Washington Capitals: Top 5 key players for a successful season

The Washington Capitals will look for a successful 2019-20 season.

But in order for that to happen, there are five particular Washington Capitals players that need to step up. Some of these guys are inconsistent and are looking for more level playing this upcoming season.

Others are coming off of career seasons and will look to build on them. Others have came off of down years and are poised to bounce back. Of course, there’s the one’s who either just got paid or are about to get paid the big bucks.

The most exciting part about this time of year is some of our burning questions and even our lingering questions surrounding the Washington Capitals are about to get answered. Training camp and preseason will see this in more ways than one as the Caps look to get under the salary cap for opening night.

These are the five players that I believe if they bring their “A-Game”, the Capitals should have a successful 2019-20 regular season and carry that into the playoffs for a hopeful run at another Stanley Cup. They’ll have a chip on their shoulder this upcoming season after bowing out in the first round and that drive will help them in the long run as they’ll look for a much shorter summer in 2020.

#2 Dmitry Orlov

At one point in his Washington Capitals career, defenseman Dmitry Orlov was given the nickname “Scorlov” for his offensive touch in his two-way game. However, last season was a down year for both Orlov and his pairing partner Matt Niskanen. The Capitals shipped out the latter to the Philadelphia Flyers for Radko Gudas, meaning General Manager Brian MacLellan trusts his 28-year old Russian to bounce back.

Orlov scored just three goals last season, a significant drop off from the career-high 10 he had in the 2017-18 regular season. Aside from John Carlson, the Capitals will be looking to Orlov as another long-time Capitals veteran defensemen to lead the new unit.

Expect Orlov to be back on the middle pairing which could be a three-way competition between Gudas, Christian Djoos and Jonas Siegenthaler for that spot. Orlov averaged the third-most ice time last season of 21:38 per game. With Niskanen gone, expect that average ice time to go up.

Orlov finished with a career-high 137 hits last season and added 103 blocked shots, his second-highest. Orlov’s Corsi-For percentage at even strength last season was 48.50%, a drop off from the previous regular season where Orlov’s Corsi was 49.49%.

Carlson and Michal Kempny are the top dogs on the defense but other than them, if Orlov has a better season the defensive unit can improve overall.

#3 Braden Holtby

The Capitals will need Braden Holtby to return to his Vezina Trophy-winning form in order to have a successful season. Holtby finished the last two regular seasons with 34 and 32 wins, respectively, and will look for a much better season in 2019-20.

Last season, Holtby amassed a record of 32-19-5 with a 2.82 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage. Although he won more games the previous season, Holtby’s GAA lowered last season from 2.99 and his save percentage improved from .907. Holtby also added three shutouts.

The Capitals offseason upgrades this summer had a heavy emphasis on improving their defense overall and for a netminder like Braden Holtby, that’s great news for him.

Part of Holtby’s struggles was the inexperience of the defensemen while last season injuries played a factor for a couple of their high end guys such as Brooks Orpik, Christian Djoos, and ultimately, Michal Kempny.

The better Holtby plays this season, the better position the Caps will be against a competitive Metropolitan Division. As a result, his value next summer will only get higher and it’ll make things very complicated to keep him after the massive $70-million contract that was signed by Sergei Bobrovsky.

Obviously, Holtby doesn’t want this final year of his contract to be a distraction. He said that to J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington on media day:

“Obviously, my goal is to win a Stanley Cup here and everything else, I’m not an agent for a reason. I’m a hockey player.”

Holtby will look to lead the Caps back to another Stanley Cup. After all, that comes first before we even have to worry about next offseason.

#4 Jakub Vrana

One of the biggest offseason signings of the Capitals came in mid-July when they extended their young left winger to a two-year bridge deal worth $6.7 million with an average annual value (AAV) of $3,350,000. It was a raise that he rightfully deserved.

Vrana is coming off a career season where he scored 24 goals and added 23 assists for 47 points. All career-highs across the board. The young, speedy winger is an important component of the top-six and can play on either the first or second line.

It’s likely you’ll see him on the second line once again this season alongside Nicklas Backstrom or Evgeny Kuznetsov as well as T.J. Oshie. With Backstrom in the fold on the second line at even strength, the trip posted a Corsi-For percentage of 55.56% and a Fenwick For percentage of 55% and a High Danger Chances For percentage of 45.45% (via Natural Stat Trick).

Vrana will work hard to improve his overall game and a 30-goal season is doable for the 23-year old. Vrana told Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription required) recently at an informal workout before training camp:

“I feel like I have the potential to be a great player. But I still have lots to show.”

It’ll be exciting getting to see Vrana grow and develop the next two seasons and he hasn’t even reached his ceiling yet.

#5 Evgeny Kuznetsov

The most inconsistent and frustrating part about watching the Capitals last season was that you didn’t know which version of Evgeny Kuznetsov is going to show up. Would it be the Kuznetsov that performed well in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, helping lead the Caps to the Cup. Or will it be the Kuznetsov that is more of a “passenger” than someone who’s engaged.

Last season, Kuznetsov scored 21 goals and added 51 assists for 72 points. Good but not what the Capitals expected from their 2010 first round pick. Especially after the torrid start to the season Kuznetsov had where he scored six goals and added 17 points in his first 12 games. Since then, Kuznetsov almost disappeared.

One of the biggest stories surrounding Kuznetsov was that he violated the NHL’s protocol for illegal drugs, testing positive for a substance that also cost him four years of international play with Team Russia.

Kuznetsov knows he made a mistake and is determined to bounce back for a big 2019-20 season. He spoke with the media on Saturday after learning that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman suspended him for the first three games.

Kuznetsov told Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washington Post (subscription required):

“I agreed to the suspension. I want to say thanks to this organization, to the [NHL Players’ Association], to the NHL for their support and to the fans. There’s a lot of people who are supporting me, and I’m going to appreciate it, and as a hockey player, the only chance to say thanks to them is to prove on the ice. Growing as a person, I want to get better and I’m going to learn from this, for sure.”

It’ll take until game four but when the Capitals take the ice on Tuesday Oct. 8 against the Dallas Stars, Kuznetsov will be front and center on either the first or second line, looking to make an immediate impact.

Those are the five key players for a successful season. Do you agree with our list? Who are we missing? Let us know in the comments!