Washington Capitals: Breaking down their overall NHL 22 team rating

The Washington Capitals and the NHL is officially back. Two games in, we kind of get what this Capitals team is about but there’s still more to learn. Today on a non game day, however, let’s break down the virtual Caps and where the team and players are ranked in the newly released video game NHL 22.

NHL 22 is now available, it was released on Tuesday. After Alex Ovechkin graced the cover of NHL 21, the cover athlete for NHL 22 is Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The ratings for each team are in three categories: goaltending, defense, and offense. The Caps are rated 85 in goaltending, 89 in defense and 91 in offense.

I think the goaltending is pretty accurate. An 85 rating is a pretty decent number for a goaltending duo that lack experience. So far Vitek Vanecek has shown up and we have yet to see what Ilya Samsonov can bring (other than the preseason).

What shocked me was the defense rating being so high at 89. But when you factor in the youth sprinkled in with the vets, maybe it makes sense. They allowed just one goal the other night against the Rangers, and were just simply beat in overtime the other night by Steven Stamkos.

The offense being 91 is accurate. Even without Nicklas Backstrom to start the year, the offense still scored five goals on Wednesday night including three on the power play. Ovechkin is playing like a man on a mission and is already off to a hot start in the Gretzky chase.

Now that we know where the team is rated, let’s take a look at player ratings. John Carlson made it on the defenders as being third ranked behind Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning. His overall rating is 90 with his acceleration at 87, aggression at 85, and agility at 87.

On the left wing, Ovechkin was ranked number one. His overall rating was 92 with his acceleration 88, aggression at 91, and agility at 87. With three goals to start the year, this is no surprise at all. Players he beat out include Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers.

Backstrom did not make the cut for centers. But Ovechkin was ranked eighth on the top 50 overall players. The seven ahead of him included Hedman, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Sidney Crosby  of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

John Carlson was ranked 22nd, just behind Stamkos and ahead of Mark Schiefele of the Winnipeg Jets and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Carlson and Ovechkin were the only two Caps to make it in the top 50.

NHL 22 is available now. Let us know how you like it or how it should improve.