It sure seems like this is the end of an era for Washington. With the Capitals just barely keeping above .500 on the year, it seems like the Ovechkin era and the success that came with it is coming to an end.
You can’t stay great forever, and that’s especially true for even the greatest players of all-time. It was only a matter of time when all of the injuries, wear-and-tear, the extra games from years of playoff experience, and general aging would catch up with the Washington Capitals and their stars.
Practically ever since Alex Ovechkin was drafted by the Capitals back in 2004, the Washinton Capitals have been in contention for the Stanely Cup and the President’s Trophy. And that was especially the case in the last decade as the Capitals went on to win three President’s Trophies (2010, 2016, 2017) and the Stanely Cup (2018) all in a ten-year span, which is easily the best record of any team from a regular season point of view.
With players like Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Braden Holtby, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Tom Wilson, T.J. Oshie, and Lars Eller, the Capitals were the cream of the crop for the NHL and one of the league’s most recognizable brands. Yet, that is soon to change as we’ve seen with the Capitals early season struggles.
Aside from Ovie, who’s still in the running to overtake Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s greatest ever goal scorer, the Capitals and the players have all had one of their worst starts to a season. Whether it’s Oshie, Kuznetsov or Eller, the Capitals are just not getting the same goal production as they used to as they currently have a -5 GD, which would have been unheard of only four seasons ago.
Like I said, only Ovechkin (and maybe Carlson) have had a decent start to the season as he currently sits on 16 G, 13 A for 29 PTS in 29 games, pushing him further up the all-time goal scoring list with 796 goals. But, like I said, Ovechkin’s greatness has still not been enough to drive the Capitals into one of the playoffs spots in the East as they currently sit in 6th place in the Metropolitan division with a 13-12-1 record.
Now, I know they have huge injuries to Tom Wilson and Niklas Backstrom, but I don’t think this team would be that much better even with those two in the lineup. They may have three extra wins with a healthy Backstrom and Wilson, though that’s now a distant memory with Backstrom coming off hip resurfacing (replacement) surgery and Wilson an ACL repair.
I hate to say it, but these players may never be the same again with the devastating injuries and surgeries they suffered last season. And that should really frighten Capitals fans as that could mean that this is the best this team is going to get. Still, I don’t quite subscribe to that idea as I believe Washinton will be able to string together a few wins and compete for the final Wild Card spots.
As of right now, the New York Rangers (33 PTS) and the New York Islanders (34 PTS) are the two teams that hold those spots, thus giving the Capitals (30 PTS) more than enough space to make up when Backstrom and Wilson return. If they come back as the same players.
But the way this season has played out has convinced me of one thing: this is the last dance for the Washinton Capitals.
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