Washington Capitals are stuck in neutral

The Washington Capitals are in the worst place possible, stuck between contending and rebuilding.

It’s amazing how far the Washington Capitals have fallen since winning the past two President’s Trophies. Sure, some changes were expected. After all, they lost Karl Alzner, Kevin Shattenkirk, Nate Schmidt, Justin Williams and Daniel Winnik over the summer. That’s three of their starting defensemen from their Game 7 loss from the Pittsburgh Penguins, a great second line forward, and one of the best fourth line forwards around.

However, the Capitals made some mistakes. First of all, the loss of Schmidt was completely avoidable. The Vegas Golden Knights, one of the hottest teams in the NHL this season, picked him in the expansion draft.

Looking at the state of the Caps blue line without the injured Matt Niskanen, they could sure use someone like Schmidt who can consistently tilt the ice in the Caps favor. He’s currently averaging 21:24 of ice time per night for the Golden Knights through his first nine games. Even if Schmidt wouldn’t be playing that much for the Capitals, he’d look much better as a second pairing defenseman than Washington’s current left-handed options.

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Secondly, the Capitals failed to replace Schmidt. They could have spent money to replace him. But instead, the Capitals, now acting like a must-win now team, signed T.J. Oshie to a multi-year extension. They did the same with Evgeny Kuznetsov, but let’s be honest, the Caps couldn’t afford to lose him. Both short-term and long-term.

But unlike a “must win now” team, the Capitals entered the season with unproven options. These included Christian Djoos, Madison Bowey, Aaron Ness and Taylor Chorney. The first two being rookies.

While Djoos and Bowey have shown promise, a contending team would probably have them playing third pairing minutes. And deservedly so, because they’d have four better defensemen. But Brooks Orpik is getting over 20 minutes per game. That’s not something a “contender” does.

Basically, the Capitals are in the worst place possible. Stuck in neutral. They’re not looking like Stanley Cup contenders. And it’s fairly obvious the Capitals aren’t rebuilding, seeing as how head coach Barry Trotz is willingly giving Orpik more playing time than young players.

In the NHL, it’s better to be terrible than mediocre. If you’re going to miss the playoffs, why not be the worst team you can be? You probably get a better draft pick, after all. And the Capitals could definitely use an elite prospect in their farm system.

They had the opportunity to move on from head coach Barry Trotz in May. And the Capitals probably should have. But instead, they decided to make him the lamest duck possible, entering the 2017-18 NHL season with one year left on his contract. Wouldn’t a contending team want to get rid of that drama by either extending him or firing him?

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The Capitals need to find out who they are, and fast. Are they contenders? Or are they rebuilding? Regardless of which choice they make, it’s better than sitting in neutral, not truly knowing who you are. Should the Capitals choose to retool or rebuild, they have some valuable players they could trade. If heaven is contending and hell is rebuilding, the Caps are in purgatory. A terrible place to be.

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