3 players that fell under expectations this year
The Washington Capitals have had an up and down season. Lately though they have been on an upswing. If this was written a week ago, Lars Eller would’ve made this list. But perhaps we motivated him enough as he’s been trending upward in his game.
So which Caps players is it that fell under expectations this year? I thought about this for the last couple days and what I came up with was one player who battled injuries, another who’s role didn’t match what was expected of him in the preseason and a defenseman who has struggled since his injuries.
#3 Michal Kempny
Michal Kempny has had the most up and down season of any defenseman on the Capitals. He’s only appeared in 15 games and has a goal and an assist for two points. He’s also a -3 in the plus minus category while averaging 15:50 minutes of ice time.
Kempny had a down preseason which prevented him from making the varsity roster at the early part of the season. He’s spent time with the Hershey Bears where he recorded seven assists in 24 games. He was a healthy scratch during Saturday night’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. He is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
#2 T.J. Oshie
This pains me to write this but to be fair, T.J. Oshie has had a down season. It isn’t necessarily his fault though. He’s had to deal with injuries in the beginning and middle part of the season and even tested positive for COVID 19. It hasn’t been a good season by any means for the Oshbabe but he will have time to turn it around with the playoffs looming.
Oshie has been limited to just 37 games this season with 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points. He has two goals in his last three games which included a nice look in front of the net against the Philadelphia Flyers for the slam dunk and a deflection off a shot from Evgeny Kuznetsov on Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
His 10 goals are the second lowest in his career after having a 22 goal season last year and a 26 goal season the year before that. Like I said, he’s got plenty of time to turn his game around. Oshie is still the heart and soul of the locker room and you could tell they missed his presence as they were going through their midseason struggles.
Look for Oshie to make some noise in the upcoming Stanley Cup playoffs. Better to get the injuries over with back then than later.
#1 Daniel Sprong
Daniel Sprong was supposed to have a bigger role this season with the Capitals. Instead, he was healthy scratched aplenty as head coach Peter Laviolette preferred to play veterans with experience over the youth.
Last year it cost the Caps Jakub Vrana in that cycle. Now it costed them Daniel Sprong as they dealt him at the trade deadline to the Seattle Kraken for Marcus Johansson. Sprong had eight goals with the Caps along with six assists for 14 points in 47 games. So far with the NHL’s newest franchise, Sprong has three goals in 10 games.
I wouldn’t necessarily call the Sprong trade a bad trade. It’s still way too early and it’s even still early to see who won the trade between the Capitals and Detroit Red Wings in the Jakub Vrana for Anthony Mantha deal.
Sprong wasn’t going to work out and I highly doubt he would’ve wanted to stay with the Caps if he continued to get a lack of playing time. This was a good move for both sides. The Caps have already utalized Johansson in the lineup more than they would’ve if Sprong was still on the team.
Must Read. 3 players who can make an impact in the NHL Playoffs. light
Why Laviolette doesn’t like the youth though is beyond me.