Washington Capitals: Fan Guide To 2015-2016 (Part 2)

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Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

We continue our insider look at the Washington Capitals’ roster for fans new and old. Let’s get to know our guys!

Now that the NHL season is fully under way, let’s continue the breakdown of players from your 2015-2016 Washington Capitals. In our previous post, we discussed the star-studded top forward line of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and T.J. Oshie. We also took a glance at the Capitals new “young guns” – the burgeoning stars of Evgeni Kuznetsov, Andre Burakovsky, and Tom Wilson.

Today, we’re rounding up the rest of our forward corps with all its seasoned veterans and bubble-spot AHL graduates. The less glamorous “bottom half” of the Washington Capitals roster. They skate fewer minutes and they’re easier to overlook, but perhaps that’s what makes them so much fun to root for.

Williams – #14

Position: Right Wing

Adding three-time Stanley Cup Champion and former Los Angeles King Justin Williams to the Washington Capitals roster was THE biggest move of the offseason for me. He’s a 34-year old veteran that processes information rapidly on the fly. He can play special teams. He scores clutch goals when it matters. Did I mention he’s helped three teams win the Stanley Cup? Those three teams had a lot less firepower than the Washington Capitals currently have.

Williams is a guy that embodies the principles of head coach Barry Trotz’s system. His puck possession stats are outlandishly good. Simply put, Williams is a hard guy to take the puck away from. He battles along the boards for loose pucks. He sets up the Washington Capitals offense when entering the enemies’ zone. He can zip wrist shots past opposing goalies faster than they can suspect. How can you not love that?

He’s known as “Mr. Game Seven” for his clutch playoff prowess. He tends to humbly defer on that moniker in interviews. The hockey world certainly took notice when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy for being the most valuable player in the playoffs for the 2014 Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings. His playoff pedigree speaks for itself.

Williams seems like a genuinely awesome dude. He has two adorable children, a daughter (born in 2011) named Jade and a son (born in 2008) named Jaxon that Washington Capitals fans probably owe an appreciable amount of gratitude towards. Jaxon, as father Justin Williams revealed back in July, is a fan of Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and lobbied his father to sign with Washington over his many suitors. Williams revealed the tidbit to the media just after signing with the Washington Capitals.

I think Williams will be HUGE for the Washington Capitals this year. Not just because of his reputation and accolades in L.A. and Carolina, but for the type of responsible, difficult-to-play-against player that he is. Having him on our second or third line this year makes that line serious regardless of whomever his line mates are.

Little known fact: Williams matriculated from the same minor league hockey ranks as Tom Wilson in the OHL Plymouth Whalers, just several years earlier in 1999-2000. Williams was originally drafted in the 1st round (28th overall) in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers. He was a victim to a system of rotating coaches in Philly over his first four seasons in the league before being shipped to the Carolina Hurricanes. I’d like to make them both regret his departure this season during their matchups with the Capitals this season.

Speaking of guys who wouldn’t mind burning their former teams…

Next: The Ice Cheetah

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Chimera – #25

Position: Left Wing

Who’s as hard as nails, quick as a cat, 36-years old, and seriously underappreciated? Jason Chimera, that’s who. Chimera, who is now in his 6th season with the Washington Capitals after coming over from the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2009, has struggled to prove his worth to head coach Barry Trotz and company in recent memory. He looks more synced in and committed than ever to start off the new season.

MORE FROM STARS AND STICKS: Jason Chimera 2014-2015 Season Review

The perennial third-line winger found himself without long time partner Joel Ward. Many wondered aloud if Chimera would fit in on such a squad. After his open struggle with the coaching staff to find a key role on the team concluded, Jason seems confident to start this season.

After relying on his quick skating speed for most of his career, Chimera had to readjust his play under new Capitals coach Trotz last year to fit the overall team mold. There were scoring droughts, contentious injuries and even a benching or two along the way. Jason looks like this season has brought a new start with it.

“Maybe we were both stubborn at times and set in our ways. Eventually you look in the mirror and say, maybe what he’s preaching is good. Do what he says…I was fully expecting they were going to get me out of here, the way things were going. It’s one of those things, you want to be there for it. If you win with these guys, it’s going to be awesome because it’ll be such a great feeling, because we’ve been through a lot together and we’re right there. You can feel it.” – Washington Post

We’ll all be watching to see if Chimera can keep his value as an energy line forward and special teams contributor. He’s officially the oldest player on the Washington Capitals roster.

Next: Man of Iron

Mandatory Credit: James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports

Laich – #21

Position: Center/Left Wing

The longest tenured players on the Washington Capitals, forward Brooks Laich (pronounced “Like”) has been a fan favorite for a long while. Praised for much of his career for his endurance of consecutive game streaks (before injuries derailed his career) and providing countless shifts of difficult penalty killing work, it’s sometimes too easy to forget exactly how valuable Brooks has and continues to be to the Washington Capitals.

Brooks is off to a good start in 2015-2016. Part of this, naturally, is Brooks meticulous attention to taking care of his body and crafting his game. Another part of this, I’d also venture to say, could be the juggling of priorities in his personal life. Brooks is, after all, a freshly engaged man. He’s engaged to Julianne Hough of television’s Dancing With The Stars.

Brooks was caught by Sports Net Canada contemplating some of the finer things in life away from hockey during a candid moment last New Year Eve and opened up about the new love of his life.

The couple is adorable together, and we all wish them well. When he’s not being tracked on walks by paparazzi, he’s busy being one of the stars on the Washington Capitals penalty killing unit. Brooks is a two-way forward mostly, meaning he’s more likely to play responsible defensive-minded hockey first then whiz missiles past opposing goalies. That’s not to say that he doesn’t have a scorer’s touch. He still shows it from time to time.

One of my favorite Brooks Laich moments was following a devastating playoff series loss in 2011, where regular guy Brooks Laich spotted a distressed motorist on the side of the road on his way back from the rink after playing in the evening’s game and stopped to help the woman change a flat tire. The woman was extremely grateful and we were all pretty impressed by the chivalry and selflessness of Mr. Laich.

Laich’s career is probably winding down a bit. It’s hard to justify his $4,000,000 team salary for most fans, but Brooks has been a Capital since 2003 and I think the organization is returning some of that loyalty by showing their commitment to him. Plus, you know, that contract is pretty binding and all through the end of this season. At the end of the day, Brooks is one of the good guys and we’re happy to have him aboard.

He might not have any goals or points this season, but he’s been outstanding as far as puck possession.

Next: MoJo

Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Johansson – #90

Position: Left Wing/Center

This could be an absolutely incredible season for Marcus Johansson. He’s another one of the Washington Capitals unsung players that recently signed an extension with the team this past summer. As this site repeatedly pointed out before the deal went down, losing Johansson would be a grievous mistake. Fortunately, that scenario was avoided and we as fans now get to watch what happens next.

MORE FROM STARS AND STICKS: Trading Marcus Johansson Would Be A Bad Idea

You’ll notice above that Marcus plays two forward positions: Left Wing and Center. Having played both positions myself, I can assure you that the responsibilities of each position vary pretty greatly. They demand different roles with the team. A wing tends to be more focused on playing in front of the net, taking more shots on goal, and contributing relatively less on team defense.

The center position demands a lot more. Players need to contribute more on defense and position themselves to avoid being caught in the wrong place if the puck starts going the other direction. A lot of centers tend to think “pass first and shoot second” as a result. Selfless centers like Nicklas Backstrom are fantastically paired with guys like Ovechkin because they can slip them the puck so seamlessly through traffic and result in scoring. It’s an incredible talent to have.

Marcus Johansson has played in both roles, but the feeling we’ve gotten from Barry Trotz after a full season is that he prefers Marcus to work on the wing. As the current second line Left Wing, Marcus will need to generate more shots and contribute more offensively. What I am truly excited about with “MoJo” this year is watching him unload his very precise shots on goaltenders more and passing the puck to team mates less. Here’s why.

That goal came at a paramount moment this past July in the playoff series against the New York Islanders. He played on the Wing then too, with Nicklas Backstrom playing Center on the shift. Laich retrieves the puck on the boards, slips it to the entering Johansson and instead of re-feeding the pass to Backstrom (who’s probably in a better shooting lane), Marcus pulls the trigger. Halak doesn’t look ready for the shot and the boys in red tied the game up.

Give us more, Marcus. I can’t wait to see this sniper evolve. Marcus can fill in at Center if the lines need juggling or the injury bug bites. A player like Johansson can confuse a lot of goalies who aren’t keenly aware of just how good a shooter Marcus can be. I like those terms.

Marcus is doing a lot of things this season that don’t end up on the score sheet. He’s screening goalies. You’d think that he wouldn’t be too efficient at that, but he uses his quickness to his advantage.

Next: The Coach's Favorite

Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Beagle – #83

Position: Center

Speaking of players who have recently re-signed with the Washington Capitals and are big time contributors to the team, center Jay Beagle is part of the glue that holds the Washington Capitals together for the next three years. Repeatedly misplaced within the team’s roster, Beagle drew Caps’ fans ire to a degree when coaches simply couldn’t figure out where best to place him. One look at Beagle’s game will explain the fortunate problem.

Jay Beagle has always been a “nuts and bolts” guy. He’s not overly flashy (although he has his moments) and he’s not ever going to put up 40+ goals. However, to overlook his value to the team just because of that would be missing the forest for the trees. Jay Beagle has impressed three Washington Capitals coaches in recent memory enough to put him with the best players in the league. There’s no way that’s a mistake.

Constantly chasing after loose pucks, going into high traffic areas, and winning face-offs in clutch moments does not go unnoticed by head coaches in hockey. That’s great because Jay does all of those things on top of contributing to special teams and still managed to put up career best stat lines last season (10G, 10A, 62GP). Coaches love Jay Beagle, which is why we all should.

Monumental Network’s Caps Red Line just spent a day with Jay and got to follow him around so fans could see what makes him tick. Driving an old pickup truck to the rink and living a more modest life-style for a pro athlete, it sure is hard to dislike Jay Beagle.

What I’ve noticed about Beagle, especially during last season’s playoff run, was his value as “the guy” to put on the dot for faceoffs late in games. That’s a humongous vote of confidence in a player with so much at stake. Jay’s ability to win faceoffs and never take a shift off has the Capitals’ coaching staff in love with him. And deservedly so. I look forward to Jay achieve his dream of becoming a fixture for the Washington Capitals as the third line this season.

Next: The Bubble Forwards

Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

On any professional sports team, there are inevitably going to be players that are right on the cusp of making it big. The Washington Capitals are no exception. The following are profiles of several players that we might see come in and out of the roster lineup this year, many likely playing the majority of their seasons in the minor league ranks.

All are likable guys and are easy to root for as they all have promising potential to be superb Capitals in the near and distant future.

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Stephenson – #18

Position: Center

Chandler has been on a productive tear under AHL Hershey Bears coach Troy Mann lately. He’s impressed in camp and pre-season enough to make his debut with the big club and could be a bright spot on the roster for years to come. Eventually, we think he’ll play with prospects Riley Barber and Jakub Vrana who are both waiting for their turn to play under the bright lights. The Caps noticed Chandler and he’s currently their fourth line center.

I’ve been really impressed by his hustle and vision, especially during the Estero Rookie Tournament in September. He looked like an integral part of our future offense, so any time for him to develop further is crucial. I love rooting for guys like Chandler.

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Latta – #46

Position: Center

Michael Latta came to us as a footnote to one of the most painful trades the Capitals have executed in recent memory, but that’s hardly a reason not to like him. He’s gritty and fresh back from a lower body injury in pre-season. If I’m being brutally honest, I’m not really sold on Latta’s role with the team other than to say that he’s a reliable enforcer and young depth at Center.

What I’d like to see from Latta is really anything that changes that simple opinion. I think Tom Wilson will be egged to pick fewer fights this season, which would leave Latta to pick up the slack, if and when it arises. On the other hand, I would love to see what a year of development under Hershey coach Troy Mann would develop in Michael’s game. Don’t get me wrong: enforcers are important, but they’re also a dime a dozen.

Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Galiev # 49

Position: Left Wing

Stanislav Galiev is one of the bookends of the Washington Capitals current bunch of prospects. Galiev, who is 23 now, is likely on his “last chance” tour with the Washington Capitals. Now too old to really be considered a prospect anymore, it’s put up or shut up time. The forward from Moscow has blossomed recently in the minor league ranks. Perhaps this is the year that Galiev ties together all of the pieces to his pro game.

What I really like about Galiev is his ability to mimic something that another Russian player is quite good at: Ovechkin’s near patented power play one-timer from the left circle. Take a look for yourself. Galiev picked up 26 goals last season with the Bears, many of them on the man advantage in the “Ovi spot”.

If that doesn’t entice you on Galiev, there’s always the fact that he ate a beating cobra heart in Vietnam over his summer vacation.

Stay tuned to Stars and Sticks as we finish up our Fan Guide to the Caps with a look at our team’s defense and a much-anticipated look at what makes the Holtbeast so monstrous!

Next: Caps Jersey Guide

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