Comparing This Capitals Team To Presidents' Trophy Winning Capitals Teams

It is early December. That means it is absolutely, one hundred percent, no doubt in my mind, time to start talking about the Presidents’ Trophy.

We all know what the Presidents’ Trophy is. But just in case we have some new fans reading this, the Presidents’ Trophy is the award given to the NHL team who has the most points at the end of the season.

The Washington Capitals have won this award three times. The first time was in 2009-10, then they won it in back to back seasons in 2015-17. It’s a somewhat meaningless trophy. The only thing it really gives you is home ice throughout the playoffs. Other than that, all it gives you is bragging rights and if you don’t win the Stanley Cup that season people will call that season a failure.

Since the trophy has first been handed out back in 1986 the number of teams that won both the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stanley Cup is a pretty small number. In the thirty-four year old award only eight teams have won both the regular season championship and the Stanley Cup championship. That’s less than 25%.

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The last team to win both was the Chicago Blackhawks in the lockout shortened 2013 season.

Enough about the history. Why are we here today? As we mentioned, the Capitals have won the Presidents’ Trophy three times. All of those seasons the Caps had some pretty special teams. Well, thirty-one games into this season the Capitals have been a pretty special team.

Just for fun, lets take a look at how those teams were doing at the same mark of the season as this team.

Yes, I know, it’s early in the season. We’re just thirty-one games into the season. A lot can happen. I get that. But for those out there shaking their heads already, just put your torches and pitchforks down and let’s have some fun.

Lets start in 2009-10. Thirty-one games into that Presidents’ Trophy winning season the Caps were tied for the best point total in the NHL with 44 points. They had a 19-6-6 record. That team was a goal scoring machine and at that point of the season they led the league in goals scored with 108 goals. They let up 83 goals, that put them in the top half of the league in terms of goals allowed.

The power play was a league leading 24.2% contributing to that league lead in goals. The penalty kill on the other hand was a bottom third penalty kill, killing at a 79.2% rate.

At this point of the season back then Washington had four players in double digits in the goal scoring department. Ovechkin (20), Alexander Semin (11), Tomas Fleischmann (10) and Brooks Laich (10). Nicklas Backstrom had 9 goals.

The top five scorers for the team were Backstrom with 33 points, Ovechkin with 32 points in 23 games played, Mike Green with 30 points, Laich with 25 points and Semin with 25 points as well.

That team finished the season 54-15-13. They scored 318 goals and had 121 points at season’s end. It was a great and very entertaining team and season. However thanks to the championship or bust mentality we have in sports today that season is looked down upon thanks to the first round exit in the playoffs.

It was still a fun season. If you ever have time, maybe go back and watch highlights of that season.

Now we jump to the 2015-16 season. The second season under Barry Trotz and the first of two consecutive Presidents’ Trophies for Washington.

Thirty-one games into that season the Caps were 23-6-2 meaning they had 48 points on the season. This team was much more balanced in terms of scoring and defense. They scored 94 goals while allowing 67. That maybe a result of less goals being scored than previous seasons.

The special teams for the Caps were both very good at this point of the season. The power play ranked second in the league at 25% and the penalty kill was top ten as well ranking seventh. The PK killed 84.1% of the penalties they took.

This season they had three players with ten or more goals. Ovechkin (16), T.J. Oshie (12) and Nicklas Backstrom (10). Evgeny Kuznetsov had 9 goals.

The top five scorers were as follows, Ovechkin (29), Kuznetsov (28), Backstrom (28), John Carlson (25) and Oshie (21).

That season ended a little more successfully, but again, thanks to the single-mindedness of sports fans it was once again a season that will be lost in most people’s memories. This team ended with more wins than in 2009-10 with 56. They lost 18 games in regulation and got a loser point 8 times. They finished with 120 points, one shy of the 2009-10 mark.

Now we move on to the very next season, the 2016-17 season. The last cupless season in D.C. The wait was almost over. They just didn’t know it yet.

This was the least impressive team record and point wise, in the first thirty-one games they were 19-8-4 and gathered 42 points, that was two points back of their 2009-10 season. Unusual for the Capitals they were not one of the best goal scoring teams in the league at this point scoring 82 goals. That was among the bottom third teams in the league. On the other hand they allowed 66 goals which was third best in the NHL.

The power play was middle of the pack at 19.4%, pretty low for the Capitals but still respectable. Their penalty kill was a top ten PK at 84.3% ranking seventh.

In 2016 there were once again three players with ten or more goals. Try to pick your jaw up off the floor after I say this, but Ovechkin was one of them (14), Marcus Johansson (12) and Oshie (10). Backstrom had just under ten again with nine.

The top five point getters were Backstrom (27), Ovechkin (23), Johansson (22), Kuznetsov (17) and Carlson (15).

After ousting an up and coming Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round the Caps fell to the Penguins for a second consecutive year. Don’t worry Caps fans, your time was coming.

Now we come to present day. An uncompleted season but when you look at the stats it’s possibly one of the most impressive out of the ones we’ll talk about today.

With thirty-one games in the books so far this season Washington is 22-4-5 and has 49 points. Of the previous Presidents’ Trophy winning teams that is the best. They’re also a very good goal scoring teams having scored 112 goals so far. That is also the best, even better than the high-powered 2009-10 team who scored over 300 goals that season. The defense hasn’t been as good as previous seasons though, they’ve allowed 86 goals. That’s still in the top half of the league in goals against.

The special teams for this team is once again very effective. The power play is a top five power play at 24.5% and the penalty kill is top ten killing of 84% of penalties.

This year the Caps have six players with double-digit goal totals. Ovechkin leads, SHOCKER, with 20, Jakub Vrana has 15 goals, Evgeny Kuznetov has a sneaky 12 goals and Tom Wilson, T.J. Oshie and John Carlson all have 11 goals.

The point leaders look like this, Carlson has 43 points, which is talked about enough already but that’s still insane. Ovechkin has 31 points, Kuznetsov has 29, Vrana has 27 and Oshie has 22.

Will this 2019-20 team win another Presidents’ Trophy ten years after their first and the fourth in the Ovechkin era? I don’t know. Maybe not, maybe it’s not even likely. But up to this point of the season this is the best team in the National Hockey League.

There is not that many holes and the holes they do have probably won’t really surface until they’re locked in a series with a team in the playoffs. This team is proving me wrong in their ability to score a ton a goals, they have good goaltending, their special teams are good and they have depth.

All of those things are a pretty good recipe for a great season and a great season could mean yet another Presidents’ Trophy. Some fans might roll their eyes, some will say it’s a meaningless trophy. I don’t really think there’s such a thing as a meaningless trophy, except for participation trophies.

Three Presidents’ Trophies are already impressive, adding a fourth in about a decade should be celebrated, if not anywhere else it should be in D.C.

We have a long ways to go though. There are still slumps to come and there is still a ton of hockey to be played. Fifty-one games to be exact. If my math is right, that’s at least 3,000 minutes of game to be played.

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This team is off to one heck of a start though, only time will tell if the league leaders can hold on and win another Presidents’ Trophy and who knows, maybe another Stanley Cup.

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