The Capitals at the 20 game mark

While its very true that the team is mired in the lower echelons of the league, the sim hasn't been as cruel to the team as we initially projected here in the nations capital. Its actually somewhat surprising that the team has 8 wins and 2 overtime losses at the quarter pole. Although through the most recent stretch of games, a 3-6-1 record pretty much seals any further upside to the next segment of the schedule.

The team is scoring at a relatively healthy pace, led by first round pick Tim Stutzle, Jean Gabriel Pageau, Anthony Mantha and Nicolas Roy. On the backend the team relies heavily on Jared Spurgeon both to take a regular shift as well as on special teams. He is a critical cog in making the team somewhat competitive in most games. After these top performers things start to get a bit ugly however. Rookie Rasmus Kupari has zero points in 20 games and has a -7 for his efforts. Zach Whitecloud also has goose eggs on the season and is a -10. The standout defensive performance is Martin Fehervary who is an almost unbelievable +1 at the 20 game mark.

Clearly however the team MVP so far this season has been Robin Lehner with 6 wins in 10 games started and a .916 save percentage. Robin knew this season was going to be tough once the deal to send him to the Capitals was concluded. Next season is still but a blip on the radar. There are still many games to play yet the team will probably not be any more competitive next season as Lehner will be sitting out with shoulder and hip surgeries. Our hope once acquiring him was that rehabilitation often results in players returning in even better shape than before.

The reins in net will pass on to a combination of Scott Wedgewood, as well as Jaro Halak and Brian Elliott if they can be retained for next year. Chris Dreidger won't be much help either. So the Capitals are making no secret of their interest in obtaining a goalie for next season who can shoulder at least some of the load for the team. It will be another tough year but we do have a plan and are building towards a long term sustainably competitive team going forward. If you have a goalie who could be a fit for us, by all means please reach out. I think my record of trading in this league so far clearly indicates that just about every player is possibly available.

The team is still primarily focused on icing a stable set of 6 defensemen, who can skate, clear the crease and contribute on the offense as well. So far this season in the NHL we are fortunate enough to have more than 6 regular NHL defensemen including the aforementioned Jared Spurgeon as well as Josh Manson, Martin Fehervary, Rasmus Ristolainen, Zach Whitecloud and Nicolas Hague. Plus Josh Brown, Gustav Lindstrom and Johnathan Kovacevic just waiting for an opportunity to lace them up for the team in the future. So if you need an affordable player to play on the PK and take a regular shift then look no farther the the Capitals.

The team is now focused on making sure to establish a steady revenue stream so they can make a successful bid or three on next season's free agents. Or perhaps even being able to retain salary on a deal that has a longer term payoff for the team. This post being the 3rd so far this season.