Top 5 bold Capitals predictions for 2022
2021 was a weird but fun year for the Washington Capitals. What will 2022 bring? Hopefully not an even worser pandemic but a more exciting chase for the franchise’s second Stanley Cup and Alex Ovechkin‘s chase for goal scoring history.
We like to reflect and predict on things over here at Stars and Sticks and after we looked at the top 10 moments of 2021 it’s time to look ahead to 2022 and what it’ll bring. The Caps had two games postponed last week and a third one this week that was supposed to take place Monday. Hopefully things get back to normal and they’re back in action Wednesday night against the Nashville Predators.
#5 Team will be healthy come playoff time
This is not only a prediction but a prayer that the Capitals will be fully healthy come the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs. Right now a couple players are in. COVID protocol. Those players are Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie and Nicklas Backstrom. We finally got Backstrom recently but then he had to enter protocols after JUST returning from a hip injury.
Tom Wilson was about to return from an upper body injury before the season paused. Daniel Sprong got pulled from the ice at morning skate. Justin Schultz was also absent. When will the madness stop?
#4 Alex Ovechkin finishes with another 50 goal season
Before the season John Scott and some others said Alex Ovechkin was done. Scott even went on to say the Caps would miss the playoffs entirely and that Ovechkin wouldn’t even reach the 30 goal threshold. Well it’s December 26 as we’re writing this and Ovechkin so far has 22 goals and 25 assists for 47 points.
Recently our contributor David Atlas wrote that the pandemic has helped Ovechkin thus far. After editing and publishing his story I believe he’s right. I can’t believe I used to think the opposite. And right now Ovechkin is resting up and priming himself for a strong 2022.
Ovechkin currently has 752 goals on his career thus far. He’s 14 away from Jaromir Jagr. 49 away from Gordie Howe and 142 away from Wayne Gretzky.
Recently David Waldstein of the New York Times (subscription required) wrote a feature on Ovechkin and his Gretzky chase. There was some good interviews and quotes from both athletes themselves. The Great One said this:
“It’s not even a question that he will pass me, and I think it’s great. He’s well on his way to 40 or 50 goals this year, maybe more. There is no doubt that ultimately, he will break the record.”
#3 Peter Laviolette wins the Jack Adams
I’m not just saying this because I called it after Todd Reirden got fired. The fact that he’s had to manage a lineup filled with rookies who had no prior NHL experience, had to manage a roster dealing with injuries and COVID issues all season, there’s no doubt Coach Peter Laviolette should be in the running for the Jack Adams award. Our contributor CJ Witt even wrote that.
Like Witt says, it’ll be a tricky award to win considering the Caps are expected to make the playoffs every year. Now imagine, and I wish they did this, they judged the Jack Adams based on playoff performances too.
Laviolette doesn’t even have to win a Cup. He would just need to guide the Caps towards a decent run and any decent playoff run starts with winning in the first round, something the Caps hadn’t done since tasting championship glory in 2018.
Now Laviolette isn’t a perfect coach by any means and some of his decisions have made me and the contributors scratch our heads but at the end of the day as long as they get the win, that’s all that matters.
Coming into the year the Caps were expected to be the oldest team in the league. Now with the rookie infusion combined with the veterans, they can be a serious Cup contender in 2022 and Laviolette will be leading the charge.
#2 Connor McMichael will get even bigger roles in 2022
2022 will be the year the fans get what they want: Connor McMichael on the power play. Although the Caps are second in the league with 43 points, just one point behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, their power play this season has been mediocre at best.
Currently the Caps are ranked 28th in the league on the man advantage with a success rate of 15.6 percent. Here is what the Caps power play units currently look like courtesy of Daily Face-off:
First unit: Tom Wilson, Lars Eller, Daniel Sprong, Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson
Second unit: Conor Sheary, Aliaksei Protas, Justin Schultz, Alex Ovechkin, Dmitry Orlov
Ovechkin and Carlson are doing great on the power play so let them stay. Ovechkin has five goals while Carlson has three. But I’d say to put McMichael in Eller’s spot on the top unit. With a 28th ranked power play, you really got nothing to lose.
I don’t know what Laviolette has against McMichael getting power play time but now is the time to try to experiment with that. You even have Aliaksei Protas on the second unit for crying out loud.
It’s going to be interesting to see what they do with the special teams coming out of the pause.
#1 The Caps will win the Cup
This is as bold of a prediction as you can get but here’s why, the mix of veterans and youth reminds me of the 2018 team. Only time will tell and we’ll see how they perform in the 2022 portion of the regular season and beyond but this team has a legitimate shot. I think they’re better than last year and better equipped to handle the adversity that has and will continue to come their way.
The Caps do have what it takes but there will be some challenging opponents standing in their way as the conferences and divisions have returned to normal. Tonight the Caps were supposed to host the Ottawa Senators but that game got postponed. We hope things resume Wednesday night when the team is slated to take on the Nashville Predators.
Teams like the Tampa Bay Lightning are always tough. Over in the Metropolitan Division they’re tied with the Carolina Hurricanes. The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins are just behind them. It will be a dog fight to the finish. And it will all make for the hottest tickets in town and must see TV.
light. Hot. Top 10 Capitals moments of 2021
Those are my top 5 bold Capitals predictions for 2022. What are yours?