September is here and Washington Capitals hockey will occur this month with the start of rookie camp, training camp, and the preseason. So what’s the hottest question about the Capitals this season? It’s this…
Is the window still open for the core?
We won’t get the answer to that until the spring time. It could come as early as April or May like the last few years. Or hopefully it could be June or July. But probably June more likely since the schedule is back to normal.
If you look at this Capitals team compared to the one that got eliminated by the Florida Panthers in May, they look a lot better.
To potentially keep the window open, even if it’s by a crack, the Caps made some serious offseason moves. They said goodbye to their two young goaltenders. Then they went shopping and got Darcy Kuemper.
They then signed Charlie Lindgren to backup Kuemper. Kuemper won a Cup and the backup goalie won all five of his games last year. That’s a significant upgrade at the goaltending position on paper so now it’s up to them to prove it on the ice.
From there the Caps signed defenseman Erik Gustafsson. Then they traded a second rounder to the Ottawa Senators for Connor Brown. Brown could compete for the top line right wing position to fill in for Tom Wilson’s absence as he continues to rehab from his injury and possibly enjoy his honeymoon.
Then the Caps re-signed Marcus Johansson and Matt Irwin. After that they signed Henrik Borgstrom for depth. And then the big signing to fill in for Nicklas Backstrom came.
That was acquiring Dylan Strome for a one year, $3.5 million deal. He is expected to center the second line in Backstrom’s potential season long absence from hip surgery.
The question is can the team put it together on the ice. They got a challenging schedule ahead and everybody in the Metropolitan Division seems to have gotten better. That’s why the biggest question is can the core keep the window open and we may get our answer by the middle of the season.