The Second Wave Of Washington Capitals Young Guns Is Here
Just under a decade after the first young guns movement began in Washington, a new batch of young stars are setting the stage for success.
“Rock The Red” was not just a motto nor a phrase during the late 2000’s for the Washington Capitals. It was a movement. Mike Green, Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, and of course Alexander Ovechkin were the faces of that movement, as well as a franchise looking to make their mark on the National Hockey League. It was perhaps the most talented foursome of young stars in the entire league, a group that was destined to bring the first Stanley Cup title in team history home to D.C.
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Little by little, the promise that was shown during that movement became more and more distant before eventually fading completely. Playoff defeat after playoff defeat watered the seeds of doubt in the minds of the players, the organization, and the fans at the same time as they were, alternatively, supposed to be parading down the National Mall with the grandest trophy in hockey.
"“We’re experienced guys now, not young guys, and you learn what missing an opportunity costs you,” Ovechkin said. “It can be our last chance, us guys. You never know what’s going to happen, how many chances, opportunities you’re going to get. How many players was a great player but never won a Stanley Cup? A lot. I don’t want to be that. None of us do. We must do better.” – via The Washington Post in a 2011 feature"
In what seemed like a moment in time, the young guns were no longer so young anymore. After essentially playing Russian Roulette (no pun intended) every year by betting on himself to earn another big payday from the team that drafted him, Alex Semin gradually worked his way out of favor with the Washington Capitals before departing for good during the 2012 offseason.
The failures visibly drained the core of the Capitals, as did the two coaching changes in less than one calendar year as the team transitioned from Bruce Boudreau to Dale Hunter, and then Hunter to Adam Oates. No combination that the organization tried worked, and by the time Oates’ reign in Washington ended the term “young guns” was a distant memory. Now, it was about winning a Cup before the window closed on the team’s stars for good.
In came Barry Trotz. The fifth coach that the core of Green, Backstrom and Ovechkin had seen during their collective time together would also be their last. Despite having arguably their best chance of achieving their greatest goal, it would prove futile once again, as Green’s time in D.C. would also come to an end. Just Ovechkin and Backstrom remain from that once bright core, but it is now apparent that those moves were a necessary changing of the guard that has evolved into a new era of young guns rising through the ranks.
Now two of the undisputed leaders on perhaps the best Washington Capitals squad in history, Ovechkin and Backstrom are the mentors for a new movement that is underway in the nation’s capital. Although there are not four handpicked future superstars destined to be the saviors of the franchise this time around, several young Caps are more than making a name for themselves.
Cornerstones of the team, namely defensemen John Carlson and Karl Alzner, forward Marcus Johansson as well as franchise netminder Braden Holtby all seemingly flew under the radar of the young gun tags, and are in or entering their prime years as we speak. Amidst a team brilliantly constructed with a mix of seasoned veterans and rising stars, therein lies a combination that had not existed for the original young guns just under a decade ago.
The Washington Capitals have needed a second line center for years. They now have that in Evgeny Kuznetsov, who burst onto the scene at the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs and now leading the Washington Capitals in points. Paired with him is Andre Burakovsky, a soon to be 21-year-old that has turned into one of the Caps’ hottest players. Along with them is Tom Wilson, a physically gifted player who has displayed a much more disciplined game, one which has contributed to him becoming all-around more effective. Defenseman Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Orlov have carved out permanent roles on the Washington Capitals’ blue line.
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While these players figure to be major pieces of the organizations future, there is a list of players either with the Caps’ American Hockey League affiliate Hersey Bears or elsewhere that will be major pieces moving forward: Connor Carrick, Madison Bowey, Jakub Vrana, Riley Barber and Ilya Samsonov among those names. While one or more of those players could conceivably get their shot elsewhere, these are the types of players who will receive the torch in the coming years.
No longer are the Washington Capitals putting their eggs in one basket with a foursome of superstars that carry the weight of an entire organization on their shoulders. After years of change and testing different combinations, Washington should be very confident in what their youngest stars are doing now, and what they appear capable of accomplishing in the future as well.