazing, but after January his numbers were inconsistent. (Finished January with like a .918 SV% and ending the season with a .908 or .909 SV%). Yes Samsonov missed time due to contracting Covid-19 and being on the protocol list, but he didn't have great numbers anyways. His SV% was barely above .900 despite having the exact G.AA (2.69) as Vanacek. He also made the poor play in Game 3 against Boston which resulted in an angry Ovi. The attack should be good but there are questions. Ovi will turn 36 in less than two weeks, Backstrom will turn 34 in November, Oshie will turn 35 in December, Carlson will turn 32 in January. The core is getting older. They all had decent seasons, but there were some injury issues with Ovi. Who slots where in the top 9. Does Mantha play RW with Ovi and one of Backstrom/Kuzy. Does Wilson move to LW if Mantha were to play RW. Does Sprong get Top 6 minutes and push Oshie down to the Eller line. Fourth line of Hagelin Dowd and Hathaway was great in the playoffs and should be still good this season.