Washington Capitals: Predicting the starting lineup of 2021
Predicting the Washington Capitals starting lineup for opening night.
The Washington Capitals begin the 2021 season on Jan. 14th in Buffalo against the Sabres. Let’s break down the lines and who we think will be in the starting lineup when the teams take the ice for a highly anticipated season.
Before we break down what the starting lineup will be, let’s break down the lines and defensive pairings.
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Backstrom-Oshie
Hagelin-Eller-Sprong/Sheary
Panik-Dowd-Hathaway
Dillon-Carlson
Orlov-Schultz
Siegenthaler-Jensen/Van-Riemsdyk
Starting goalie: Ilya Samsonov
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No surprises to these lines. Now let’s see who the Caps will go with on opening night. They’re starting lineup will be the top line of Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Tom Wilson. On defense will be Brenden Dillon and John Carlson. We all know who the starting goalie will be, Ilya Samsonov.
Ovechkin is coming off a 48 goal season and all eyes will be on him to see how he’ll do in the final chapters of his storied career. He will be due for an extension and is going to do negotiations all by himself with Brian MacLellan. If Nicklas Backstrom can pull it off, so can Ovechkin.
Centering the top line will be Evgeny Kuznetsov. While he has had his share of inconsistencies, he is still an athletic center with a tremendous upside. The Caps hope he can be more consistent and that new coach Peter Laviolette can tap into his potential.
Finally, there’s Tom Wilson, who David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins calls the best scorer in the league. After being known for his hits, and still is, he has since added offense to his game and is a very reliable top line right winger.
The defense is no surprise as the top pairing will be Brenden Dillon and John Carlson. The Caps were high on Dillon entering the offseason and even before the bubble and it was their goal to re-sign him which they did exactly that.
John Carlson will have a lot to prove this season after coming up just shy of the Norris Trophy for the league’s best defenseman. He led the league among blue liners in assists and points and will look for a breakout year.
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Finally there’s Ilya Samsonov in goal while questions will be aplenty on who the backup will be. The Caps recently brought in Craig Anderson to a PTO and have Vitek Vanecek and Pheonix Copley in the system. We’ll see who wins that camp battle.