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Four Lingering Questions for the Washington Capitals

By Michael Marzzacco

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: Alex Ovechkin #8 and Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals watch a replay after Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes (not pictured) scored a goal in the second period in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: Alex Ovechkin #8 and Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals watch a replay after Sebastian Aho #20 of the Carolina Hurricanes (not pictured) scored a goal in the second period in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 24: Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals prepares to play against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 24: Braden Holtby #70 of the Washington Capitals prepares to play against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Capital One Arena on April 24, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

The 2019 NHL offseason is in the home stretch and there’s still plenty of questions surrounding the Washington Capitals.

Some of the questions are burning ones for the hottest month of the year. But there are a few lingering ones surrounding the Washington Capitals that fans and media alike are intrigued to ask and find out. We won’t start fully finding out the answer to many of these until the end of training camp or perhaps even the middle of the season, but in the meantime it’s always fun to project and speculate.

Obviously there will be some decisions in the roster on how to trim down the salary cap, the spotlight will be shined on Braden Holtby, what kind of decision does the team make for next summer’s offseason activities, and much more.

The Capitals had a productive but weird offseason. They checked off all the boxes they needed, said goodbye to some longtime players that will forever be legends, and are in that complicated cap situation.

washington capitals
LAS VEGAS, NV – JUNE 07: Brooks Orpik #44 of the Washington Capitals hoists the Stanley Cup after Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final between the Washington Capitals and the Vegas Golden Knights at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Capitals defeated the Golden Knights 4-3 to win the Stanley Cup Final Series 4-1. (Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The last thing the Capitals did this offseason to complete their was avoid arbitration by extending Chandler Stephenson’s contract.

WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 20: Washington Capitals center Chandler Stephenson (18) stops short of Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek (34) in the first period on April 20, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – APRIL 20: Washington Capitals center Chandler Stephenson (18) stops short of Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Petr Mrazek (34) in the first period on April 20, 2019, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. (Photo by Mark Goldman/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Now there’s four lingering questions and in the following slides we’ll address each one.

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