Washington Capitals: New Additions Impact in First Week

The Washington Capitals approached free agency with a plan to add grit and a more defensive responsible bottom of the lineup. How has the new additions fared in the first week of action?

Each addition was expected to fill a void the team either felt they needed or was necessary from departures. Radko Gudas was expected to provide the Washington Capitals with a replacement for the retired Brooks Orpik as a more defensive responsible defenseman to groom the younger players.

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Richard Panik was looked to fill the gap left by Brett Connolly who left in free agency to join the Florida Panthers.

Garnet Hathaway and Brendan Leipsic were both brought in to push the incumbents on the fourth line in Travis Boyd and Chandler Stephenson. Both were expected to provide the missing team defense that you expect from the fourth line.

With the exception of Gudas, all the others were added via free agency. It was obvious the team felt they needed to make this a priority to add more defensive minded forwards as they signed Panik and Hathaway for four years apiece.

Leipsic was signed for just this year, most likely to give the team some freedoms with the roster following this year.

Let’s take a look at how each major addition has fared in the first week of action with their new team.

Radko Gudas

When you add a player like Radko Gudas, you expect to get a defenseman who will chip in some offensively. But for the most part he would be counted on to be the steady defensive presence on a pair. For the Capitals, he was looked to fill the hole left by Brooks Orpik and would be expected to mentor younger players like Jonas Siegenthaler and Tyler Lewington.

So far Gudas has not been very lucky in providing the defense that he was anticipated to provide, he has been on ice for at least one goal  in each game except in the contest against the Hurricanes. For the one goal allowed in the Islanders game, the puck got through IIya Samsonov by way of Gudas’s skate.

Gudas seems to be late in entering the zone on a regular basis. But he has jumped into the fray offensively with a couple of good zone entry passes to create good scoring opportunities for Vrana vs. the Islanders and Oshie vs the Hurricanes which led to goals.

He hasn’t been afraid to put pucks on net himself either, with seven shots so far this year. Gudas has added two takeaways but sadly has given the puck away four times.  He has added five hits and three blocked shots.

So far I would say Gudas has had an uneven start to the season, I would chalk this up to the adjustment period to the new environment. I would expect Gudas to start making the kind of contributions we have been looking forward to seeing soon. It could be he will need to get his feel by dropping the gloves.

Richard Panik

Richard Panik, has some large shoes to fill with the production fan favorite Brett Connolly provided the Capitals in a third line role. With the suspension of Kuznetsov to start the season he had been given a considerable amount of time on the power play, with 11:28 PPTOI.

While he hasn’t found any points so far, he has been in the vicinity of opportunities and even provided some distraction for the opposing defensemen by camping out in the hard areas. Panik has gotten a few shots on goal with three on the year, but he has made his impact the most with his physical play.

Panik has applied four hits and blocked three shots so far.  He has even been called to the faceoff dot a few times, and has been pretty successful while winning three out of four faceoffs good for 75% FOW%.

With the return of Kuznetsov from his early season suspension, Panik was finally given a chance on the penalty kill with 1:40 SHTOI against the Stars. He had a fair impact since the team didn’t allow a goal on the PK.

So far Panik has not found the scoresheet in the manner I expected. But much like Gudas I believe Panik is finding his rhythm with his new teammates. However, Panik is showing good fundamentals and defensive awareness in all zones of the ice. It’s only a matter of time he will begin a scoring frenzy with how he is camping out in front of the net, he will be in prime location to put back some rebounds when they are able to find his stick.

Brendan Leipsic

Of all the additions the Capitals have made this offseason, Brendan Leipsic has been given the least amount of time on ice, with ATOI of 9:10. But that has not held him back from being a presence on the ice.

Leipsic has shown some incredible speed and tenacity to his game fitting right into the fourth line. He has provided the defense the team was hoping for from the checking line with four blocked shots and eight hits so far, giving the team some aggressive forechecking.

Surprisingly, he has a nose for the offensive side with seven shots on goal and constantly creating chances in the offensive zone, as shown by his 65.4% CF. It has paid off with his assisting on a goal by Garnet Hathaway to open the scoring against the Hurricanes.

One area he could use some work in is the clearing of the puck from the defensive zone while the pressure is on. But for the most part you couldn’t ask more from a fourth line player who gets minimal time on ice each night.

At this point, Leipsic has given the Capitals everything they expected and more. I would not be surprised if he winds up being the top scoring checking forward on the Capitals. Be ready for him to potentially become a pest, with his small stature he brings a big game which over time will only irritate opponents. If this happens it can only mean good results in the Capitals favor.