30 teams in 30 days: Washington Capitals
Finished: 2nd eastern conference
Playoffs: Lost in 2nd round to Pittsburgh
Leading scorers: Alexander Ovechkin 110, Nicklas Backstrom 88, Alexander Semin 79, Mike Green 73
Who did they add?: Brendan Morrison, Mike Knuble
Who did they lose?: Donald Brashear, Brent Johnson
Overview: The Washington Capitals have enjoyed limited success in their time in the NHL, but some of that success has come these past couple of years. Since the arrival of Alex Ovechkin in Washington, there has been a new vigor around the Verizon Center, and every other arena around the league actually. The trick was to surround one of the most offensively gifted players in hockey with talent that he can complement and feed off and they have done pretty well in that respect. Skating alongside Alexander the Great are Nicklas Backstrom and new addition Mike Knuble, which is a great signing for the Caps because they were in need of a big body presence in front of the net. Alex Semin, yet another talented Russian player, adds depth to the offense and will post huge numbers if he is able to stay healthy for a whole season. Tomas Fleischmann, Brooks Laich and Brendan Morrison add points and grit to a very underrated offensive group. The defense is led by Mike Green, who led all NHL defensemen in scoring with 73 points and had 31 goals. There aren’t really any stand outs behind him, but all the guys on the Caps blue line know their roles and execute well. Following him are Shaone Morrisonn, Milan Jurcina, Tom Poti and Brian Pothier. Nick Schultz and John Erskine are there to fill in in case of injury and are both competent as well. The goaltending is the one thing about the Capitals that has really always been a question mark. Last season it was in good hands thanks to the surprising Brent Johnson, who carried the team through the regular season before suffering an injury late, and handing over the playoff reigns to Jose Theodore. This failed, so the reigns were passed off once again, this time to Simeon Varlamov. This was somewhat a success, but he is still young, and may not be ready for the starting job in Washington just yet. However, it will be up to him in Theodore falters, which is a high possibility. The Caps have a solid team, and will make the playoffs. Look for a dog fight at the top of the southeast division involving them and the Hurricanes, but Washington should win outright. They have the tools for a cup run, they just need stellar goaltending.
Winners or losers?: Winners, except it wouldn’t hurt to add a goalie. They’re also in need of a veteran tough guy because of the loss of Donald Brashear, but this isn’t priority.
