It’s no question that the Washington Capitals start to the season has been nothing short of concerning.
Coming off another embarrassing loss to the Colorado Avalanche Saturday night, the Washington Capitals now sit with a record of 7-10-3 through the team’s first 20 games, and currently sit 7th in the Metropolitan division.
With an improved goaltending tandem from previous years and some key new additions, you would have expected this team to improve from last season. Unfortunately, the Capitals seem to be struggling to get anything going, with similar power play and injury issues from last year.
Final: Capitals lose 4-0 to Colorado.
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) November 20, 2022
This is the second game this season that the Caps have failed to light the lamp.
Although their long list of injured players certainly does not help, it is certainly no excuse in the team’s consistent inconsistency of play this season. With that being said, at what point do the Capitals start considering making some major changes around this team?
There is no doubt in Peter Laviolette’s coaching resume, where he currently sits in 7th all-time in NHL Head Coaching wins, but with the Capitals recent struggles and playoff failures, would it be time to make a change behind the bench?
Washington’s lines seem to be changing every game, giving the players next to no opportunity to find some line chemistry with each other. What once used to be a top power play threat in the league is no more, and while Alex Ovechkin remains with the Capitals, they need to be looking to improve every year, including the coaching staff.
With questions surrounding Laviolette and crew, could the Capitals possibly be eyeing a reunion with former Stanley Cup Champion coach, Barry Trotz?
The Capitals are in dire need of re-adding guys like T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson, Nicklas Backstrom and Dmitry Orlov back into the lineup. With the additions of the new guys in Sonny Milano, Nicolas Aube-Kubel and Dylan Strome, the Capitals have the opportunity of being a serious offensive threat in the league when healthy.
If this team can remain healthy, and a big IF it is, we may see quite the skilled and deep Capitals offensive lineup we have been expecting, and we can only hope the return of our injured players could be the spark this team needs to get going.
Johansson cont. "This team can beat any team in this league and I think we've shown that. We've played some unbelievable hockey at times, we just have to do it for 60 minutes ... do it together as a unit for 60 minutes. That's the only way out of this."
— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) November 20, 2022
The Capitals missing the playoffs just isn’t an option for this team, and with their aging core, time will run out sooner then we know. Is it time for the Capitals to play risky and start making some big moves?
We have seen this team play up to standard at certain points this season, but when will they start making it a regular occurrence is the question. We certainly hope soon, and that this isn’t the year the Capitals hit the panic button.