Washington Capitals Daily News: Holtby’s Elite, Alzner Projections, Kuznetsov Replacing Backstrom, Beagle Excited To Be Back
Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
As we’re nearing the beginning of the 2015-16 NHL season (35 days until the Washington Capitals take the ice), the Washington Capitals are still dominating the news headlines and there are still plenty of things to talk about.
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The Washington Capitals have an excellent goaltender in Braden Holtby. Ever since Olaf Kolzig retired, the Caps have searched far and wide to find a new franchise goalie. Finding one is extremely difficult. Once you find one, keeping him (or her) is an absolute must. The Capitals wisely locked up Holtby for the next five years. When you look at his stats over the past three seasons (and playoffs), it’s hard to argue that he’s not one of the best goalies in the NHL.
Karl Alzner had a career year in 2014-15. For the first time since Bruce Boudreau was the head coach, the Washington Capitals mustached defenseman looked great. His defense has always been good, but in 2014-15, it was as good as it has ever been. Perhaps the most surprising part about Alzner’s season was his offense. He set career highs in goals and points and tied his career high in assists. Can he repeat that in 2015-16?
Replacing Nicklas Backstrom is a daunting task. However, the Washington Capitals might just have the guy who can do it: Evgeny Kuznetsov. Kuznetsov, if you remember, played on the first forward line with Alex Ovechkin and Joel Ward for a spell during the second half of the 2014-15 season. While Backstrom could not be replaced long-term, Kuznetsov could be the short-term answer if Backstrom has to miss any games while rehabbing from his hip injury.
Washington Capitals center Jay Beagle has won fans over with his gritty play and his amazing goal celebrations. He’s the kind of player who fans can relate to because he’s not the most skilled player on the ice, but you know he’s willing to do anything it takes to win. The Caps signed Beagle to a three-year deal this off-season. But they had a little bit of trouble doing so because Beagle is a “redneck”, as he likes to call himself.
Washington Capitals News From Around Fansided
Ranking Each NHL Team’s Starting Goalie [Stars And Sticks]
"Braden Holtby, despite what you might think, has been elite when you look at his last three seasons. Over the past three NHL seasons, he ranks eighth in even-strength save percentage (93.01%) and 12th in even-strength save percentage (93.22%). On paper, that’s not elite. However, you know what makes him elite? He faces a high number of high-danger scoring chances and that is possibly when he has been at his best. His 85.30% even strength high-danger save percentage over the past three seasons ranks third among all starting goalies, trailing two fellow elite goaltenders."
Karl Alzner Hopes To Build On Career Year [Stars And Sticks]
"Perhaps no Washington Capitals player benefited more from the hire of Barry Trotz than Alzner. For the first time since Boudreau was coach, Alzner was encouraged to be active all over the ice. It showed in his stats, as Alzner had a career high in goals (five) and points (21). All 16 of his assists came at even strength."
Caps Have Seven Players In NHL.com’s Top 250 Players [Stars And Sticks]
Washington Capitals Links From Around The Web
Can Kuznetsov Replace Backstrom? [CSN Washington – Chuck Gormley]
"With Nicklas Backstrom uncertain over whether he’ll be ready for the Capitals’ Oct. 10 season opener following offseason hip surgery, 23-year-old Russian Evgeny Kuznetsov will be thrust into the spotlight as the Caps’ top-line center."
The Noon Countdown: 36 [Japers Rink – J.P.]
"36 – Number of days remaining until the 2015-16 season. But it’s also Marcus Johansson’s penalty minutes in 345 career regular season games (he picked up his first two playoff penalty minutes this past spring and has just the two in 44 playoff games as well). Since he entered the League in 2010-11, no player who has played more than 295 regular season games has fewer penalty minutes than Johansson"
Beagle’s Thrilled To Extend Stay With The Washington Capitals [Calgary Sun]
"Ready to work, he’d now like to nail down every-day deployment as the Caps’ third-line centre.“That’s always been my dream,” says the six-foot-three, 215-pounder. “I’ve really worked a lot on faceoffs this summer, just puckhandling and trying to be a more skilled two-way forward. Just trying to build off what I had last year."