Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin’s Twilight in Sight
By David Trice
Championship Window, wide open or closing?
It’s the subject for any team that is repeatedly in contention to win it all, what does the championship window look like? Some teams have an opening that could last just a single season or if they are lucky even a few, other teams exploit a great team situation and can leave that window open for many seasons before worrying about their opportunity escaping them. In the case of the Washington Capitals, their window has been perpetually closing over the course of several seasons.
It was first mentioned when the Washington Capitals moved away from Bruce Boudreau after repeated early playoff exits. He was given about 4 seasons, where he had the team make the playoffs each season he was allowed to conclude as the head coach. Bruce would be removed in the early stages of his 4th season starting as the head coach, due to a slow start in an environment where it appeared the team had tuned him out. To answer his player friendly stance the management group decided to tap a coach who wouldn’t play around and would push everyone regardless of their star status, Dale Hunter.
This experiment while the most successful in getting the team deeper into the playoffs while making it a true series where the result could have gone either way. It was obvious this was always going to be a temporary solution. The Washington Capitals would go out and peg one of the up and coming head coach candidates in the NHL with team familiarity, Adam Oates. This move was supposed to exploit the teams construction toward a more offensive minded team but with enough respect to the defensive side that it wouldn’t be a straight run and gun style, most well known during Boudreau’s tenure.
The outcome from this experiment didn’t last as the team would be again eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for his first season, the lockout shortage season of 2012-13. He would follow that up with the first season where the team didn’t qualify for the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons. At the end of the dreadful season, questions were risen on whether Alex Ovechkin could captain a team to the Stanley Cup and whether he was a coach killer. This was the second mention of the championship window closing. A lot of was placed in the fact the Washington Capitals had yet to have a previously experienced head coach in the NHL. So their answer to this observation was to correct the history of coaching decisions over the course of Ovechkin’s career by rectifying the normal selection type.
The team would hire newly released, long time coach of the Nashville Predators, Barry Trotz. The difference in this hire was drastic, all the previous coaches in the time Alex had been with the team had zero previous head coaching experience. Where Barry was the head coach of the Predators for 15 years, which included 7 trips to the playoffs and 2 of those included a second round appearance. Brian MacLellan was banking on the fact that Barry didn’t have a roster so offensively talented at any time while in Nashville, coupled with his ability to develop a defensive minded team would give the Capitals something they didn’t have in years; a balanced team. The hope was the talk of the championship window closing would be in the rearview with this hire coupled with the additions made immediately to fix some roster deficiencies.
But it would only take three seasons with Barry for the talk to resurface, especially with the additions made to fill holes in the roster. This is after the team finished with the best record in the NHL two years in a row. The great thing is the team would then make some smart changes and with the determination of the team and their confidence in what Trotz was teaching would reward everyone on the team with the Stanley Cup win that had eluded this team since 1974. So now that the team got the monkey off their back, now is the start of the championship window closing again with the end in sight for Alex Ovechkin and Co.
The factors in closing a championship window can be various, the main factor is the legitimacy of the talent pool that can result in a deep run in the playoffs. So in the case of the Washington Capitals effort in getting their second championship ever, this hinges directly on what time the team has left with their captain and the ability to maintain talent around him or even beyond him. If we follow the earlier estimation of Alex signing a contract that basically spans 5 years at $10 million/year, we can start with the fact the captain will be around. With Alex Ovechkin on the roster anything is possible, what he has proven throughout his career is he can either carry the team or lead by example. Thus, as long as he remains on the roster and as a captain they will remain a championship caliber roster. And with the minimal increase in salary, the team should be able to maintain an acceptable supporting cast especially with the easy to move contracts up and down the roster.
The next thing to consider is what the roster could realistically look like in the time during Ovechkin’s final seasons and right after he departs the team. What could the team construction be when he completes his farewell tour of the NHL before heading to the motherland to end it where it all began?