#2: Washington Capitals
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Washington Capitals have drastically improved their team this off-season. They got rid of Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward and Mike Green. Obviously those guys are big losses. They could also lose Eric Fehr. However, all of that is moot because the Washington Capitals addressed their issues by making two huge moves.
They started off by signing former Los Angeles Kings forward Justin Williams. In effect, he replaces Ward. Williams is a proven veteran who drives possession like very few can. Even though his box car stats are dwindling, he still is an extremely effective forward. He’s going to do wonders for Evgeny Kuznetsov and potentially either Andre Burakovsky or Marcus Johansson on the second forward line.
The Caps weren’t done. They then traded Brouwer and others to the St. Louis Blues for right wing T.J. Oshie. Oshie is the kind of guy that the first line of Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom needs. He is an excellent playmaker who can also score at a pretty good rate.
I don’t see any huge flaws with the Capitals right now. The third pairing should be fine. Nate Schmidt and Dmitry Orlov have both looked very efficient in small sample sizes. If they can bring back Fehr or acquire a solid bottom six forward, they could take over the number one spot in our power rankings.
Next: #1: Rangers