Washington Capitals: Power Ranking The NBC Matchups

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

#6: Washington Capitals Vs. Florida Panthers

The Washington Capitals play the Florida Panthers at the Verizon Center on Tuesday, February 2nd 2016. The game will start at 7:30 PM. The Caps and Panthers have a bit of history together as they were Southeastern Division rivals for several seasons. The Panthers played the Caps tough most of the time. Combine that with the extremely young talent that the Panthers have and this should be an exciting match up.

Adding a bit of drama to the Caps-Panthers match up is that the Panthers currently employ Jaromir Jagr, who is a polarizing figure among Caps fans to say the least. Jagr is a former Capitals forward who the Caps gave a huge contract after trading for him. To make a long story short, Jagr did not live up to it at all and the Caps wound up beginning their fire sale because of him.

The Panthers have a great young team. Nick Bjugstad is one of the most underrated players in the league and should be an excellent scoring line center for years to come. Aleksander Barkov has all the traits to be a poor man’s Patrice Bergeron as he is already excellent defensively and has only just begun to tap into his potential on offense. He might never be as good as Bergeron, but Barkov has a very similar playing style.

Brandon Pirri has had concussion issues, but when he’s healthy, he is a very good goal scorer. Jonathan Huberdeau meshed very well with Jagr and Barkov last season and looks to play with Bjugstad next season after rebounding from his sophomore slump. Aaron Ekblad is one of the best young blue liners in the NHL. Sound kind of like the Washington Capitals right before they got good, doesn’t it?

This will also be the only time that the Panthers will be on NBC during the 2015-2016 season, so you know the Panthers will be motivated to look good on the national stage as they continue to grow as a team.

Next: #5: Detroit Rock City