Washington Capitals: Five Bold Predictions For 2015 Season

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Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Capitals should have a special season in 2015 after making off-season improvements. Here are five bold predictions about their 2015 season.

The Washington Capitals are on the cusp of being an elite team. Depending on who you ask, they might already be an elite team. The Capitals have arguably their most complete roster since the 2009-2010 season. They have no glaring weaknesses. They already had Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom, Braden Holtby, and Evgeny Kuznetsov. With the additions of T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams, the Capitals have a team that has every right to have extremely high expectations.

Kuznetsov Will Emerge As A Young Star

Evgeny Kuznetsov struggled to make adjustments early in his rookie season. He only had 15 points in 44 games before the All-Star Break. Over the break, something clicked for the young Russian center because he finished the season with 22 points in his 36 games after the All-Star break. He grew confident. He started taking charge. He shined in the month of March with 10 points in 14 games. He finished his regular season with 37 points in 80 games. Not bad from a rookie center.

Kuznetsov finished last season very strong. He introduced himself to the rest of the NHL with seven points in 14 playoff games. Many people view him as a breakout candidate in 2015-2016. They’re not wrong. Kuznetsov will build on his rookie season and finish the season with at least 45 points.

He’ll start the season playing with Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie. That should give him a jumpstart to his season. He played quite well with the first forward line during the preseason. Once Nicklas Backstrom comes back, Kuznetsov will slot back to his usual second-line center role. He’ll have either Marcus Johansson (coming off a career year) or Andre Burakovsky as his left wing. Both of them are solid second-line options. On his right, he’ll have three-time Stanley Cup champion Justin Williams.

The one area of his game that Kuznetsov consistently struggled with during his rookie season was puck possession. Having Troy Brouwer as his second-line right wing most likely played a big role in that. Williams is famous for being one of the best possession players in the league. Kuznetsov should greatly benefit from playing alongside Williams.

Kuznetsov is ready to take the next step for the Washington Capitals. The Caps have been patient with him. He’ll make them look smart for sticking with them with a breakout season in 2015-2016.

Next: How Many Goals Will Oshie Score?

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Oshie Will Score 25 Goals

T.J. Oshie was acquired by the Washington Capitals this offseason. He gives them a concrete first line right wing. That’s something that the Caps have not had in recent years. Some Caps bloggers are making outlandish bets about how many goals Oshie will score. While I believe 30 is a bit outrageous, I believe that he will score 25 goals (not including shootouts). That’s a pretty bold prediction because Oshie’s career high is 21.

With the Blues, Oshie didn’t score many power play goals. He had 80 even-strength goals and 23 power-play goals in seven seasons with the Blues. There’s reason to believe that could change with the Washington Capitals. The Caps power play last season had Troy Brouwer in the slot. During the preseason, the Caps had Oshie in the slot during power plays. Oshie is a pretty good shooter from the slot. War-On-Ice has shot charts that prove that.

CREDIT: War-On-Ice

Brouwer was able to score 27 power play goals in his last three seasons with the Capitals. Let’s forget that one of those years was the lockout shortened season. That’s an average of nine per season. Oshie generates more shot attempts from the slot than Brouwer. It’s not hard to see why Oshie can be reasonably expected to score nine power play goals (give or take).

Oshie had 16 even strength goals last season. If the first forward line lives up to expectations, that’s likely going to rise. He scored 16 goals with Alexander Steen and David Backes as his usual linemates. Backes and Steen are good. They are not the elite forwards that Ovechkin and Backstrom are.

Add it all up and Oshie has a pretty good shot at scoring 25 goals.

Next: Just How Good Will Carlson Be?

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Carlson Will Win The Norris Trophy

I made a pretty bold prediction about John Carlson last season. I said that he would be in the top 10 in Norris Trophy voting. I was slightly off, but I think he definitely deserved to finish in the top 10. I’m going to take my Carlson fandom to the highest level possible this season. I think Carlson will win the 2015-2016 Norris Trophy!

Please hear me out before calling my village and alerting them that their idiot has escaped. The Washington Capitals defenseman is in a pretty good position to win the Norris Trophy. I believe that a big reason why Carlson didn’t win the Norris has to do with him not getting much power play time until the end of the season.

That’s going to change this season thanks to the departure of Mike Green. It’s reasonable to expect that Carlson won’t have 33 even-strength points again. However, the Caps should score more goals and he’ll be on the first power-play unit. 55 points is well within reach for him.

The Norris Trophy voting tends to be a bit biased towards playoff teams. Whether that’s fair or not is another debate. That is a clear advantage for Carlson as the Washington Capitals will be a playoff team in 2015-2016. Carlson will likely play the minutes necessary to attract Norris Trophy votes. It’s a real stretch, but I think Carlson has a better chance of winning the Norris in 2015-2016 than most people think.

He’ll have to overcome guys like Erik Karlsson, Drew Doughty, P.K. Subban, and Victor Hedman. Tough? Yes. Impossible? No.

Next: Can Holtby Win The Vezina?

Mandatory Credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports

Holtby Will Win The Vezina

Of course he will because this post is all about bold predictions! Braden Holtby had an excellent season last year for the Washington Capitals. That could be just be the beginning of a run of dominance by the Caps netminder. Holtby is just entering the prime of his career. He has as good of a shot as anyone not named Carey Price at winning the Vezina Trophy.

Holtby finished sixth in save percentage last season among goalies with at least 38 games played. He also had the fourth lowest GAA (2.22). He did that despite facing 2,044 shots on goal (the most in the NHL) and playing in 73 games (the most in the NHL). Let’s look at what he’s likely going to do even better in 2015-2016.

The Washington Capitals offense and defense will be better. That will likely mean that Holtby will face fewer shots on goal. Fewer shots on goal mean fewer goals. Simple math.
The NHL is starting to embrace advanced stats in goaltending. One of them is high-danger save percentage. Holtby led all goalies with at least 1750 minutes at even-strength with an 86.86% even-strength high-danger save percentage.

It will be hard for Holtby to overcome Price. However, it’s quite likely that he’s going to regress at least a little bit this season. The last goalie to have two straight seasons with a 93% save percentage or higher? Hasek. Can Price do what very few have been able to do? Can Price continue to carry the Canadiens? We’ll have to see. If he falters, Holtby could be the next man up on the Vezina totem pole.

Next: The Boldest Of All Of The Bold Predictions

Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Capitals Will Win The Stanley Cup

The Washington Capitals are one of the oldest franchises to never win the Stanley Cup. That changes this season when the Caps hoist the Stanley Cup in June. It will be a glorious sight watching Alex Ovechkin hoist the Stanley Cup and pass it off to his buddy Nicklas Backstrom.

The Capitals came extremely close to advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. The Caps realized that their captain is getting old (Ovechkin is 30). Owner Ted Leonsis realized that his team’s Stanley Cup window was closing. He opened it all the way with impressive offseason acquisitions. The Caps needed a makeover. With Oshie and Williams, the Caps have the best chance of winning the Cup that they’ve had in years.

Of course, they’ll need some luck. But who doesn’t get at least some luck along the way? The Washington Capitals will need to stay healthy. Any injury to Holtby or their blue line could prove to be fatal to their Stanley Cup hopes. They’ll need pucks to go their way. With an improved offense, they’ll create more scoring chances so that there will be more chances for pucks to go their way. They’ll need to conquer their playoff demons. Justin Williams could serve as the exorcist.

The Caps have a history of choking in the playoffs. That’s undeniable. None of that matters at all to this year’s team. The failures of Pete Peeters, Esa Tikkanen, and so many others before this year are completely irrelevant to this year’s team. Should they lose in the playoffs, it will be because they weren’t good enough. It sure as heck won’t be because some guy missed an empty net shot in 1998. At one point, the Boston Red Sox were considered the champions of chokers. The 2004 team wrote their own destiny. The 2015 Caps will do the same.

Will they face tough competition? Absolutely. They’ll likely have to get past the Tampa Bay Lightning at some point. They’ll have to overcome a tough and competitive Metropolitan Division to even make the playoffs. Let’s be honest with ourselves, the Caps will have to beat the Rangers in the playoffs because the Caps and Rangers are destined to battle each other for all eternity.

It will not matter because the Washington Capitals will win the Stanley Cup.

What do you think? Give me some of your bold predictions in the comments!

Next: Seven Reasons To Be Excited About The 2015-2016 Season

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