The Washington Capitals have been the most surprising team in the NHL this season. A year ago, the Capitals were an up-and-down team that didn’t make the playoffs until the final week of the season. Once they got in as the No. 8 seed, they were quickly drummed out of the playoffs in four games by the top-seeded New York Rangers.
Most figured that the Capitals would have a similar season in 2024-25. They figured to battle the Pittsburgh Penguins for the final spot and a look at the roster did not reveal the kind of strength and depth that would allow them to demonstrate significant improvement.
Nevertheless, that’s just what has happened to head coach Spencer Carbery’s team. The Capitals are in first place in the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference with 84 points. They have a chance to run down the Winnipeg Jets for regular-season superiority and the President’s Trophy.
They certainly have their go-to superstar in Alex Ovechkin and he is performing like a young stud as he tracks down Wayne Gretzky’s goal-scoring record. The 39-year-old Ovechkin has already hit the 30-goal mark and he is an odds-on favorite to break Gretzky’s record of 894 career regular season goals.
Ovechkin was sidelined earlier in the year with a broken left fibula that most thought would derail his prospects for breaking Gretzky’s record this year, but Ovechkin has been razor sharp in every game that he’s been able to play this season.
Caps are far more than Ovechkin
The Caps have been rolling all year and Carbery has seen players like Dylan Strome, Allaksei Protas and Pierre-Luc Dubois join Ovechkin at the top of Washington’s scoring list.
In addition to those surprising performances, Connor McMichael, Tom Wilson and John Carlson have also reached or exceeded expectations with their performance this year.
Strome is the Caps’ leading scorer with 59 points (18 goals and 41 assists), while Protas and Dubois are right behind with 50 and 49 points, respectively. McMichael and Wilson both have 45 points, while Carlson has 39 points from the back end.
Wilson has continued to provide a physical presence for the Capitals while cutting down on careless penalties that got him in so much trouble in the past.
Look for the Capitals to go after depth forwards at the trade deadline. One of them might be Trent Frederic of the Boston Bruins, who has been described as having Wilson-like tendencies. He can play a physical style, crash the net and he is not afraid to take on tough opponents in any kind of confrontation.
The Caps are unexpectedly one of the best teams in the NHL this year and look for them to improve the depth of their forwards at the March 7 trade deadline.
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