We’re in the home stretch of the return of Washington Capitals hockey.
Folks, it’s almost time for hockey’s return. Give yourself a pat on the back for making it this far in the season being paused. We are almost there and soon we will see our Washington Capitals take the ice for competitive play.
Players are already skating at MedStar Capitals Iceplex with more players trickling in by the day. Beginning on Tuesday, the NHL will allow groups o f12 players to skate together for on ice sessions with training camp still just weeks away. Previously it was limited to just six skaters.
First let’s predict who the black aces will be. For those that don’t know a black ace is a prospect brought on for the playoff grind ahead. Among the black aces heading to Washington, there’s a report that defenseman Martin Fehervary and goaltender Vitek Vanecek flew into Washington.
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Don’t expect Vanecek to be the only goaltender brought up. It used to be that teams were allowed to bring in three netminders but new rules have allowed teams to bring in unlimited goaltenders. Expect Pheonix Copley to also be among the black aces.
As for Connor McMichael, we predict he will be a black ace as well. He may have to impress in training camp a little extra to earn some playing time in one of the round robin games but many of us can’t wait to see what a young stud like McMichael will bring to the team.
How many goals will Alex Ovechkin score during the three-game round robin? We predict he’ll have at least 4-5 while the Caps go 2-1 in those three games. That will get them as high as the second seed or third seed depending on how the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers finish.
Even with the extra goaltenders, expect to see Braden Holtby get two starts while Ilya Samsonov gets a look in one of the round robin games. I see Samsonov playing in the Lightning game while Holtby gets the Bruins and Flyers.
As far as who the biggest X-Factor will be in the playoffs, I think it’ll be T.J. Oshie. After his injury last season, he’s hungry and determined to help the Caps get back to top of the hockey world. After all it was that trade for Oshie that helped the Caps ultimately win the Cup in 2018.
Those are our early predictions for when the season comes back. What are your predictions Caps fans? Let us know in the comments!