4 Big Questions for the Washington Capitals in 2020-21
Headed into the 2020-21 NHL season, four big questions are surrounding the Washington Capitals.
The time is almost here, as the 2020-21 NHL season is set to begin in just a week and the Washington Capitals are gearing up to make a deep Playoff run after their disappointing early exit last year. As many know, the Stanley Cup window for the Capitals is dwindling as their veteran core is another year older.
With their regular-season debut set to begin next week, four questions surround this franchise.
The Washington Capitals have had an intriguing offseason, to say the least, after the team parted ways with long-time netminder and Stanley Cup champion Braden Holtby. In addition to this major departure, the Capitals also hired a new Head Coach in Peter Laviolette, who they believe can lead them back to the promised land.
This team is poised for a rebound year, but whether or not they’ll contend for the Stanley Cup in the spring will be based on the answers to these four questions. Without further delay, let’s dive on in and see what will be answered in the 2020-21 NHL season for the Washington Capitals.
4. Can Zdeno Chara be a legitimate contributor?
The Washington Capitals made perhaps one of the most unexpected signings in Free Agency when they picked up the former Captain of the Boston Bruins, future Hall of Famer defenseman Zdeno Chara. Signed to a one-year, $795,000 contract with the Capitals after a 14-year stint with the Bruins, Chara is expected to play a top-six defensive pair role, with the potential of sliding into the top four.
While he still has his debilitating slap shot that still instills fear in everyone on the ice, it’s obvious he’s lost several steps in his game. However, Big-Z was able to remain a contributor for the Bruins due to his incredible reach given his colossal 6-foot-9 frame. On a defense that lacks tenacity and physicality, Chara will be a huge improvement on the team for that facet of the game alone.
Whether he can impact other aspects of the game though, will be a massive question mark for the veteran headed into his 23rd season in the NHL and first with the Washington Capitals. In 68-games played in 2019-20, Chara had just 5 goals and 9 assists for 14 total points. Before fans hang their head on this one, it should be noted that he still blocked over 100 shots and totaled 78 hits on the year. For a Capitals team that had two players who registered 100+ blocked shots, a third is a warm-welcomed addition.
Set to turn 43-years old in 2021, this is likely Zdeno Chara’s Swan Song. With that being said, don’t be surprised to see Chara have an extra pep in his step as he looks to finish off his legendary NHL career with another Stanley Cup ring. For this to happen though, he’ll have to lower his Giveaway total of 52 in the 2019-20 season, while also committing more to support goaltender Ilya Samsonov who will desperately need it.
3. Is there enough depth on the roster?
The key to winning in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as the Washington Capitals are well familiarized with, is having immense depth on offense, defense, and even at goaltending. Unlike their rosters in the past, the Capitals are one of the most top-heavy teams in the NHL and it’s easily going to be their biggest struggle in the 2020-21 NHL season. Outside of their top-nine forwards on offense, the Caps have ridiculous uncertainty in regards to who will contribute to the team’s success.
The most blaring alarm for this squad is not at goaltending, but rather on defense. Yes, John Carlson is emerging as one of the best defensemen in the NHL, but a defense’s effectiveness relies on more than just one player. Nevermind the lack of productivity from the Capitals’ back-end, they don’t even have a true number two defenseman to pair with Johnny.
Outside of Carlson, Dmitry Orlov was the only other defenseman on the Washington Capitals who recorded 20+ points during 2019-20, with Carlson potting 75 total points and Orlov with 27 total points. The next highest was Michal Kempny (18) who played on the top pair with Carlson last season but, unfortunately, he suffered an Achilles injury that was repaired via surgery in the fall. He’s expected to miss six-eight months, which is the opposite of ideal for a team already in dire need of depth on defense as it assures the team that the left-handed defensive defenseman will miss the entirety of the 2021 NHL season.
Looking away from the atrocity on defense, the fourth line for the Capitals will have to uncover hidden gems rather quickly if the team wants to compete in the stacked East Division. Out of the eight teams in this division, six of them made a Playoff appearance this past summer, so it’s safe to say that winning will not come easy, even for the former Stanley Cup champions.
As mentioned before, the key to postseason success is based upon the depth of the roster. Teams that have a fourth-line that wreaks havoc and puts points on the board are the ones that make it to the Finals, as was the case with the Caps in 2017-18.
For this to happen with the Washington Capitals in 2020-21, players like Daniel Sprong will have to make an immediate impact on the roster on Opening Night. Not to put pressure on their young-guns, but if the team is to avenge their disappointing defeat in the 2019-20 Stanley Cup Playoffs, they’ll need some unsung heroes to emerge from their bottom-six on offense just to give them a chance.
2. Is Peter Laviolette their answer as the head coach?
If there’s one thing that can be learned from Peter Laviolette’s coaching career, it’s that his first few years with a new NHL team tend to be his best-sellers. In just his second year with the Carolina Hurricanes back in the 2005-06 season, Laviolette won his one and only Stanley Cup. In his first season with the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2009-10 season, his team made it to the Stanley Cup Finals. In his first season with the Nashville Predators in the 2015-16 season, his team made it to the Second Round of the Playoffs. The very next year, Laviolette coached the Nashville Predators to a Stanley Cup Finals appearance.
If his track record says one thing, it’s that he hits the ground running. That is exactly what the Washington Capitals needed when they brought in Peter Laviolette to take over the responsibilities as Head Coach. In his NHL coaching career, Lava has coached 1,210 games, totaling 637 wins, 425 losses, and 25 overtime losses, giving him a career point percentage of .588% (per hockey-reference). So obviously, he can win games in the regular season, but how has he been in the Playoffs?
In the postseason, Laviolette begins to plateau as his career Playoff record stands at 75 wins and 68 losses in 143 games. In that span, he’s made it to three Stanley Cup Finals, three Conference Finals, and made it to the Second Round seven times in 12 postseason appearances. To summarize, Head Coach Peter Laviolette doesn’t make it past the Second Round often, but when he does, he’s gone to the Finals. This can be decompressed in one of two ways:
A.) The Washington Capitals will continue to struggle in the First and Second Round of the Playoffs
B.) Should the Washington Capitals leave their Playoff woes behind them, and find a way past the Second Round, they’ll be bound for another run at the Cup.
To make the second option less of a hopeful prediction and more of a reality, Laviolette will need to demand more out of this team than anyone ever has. During the regular season, the Capitals are always one of the most “favored” teams to win it all, but they never do. Why is that? It’s because they lose focus of their identity in the postseason and they get inside of their own heads. Laviolette will need to be a strong leader while providing a proper gameplan. The Capitals don’t need a coach who will change the culture. They already have a winning culture.
What the Capitals need is a coach who will create an effective gameplan. Someone who can improve their power play that was ranked 17th in the NHL in 2019-20 (19.44%). Someone who can further improve a penalty kill unit that, while ranked 6th in the league (82.57%) in 2019-20, allowed nine short-handed goals against (4th most last season).
They need a coach who can keep the Washington Capitals playing a physical and demanding style of hockey that will force opponents to play with frustration. If Laviolette can do all of this, then he’s surely the right guy for the job. If he’s hired to be a culture guy, then this team might be destined to repeat history in 2021.
1. Can Ilya Samsonov handle the pressure?
The Washington Capitals, as mentioned before, parted ways with veteran goaltender Braden Holtby after a 10-year relationship that featured some ups and some downs, but will always have a Stanley Cup ring. While this breakup will surely be difficult to get over for the organization, they’re not completely hopeless at the goalie position, as there’s a young super-athlete ready to tap into his superstar potential. His name is Ilya Samsonov.
Selected 22nd overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, the 6-foot-3 Russian goaltender made his debut in the 2019-20 season as a 22-year old. In his rookie year, he played in 26 games, starting in 22 of said games, posting 16 wins, 6 losses, 2 overtime losses, and a shutout while recording a 2.55 Goals-Against Average and a Save Percentage of .913%.
While these numbers are undoubtedly promising, it is but a small sample size for what Samsonov can do in the NHL. With Holtby gone, the young Russian native will have a considerable increase in playing time now that he’s the official starter for the Washington Capitals. In his rookie season, he proved to be capable of handling a heavy payload in the NHL, but being a goalie in this league is about more than stopping the puck. Capitals fans are perhaps the hardest ones to please when it comes to goaltenders, as they tend to bite the hardest in the playoffs.
Braden Holtby, a Vezina Trophy winner and Stanley Cup champion, received immense criticism for his lack of consistency when needed the most. The biggest question for Ilya Samsonov is if he’s ready for that pressure or not.
The Washington Capitals’ window for winning Stanley Cups is closing, and it’s up to the young goalie to be the backbone of this team as they try to give captain Alex Ovechkin another ring before his time is up. Due to a suspect defense headed into the 2020-21 NHL season, Ilya Samsonov will have to prove that he’s the guy for the job simply because there’s nobody else who can.
In place of Holtby, the Capitals signed future HOF goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, in free agency after his time came to an end with the New York Rangers. This move was to provide Samsonov with a veteran leader to help mentor him in his first season as a starter while also providing much-needed depth at the position.
Unfortunately for the Capitals, Lundqvist received brutal news that he’ll have to miss the entirety of the NHL season due to a heart condition. It was recently announced that the legendary netminder underwent successful open-heart surgery which is astounding news for him.
If the Capitals cannot find a veteran goalie to provide depth behind Samsonov, it’s going to be a very long season for both the young goaltender and the rest of the team. However, because of the shortened schedule of just 56-games as opposed to the regular 82-game seasons, this may prove to be a blessing for Ilya Samsonov as it shortens his workload significantly.
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At the end of the day, Samsonov has hefty expectations by the fans to get this team back into another deep playoff run. If he’s able to improve upon a strong rookie year in 2019-20, the Washington Capitals will at least have their future star in between the pipes. If he can’t handle the work and stress from the starting job, however, this season could be far worse than expected for this franchise.