If someone told you that half a season makes no difference, don’t believe them because the Washington Capitals have been proving everyone wrong. And they don’t need to be an exciting team, exactly, as entering April, the Caps snagged a top-three spot in their division despite a minus-31 goal differential.
When you think about it, that’s one amazing statistic, and it gives this team quite a strong outlook heading into the 2024-25 season, regardless of whether they ended up with a postseason berth or if they fell just shy. Just think about how much they would close that gap if the Caps brought in just one complementary scorer.
The only real downside is that the Caps may not have the space to add any new talents unless general manager Brian MacLellan opts to sell a little more in the offseason. Currently, they have just $7.125 million worth of space for the 2024 offseason, so it will be a challenge to bring in serviceable talent to play alongside Alexander Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, Rasmus Sandin, Tom Wilson, Aliaksei Protas.
Washington Capitals won’t be spending much in the 2024 offseason
Despite their meager ability to score goals this season and the fact they will most likely be that “happy to be there” team in the NHL Playoffs should they stick around the top-three or the wild card once the 82-game slate is complete, the Caps are still a good hockey team who should solve their scoring woes once October 2024 rolls around.
Therefore, it’s tough to even say whether this team even needs much help to begin with or a few tweaks to their game plan. With players like those mentioned in this piece, the latter is much likelier than the former.
So, if the Caps don’t make a major splash in the offseason, there is no need to worry. This is still a very good hockey team that can rely on its best players, like Ovechkin, Strome, and Sandin, among others, to give them a few more serious playoff runs this decade. They just need to figure out how to score consistently over an 82-game stretch.