Washington Capitals: Early expectations for preseason schedule
The Washington Capitals open up the preseason later this month. Here’s the full schedule. Basically, there’s six games spread across three opponents that the Caps will see home and away. Let’s break down each one.
First, the Caps will see the Boston Bruins and then see them again on Oct. 6 in Boston. That is obviously a rematch from last year’s first round that saw the Bruins knock out the Caps in five games after the Caps took Game 1.
Against the Bruins last season, excluding the playoffs, the Caps were 4-4-0. The rivalry got more interesting when the Caps added longtime Bruin Zdeno Chara. These preseason games won’t be as intense but hey hockey is back at least.
The Caps will then host the New Jersey Devils three nights later in a game I’m pretty excited about. The Devils are a young up and coming team that just added Dougie Hamilton. While I don’t see them challenging for the top spot in the Metropolitan Division, I still see them as that pesky team that just sneaks into the playoffs.
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Last season, the Caps won all eight games against the New Jersey Devils. They are still a team ready for that next step in their rebuilding process. The Devils didn’t make too many offseason moves but the moves they did make have vastly improved the lineup. In addition to adding Hamilton, the Devils also signed Jonathan Bernier and Tomas Tatar in free agency.
Finally the Caps will also see Metropolitan Division foe the Philadelphia Flyers. Those games will take place Oct. 2 in Philly and Oct. 8 in D.C. in the preseason finale. The Caps were 6-2-0 against the Flyers last season.
The Flyers have overhauled their roster but one thing remained a constant. They re-signed goaltender Carter Hart and gave him the big bucks with three years and $11.9 million.
As far as changes to the roster go, they traded away Phil Myers and Nolan Patrick for Ryan Ellis. Then they shipped away Shayne Gostisbehere and a couple of draft picks for…. cap space! The Flyers would then acquire Rasmus Ristolainen by trading away Robert Hagg and draft picks. Finally they traded Jake Voracek for Cam Atkinson.
More. Washington Capitals: Full 2021 NHL Preseason Schedule. light
There was no preseason last year but in 2019 the Caps were 5-0-1 in exhibition play. Their all time preseason record is 170-128-33-16.