Washington Capitals: Top 5 greatest disappointments of 2021

The Washington Capitals got off to a good start in 2021 before some members of the team were disciplined for violating COVID-19 protocols. Later on in the season, two members of the team were back on the COVID list and many believed that was one contributing factor to another first round flameout for the third consecutive season.

No matter what mainly contributed to it, all these moments we’ll talk about here culminated in that first round defeat in another disappointing season. It’s time to take a look at the worst of the worst starting with getting fleeced by Steve Yzerman, again.

#5 The Jakub Vrana for Anthony Mantha trade

Perhaps one of the moments that divided the Caps fan base was when they traded away Jakub Vrana for Anthony Mantha. At first it looked like the Caps won the trade. Mantha scored in four straight games, making franchise history.

After the four game stretch, Mantha cooled off and looked slow out there on the ice compared to the speedy Vrana. He also had trouble staying out of the penalty box in the playoffs. Vrana meanwhile had eight goals in 11 games with the Red Wings including a four goal game against the Dallas Stars.

#4 Alex Ovechkin getting robbed of a 30 goal season

This isn’t a complaint on Alex Ovechkin‘s play at all. He had another good season with the Caps with 24 goals but we would’ve loved to have seen him play more. First and foremost, Ovechkin was on the COVID-19 protocol list where the team got fined $100K when the Russian four of Ovechkin, Ilya Samsonov, Dmitry Orlov, and Evgeny Kuznetsov were in a Pittsburgh hotel room playing video games and watching UFC fights without masks on.

Ovechkin missed time but got out of quarantine at the end of January. He missed time again toward the tail end of the season with a lower body injury. Add those two into the account that there was just a 56 game season instead of an 82 game campaign and the pressure was on the great eight in his chase for Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Ovechkin’s best stretch came in March where he had 10 goals in nine games including two two goal games. This was a rare season where we didn’t see an Alex Ovechkin hat trick. In fact, the lone Capital to record a hat trick this past season was T.J. Oshie.

24 goals is still a good year for the great eight but it’s a shame he didn’t finish in the 30’s. Hopefully he heats up with a full season next year.

#3 Losing the season series to the Pittsburgh Penguins

It’s always disappointing when you lose to the Pittsburgh Penguins but dropping a season series to them where you’ve played them eight times is pretty bad. The Caps went 2-2-4 with four games coming on the losing end in the overtime or the shootout. They also dropped both home games against the Pens in late April in front of their own fans which contributed to the Penguins winning the MassMutual East Division.

How did the Penguins finish? Similar to the Capitals. They bowed out in the first round this year to the New York Islanders who went all the way to the third round before falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning. At least we won’t have to be talking about Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin playing for a Cup this year.

The Caps dropped their first game to the Penguins on the road in a shootout before losing the next game in overtime. They finally got their first win over the Penguins on Feb. 16 after dropping a 6-3 game to them two days prior on Valentine’s Day. The Caps also had one memorable home win against the Penguins with T.J. Oshie scoring easily the goal of the year.

#2 Evgeny Kuznetsov

I tried my best not to single out anybody. Okay well maybe not. It is no secret now, the Caps organization is frustrated with Evgeny Kuznetsov both his on ice play and off the ice behavior. On the ice he’s been very inconsistent which is okay if you’re making a cap hit in the two million to four million range but not if you’re making a salary like Kuznetsov where he was the second highest paid player on the team behind Alex Ovechkin.

It is possible the team might trade Kuznetsov. Stars and Sticks contributor CJ Witt looked at five possible suitors the other day. Still it is sad that we have reached this point with Kuznetsov who just three short years ago was in the conversation for a Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That award went to Ovechkin but anybody that watched the Capitals that spring knew Kuzy was a big reason they won the Cup.

The reports about the organization being frustrated with Kuznetsov might have to do with him and Ilya Samsonov being late to a team function in early May which landed him in hot water with Peter Laviolette and the coaching staff and later led to him being on the COVID-19 protocol list even catching the virus.

Whatever happens to Kuznetsov, he will be remembered for that 2018 Cup run and he will be missed. If he’s back with the team next season, I’m rooting hard for him to succeed.