Washington Capitals Grades: Top 3 duds of 2021 season
It is June and there’s no Washington Capitals hockey. Not that it’s uncommon or anything but had they at least made it past the first round there would’ve been June hockey. Part of the reasons why they didn’t go far will be highlighted.
We’ve already looked at the top 3 studs. It clearly wasn’t any of their faults as to why the Caps couldn’t get over that first round hump. These next three guys we’ll talk about, that’s a different story.
Which players were the biggest disappointment or just simply duds throughout the year. We’ll look at three starting with a player that got traded midseason.
#3 Richard Panik
When the Capitals signed Richard Panik, he was counted on to fill the void left by Andre Burakovsky and Brett Connolly. Instead he underachieved.
He did have an okay season last year when he scored nine goals and added 13 assist for 22 points in 59 games. This past season, his numbers dropped. Panik finished with three goals and six assists for nine points in 36 games before being traded with Jakub Vrana to the Detroit Red Wings.
Panik simply didn’t work out. Burakovsky is thriving with the Colorado Avalanche. It really makes you wonder what if?
#2 Anthony Mantha
When the Capitals first traded Richard Panik and Jakub Vrana to the Red Wings for Anthony Mantha, I was very skeptical of it. During the first four games of Mantha’s time with the Caps, we all thought we were proven wrong.
Mantha became the first Capital ever to score goals in his first four games. He had a goal in each game. After that, he disappeared especially in the playoffs. And when he appeared he made dumb mistakes.
In five playoff games he had just wo assist. He also had six penalty minutes while averaging 17:36 of ice time. What baffled me was that he was playing on the second line when he belonged on the third. He also played over guys like Daniel Sprong.
Meanwhile, let’s take a look at how Jakub Vrana is doing. Vrana played in 39 games had had a respectable 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points. But what hurt him was being healthy scratched by Peter Laviolette. Even if the Caps had kept him he wouldn’t have wanted to re-sign here this summer.
With the Red Wings, Vrana had eight goals and three assists for 11 points in 11 games. I think I know who won that trade.
#1 Evgeny Kuznetsov
The biggest question surrounding the Capitals this summer, well at least one of them, is what the future will hold for Evgeny Kuznetsov. One of our old writers wrote a thing last year about if the Caps should trade him and it received a lot of backlash even in my mentions. Now it’s one of those most popular rumors.
Kuznetsov’s nine goals over 41 games are a career low over the course of a full season. He also finished with 20 assists for 29 points. Injuries weren’t the issues. Inconsistency, only one good spurt, and two stints on the COVID-19 protocols list at the beginning and the end of season rolled the eyes of Caps brass from the top down.
His inconsistency isn’t the only valid argument about moving him. His $7.8 million cap hit can free up cap space for bigger free agent signings or to extend Alex Ovechkin. Paying that kind of money for an inconsistent player rather than the 2018 playoff points leader is alarming.
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If the Caps don’t trade Kuzy or the Seattle Kraken doesn’t pick him up when they expose him, or they don’t expose him at all, expect Kuznetsov to face a lot of expectations as the Caps will expect better from him both on and off the ice. Kuznetsov was late to a team function his second time on the COVId list. He’s gotta clean up his act if he’s still around.