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Washington Capitals: Are They Meeting Our Expectations So Far?

By James Hoover

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 20: The Washington Capitals celebrate a goal in the third period of their game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 20, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 20: The Washington Capitals celebrate a goal in the third period of their game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on November 20, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – NOVEMBER 03: Capitals defenseman John Carlson (74) skates before the Calgary Flames vs. Washington Capitals on November 3, 2019 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.. (Photo by Randy Litzinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

The Defense

Maybe the hardest area to judge so far is the defense. On the one hand we are winning. On the other we are still giving up too many high danger chances, odd man rushes and having problems getting the puck out of our zone.

Some of that is explained by the personnel turnover and new defense pairings. Some of it is due to what appears to be a bit more aggressive offensive scheme that has the defense jumping into the offensive zone more. And does the more aggressive participation mean a bit less emphasis on overall TEAM defense?

Whatever the reasons, the goalies are seeing way too many high danger chances. Both Braden Holtby and Ilya Samsonov have had to stand on their heads to keep the puck in play. But they are both settling in and, to be fair, bailing out the defense at times more than they should have to.

Due to the turnover from trading Matt Niskanen for Radko Gudas, Brooks Orpik retiring and Michael Kempy returning slower that expected after injury, it has taken time for the new personnel to gel.

But John Carlson is having a phenomenal year. And it seems it doesn’t matter who he plays with. Now that Kempy is back, they are beginning to return to last years form as a pair. They look to be the solid #1 pairing we expect.

The second and third pairs are still in a bit of flux. Right now, Gudas is being paired with Dmitry Orlov. After a few bumps, it seems to be calming down to at least be good enough. However, this is not a pairing that many would like to see come the playoffs. It’s really not ideal to have Gudas there instead of on the 3rd pair.

Currently, the 3rd pair is Jonas Siegenthaler and Nick Jensen. Siegenthaler is performing at a level that some feel is surprising. However, he has shown that he can handle things as he matures. The issue appears to be with Jensen. Right now he is struggling a bit to find chemistry but lately has found some with Siegenthaler. For now, this is OK, but I think he needs to find his way back up to the 2nd pair with Orlov. Chemistry is a funny thing and doesn’t always work the way we think it should. The good thing is we still have a bit of time for them to figure it out. How much time is uncertain.

Status: Expectations still being worked on.

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