First Look: Washington Capitals

The Washington Capitals, two years removed from winning the Stanley Cup, made some changes this offseason in an effort to optimize their championship window with an aging core of Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and John Carlson.

They finished the 2019-20 regular season with a 41-20-8 record, placing first in the Metropolitan Division and fifth in the league. But the New York Islanders eliminated the Capitals in just five games in the First Round of the postseason, the second straight year that Washington failed to win a playoff round.
That led to the Capitals hiring Peter Laviolette to take over as head coach after parting ways with Todd Reirden, who then joined Pittsburgh's staff as an assistant coach.
Laviolette oversees a roster that has virtually the same group of forwards who led Washington to the NHL's No. 2 offense last season. The defense got a big addition - literally - after signing Zdeno Chara. And they are going with a brand-new goalie duo of Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek, the league's youngest in nine years, after longtime franchise netminder Braden Holtby signed with Vancouver as an unrestricted free agent.
The team also includes three players from the Penguins' 2016 and '17 Stanley Cup championship teams: Carl Hagelin, Conor Sheary and Justin Schultz, with Daniel Sprong in the mix as well.
"You look at the roster and the makeup of the team, and not only are we super skilled and super talented, but we are big, we are made for playoff hockey," defenseman Brenden Dillon told NHL.com. "We like to play a physical, hard brand of game. We've got a great mix of guys from different parts of the world that just get along so well at the rink. … Just to see the success of winning the Cup in 2018, we are only two years removed from that. A lot of the big pieces are still here."
The Capitals enter the series with Pittsburgh having won their first two games of the season against Buffalo. Here is their projected lineup…
Alex Ovechkin-Nicklas Backstrom-T.J. Oshie
Jakub Vrana-Evgeny Kuznetsov-Tom Wilson
Conor Sheary-Lars Eller-Richard Panik
Carl Hagelin-Nic Dowd-Garnet Hathaway
Dmitry Orlov-John Carlson
Brenden Dillon-Justin Schultz
Zdeno Chara-Nick Jensen
Igor Samsonov
Vitek Vanecek
FORWARDS:This forward group is a very familiar one, as it remains mostly unchanged. And while the core may be getting older, they're still producing at a remarkable pace.
Alex Ovechkin is entering the final season of his 13-year contract just 25 goals shy of cracking the top-five on the NHL's all-time list. At 35 years old, he is showing no signs of slowing down from a scoring standpoint, as he tied for the league lead with 48 goals in just 68 games last year.
He's playing alongside fellow franchise forward Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie, and the trio has gotten off to a hot start. So has talented young winger Jakub Vrana, who already has two goals in two games. He brings speed and skill to a line with Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson.
The bottom-six isn't as loaded as the top-six, but they certainly have some speed, with former Penguins Carl Hagelin and Conor Sheary currently playing wing on the third and fourth lines. They also have reliable two-way veterans who know their roles and play them to a T.
DEFENSE:The Capitals made quite a splash when they signed towering blueliner Zdeno Chara, the longtime Boston Bruins captain who parted ways with the organization after informing him that they would be moving forward with their younger players.
While Chara is still quite an imposing presence, Washington's blue line belongs to John Carlson, who is coming off one of the best seasons of his NHL career. He finished second in voting for the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman after leading all blueliners with 75 points (15G-60A). He's joined on the top pair by Dmitry Orlov, a solid two-way defenseman.
The Capitals signed Justin Schultz during the offseason to fill a hole in the top-four. He's playing alongside the big and feisty Brenden Dillon, who thrived with the Capitals after they acquired him from the Sharks last season and recently signed a four-year contract extension. Chara is playing on the third pair alongside Nick Jensen, a solid depth defender who sees a lot of time on the penalty kill.
As a group, the Capitals will be looking to improve defensively after a season where they averaged over three goals against per game.
GOALTENDERS:It is a new era between the pipes in Washington, as the net now belongs to 23-year-old Russian Ilya Samsonov.
After the Capitals selected Samsonov in the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft, he played three years in the KHL with Magnitogorsk Metallurg (Evgeni Malkin's hometown team) before coming to North America. As a rookie last season, Samsonov went 16-6-2 with a 2.55 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and one shutout in 26 games (22 starts). The Capitals believe that the big, talented goalie has what it takes to be a bonafide starter and star in this league.
Right now, Samsonov is backed up by Vitek Vanecek, who got a win in his NHL debut on Friday against Buffalo, making 30 saves. The 25-year-old is coming off a strong season with Hershey of the American Hockey League, where he set career bests in goals-against average (2.26) and save percentage (.917), which both ranked top-10 in the league. He had spent the last five years with the club.
The Capitals also have veteran goalie Craig Anderson currently on their taxi squad. The 39-year-old had spent the previous nine-plus seasons with the Ottawa Senators, leading them to the 2017 Eastern Cofnerence Final, where the Penguins eliminated them in seven games.
SPECIAL TEAMS:After an uncharacteristically down year on the power play - finishing 17th in the NHL - the Capitals are looking to get back to their usual high-scoring ways with the talented personnel that they have.The first power-play unit is Carlson, Ovechkin, Backstrom, Kuznetsov and Oshie. The second unit is Schultz, Orlov, Vrana, Wilson and Panik.
The penalty kill has been going to work a lot more, as the Capitals have been shorthanded eight times in just two games but allowed just one goal against. Hagelin, Eller, Chara and Jensen have been a big part of that early success.