Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Scoring Depth Is Key
The Washington Capitals, despite having arguably the best goal scorer of at least the past 25 years, have struggled in recent years at scoring goals. Why is this? Because they lacked guys past Ovechkin who they could rely on to score goals. This year, the Washington Capitals have a stacked roster that should be able to pull their weight as far as goal scoring.
Barring injury, Ovechkin is going to score at least 40 goals. Heck, he’ll probably score 50 goals. Nicklas Backstrom should add around 10-20. I’d love for Backstrom to pass a little less and shoot a little more, but who am I to argue with such an incredible passer? T.J. Oshie could be a 20-25 goal scorer for the Caps, depending on his role on the power play. If Brouwer can manage to score 20 goals, Oshie should have no problem doing so as well.
Where the Caps will really stand out is on their second and third line. It’s one thing to have an elite scoring line. It’s quite another if you can trot out three scoring lines. You know who managed to do that last season? The Blackhawks and the Lightning. The Caps have the potential to be similar to them in 2015.
On the second line, the Caps will have Evgeny Kuznetsov. The Caps are hoping that the last three months of his season (March, April, and May) were not a fluke. Shot generation tends to not be fluky, so watch for him to score 20 goals in 2015. Marcus Johansson is coming off a career season. He changed from a guy who was scared to shoot the puck to a guy who was very confident with the puck. Justin Williams’s value is going to come from things that aren’t on the score sheet. However, playing alongside Kuznetsov certainly helps. I expect him to have around 40-50 points in 2015.
On their third line, the Caps will have their secret weapon: Andre Burakovsky. He generates offense at a very impressive rate. On the third line, he’ll likely be facing heavy offensive zone starts against inferior competition. That could lead to a 30-40 point season. Joining Burakovsky will be Tom Wilson, who hopes to prove that he’s more than just a guy who loves to hit people. He could be to them what Milan Lucic was to the Boston Bruins. He’s a skilled forward and I think 2015 could be the year when he starts to show that more consistently.
In case whatever their plan is at third line left wing doesn’t pan out, Jakub Vrana will be in Hershey. He can do things that people can’t even do in NHL 16. If he develops as planned in Hershey, he could be the missing piece of the Stanley Cup puzzle for the Caps, a la Teuvo Teravainen.
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