Washington Capitals: Depth scoring is an early concern
The Washington Capitals aren’t getting nearly enough production from their depth forwards.
The reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals are off to a 3-2-1 start to their 2018-19 season. Considering they had to play five straight playoff teams from 2017-18 with four of them being a part of games on back-to-back nights, that’s not too shabby.
An early trend has been the Capitals scoring a ton of goals. Through six games, they have at least four goals in four of their games. However, it’s how the Capitals are getting those goals that should be concerning.
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Of their 24 goals scored so far, six of them have come from noted elite goal scorer Alex Ovechkin. Rising star center Evgeny Kuznetsov has carried all his momentum from his outstanding Stanley Cup Playoffs performances over to the regular season with four goals and 10 points.
Forward T.J. Oshie also has four goals. After receiving an eight-year extension, defenseman John Carlson has three goals and is an early Norris Trophy candidate. However, those are the only players on the team who have more than one goal.
Other than those mentioned earlier, Nicklas Backstrom has nine points, Brett Connolly has four points, Matt Niskanen has three points, and Brooks Orpik and Chandler Stephenson each have two points. No one else has more than one point.
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Most notably, forward Andre Burakovsky is pointless than six games and defenseman Michal Kempny is pointless through four. After being a force to be reckoned with in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Lars Eller has just one point through six games.
Likewise, Jakub Vrana has merely one point (a goal) after showing so much promise during the championship run. Though at least with Vrana, you can point to a 5.9 percent shooting percentage, which should increase.
The Capitals won the Stanley Cup because they finally gave Ovechkin the depth scoring he needed to lead the team to their first title. Though The Great Eight, Backstrom, Carlson, Oshie, and Kuznetsov clearly led the way, Tom Wilson, Eller, Vrana, Connolly, and Devante Smith-Pelly each provided huge moments. Thus far, they haven’t been able to do so.
Wilson’s suspension is a significant factor in this. It’s why the Capitals need him to stop doing dumb things. Wilson doesn’t need to deliver borderline hits to make a positive impact because he has shown he can be a productive player. But considering the Capitals gave him a long-term extension despite his penchant for doing reckless things on the ice, it’s hard to feel bad for them.
Granted, no one knows better than the Caps how meaningless the regular season is. It’s what you do in the postseason that matters. Keeping his team motivated will be a challenge for rookie head coach Todd Reirden. And the schedule hasn’t been kind to them either.
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That said, no one’s going to feel bad for them and they need to get more depth scoring so when guys like Ovechkin and Kuznetsov have off nights, they aren’t completely screwed. The Capitals have six months to get everyone on the same page like they were during the playoffs last year. Otherwise, their sweet championship reign will likely only last one year.