Can the Caps win the Metropolitan Division?
The short answer is no, but they can rise from third to second which is still a big improvment. Given the offseason additions like Pierre-Luc Dubois and Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren projected to start on opening night, it's looking good with 49 days until season number 50.
Sammi Silber believed so in her mailbag in The Hockey News and so do us.
The New York Rangers will likely repeat unless the upgraded New Jersey Devils have something to say about it. The Caps also upgraded at the blue line especially with Matt Roy from the Los angeles Kings.
This brings us back to the previous slide about the Hershey Bears. Like good neighbors the Caps should be in good hands no matter who is in and out of the lineup on opening night which is still a tad bit early but training camp is still much closer than you think.
Guys like Vincent Iorio and Alex Alexeyev should be early position battles but guys like Ryan Chesley, like Ryan Leonard, should remain in college for one more season for development purposes. Leonard wants to stay after falling short in the Frozen Four which is totally understandable.