Washington Capitals: Predicting the 20-goal scorers

There’s nothing like that horn and siren sound that goes off at Washington Capitals games when they score a goal. Here’s who we think will light the lamp up the most.

Last season seven Washington Capitals players hit the 20-goal plateau, including a few names that had their best offensive season. Seven 20-goal scorers was the most the Capitals had on the stats sheet since the 2009-10 season. It’s a rarity that will be tough to replicate in 2019-20 even though the Capitals lost just one of those seven skaters to free agency.

Even so, if everybody is on their game the Capitals can have explosive offense. But defense also wins championships so there’s a reason why neither team made a deep playoff run.

Even so, look for a few players to remain consistent, elevate their game, or surprise us.

Alex Ovechkin

First and foremost there’s Alex Ovechkin, who’s lowest scoring season was just 32 in 2010-11. Over the last two seasons Ovechkin has scored 49 and 51 goals, respectively. The real question is if he can hit 50 once again, something Ovechkin has done eight times in his career. He will reach it in 2019-20.

Nicklas Backstrom

Nicklas Backstrom enters the final year of his 10-year, $67-million contract. Although known for the passing, Backstrom has scored 20 or more goals each of the last four seasons, including 22 last year, and there’s no reason to think he won’t do it again. Expect around 20-22 goals.

Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson overcame a season-starting 14-game suspension to have his best offensive season with the Capitals with a career-high 22 goals. The now-25 year old hasn’t even reached his ceiling yet and a full 82-games could help him reach 30 on a top line next to Evgeny Kuznetsov and Ovechkin.

T.J. Oshie

T.J. Oshie missed 11 regular season games due to injury but still hit the quarter century mark last season with 25 goals. Oshie’s season ended in Game 4 of the first round but has already hit the ice for summer conditioning with his eye on getting fully recovered in time for training camp. Can see Oshie scoring somewhere around the 20-22 goal range.

Jakub Vrana

Jakub Vrana is poised for a breakout season after signing a two-year bridge deal. Vrana comes off a career year where he scored 24 goals and even added a few in the IIHF Worlds. Vrana is a spark plug next to Kuznetsov and Oshie with speed and grit and there’s no doubt he could reach the late high 20’s in goals this season.

Evgeny Kuznetsov

Yes, you will see the bird celly much more this upcoming season. Evgeny Kuznetsov will have a much more consistent season in 2019-20. He still scored 21 goals but there’s a better Kuznetsov the team and the fans are clamoring to see. They want the clutch gene playoff Kuznetsov that scored 12 and led the Capitals with 32 points on their way to the 2018 Stanley Cup. Could see him finishing between 27-32 goals this upcoming season, it all depends on whether he better fits on the first or second line, though first is probably the way to go.

Richard Panik

This is a bold prediction, but Richard Panik could be the next Brett Connolly. If there’s a wild card favorite for a bottom-six forward to reach 20, look no further than one of the newest members of the team. Panik had back-to-back 14-goal seasons after recording a career-high 22 in 2016-17 with the Chicago Blackhawks. Panik’s 14 goals last season was fifth on the Arizona Coyotes and was third on the team in expected goals for at 53.37% among skaters playing in multiple games (via Natural Stat Trick). Panik will be the biggest star of the Hagelin-Eller-Panik line and will be the one among the trio that reaches 20.

Which Capitals players do you think will reach 20 goals this season? Did we miss someone who you think might break through? Let us know .