2014-15 Washington Capitals Preview

It wasn’t a total makeover as Washington stayed within to replace McPhee by promoting Brian MacLellan from his assistant general manager role, while Oates was canned after two seasons and replaced with the respected Trotz.

The Capitals are banking that Trotz is finally the defensive mind that the franchise needs and scooped him up after his 15-year run as coach of the Nashville Predators came to an end.

Defense and Trotz went hand-and-hand in Nashville as the club always seemed to find a way into the playoffs despite missing the kind of explosive offense that fuels the Capitals.

It will be interesting to see how Trotz handles a player like Alexander Ovechkin, an offensive talent that has won the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s leading goal scorer four times but finished last season at minus-35, third-worst in the league.

Washington has seemingly struggled for season after season trying to improve its defense and only had a goal differential of minus-5 last season, but that meant little after the club just missed out on a playoff spot.

Trotz has had the likes of Shea Weber, Ryan Suter and Kimmo Timonen at his disposal in Nashville and now will mold a Washington defensive grouping that saw the addition of one of the top free agent blueliners of this past offseason, Matt Niskanen.

Niskanen promptly becomes Washington’s top two-way defender at the cost of seven years and $40.25 million, while MacLellan also gave Trotz a gritty veteran piece at the blue line in Brooks Orpik.

Orpik will have a tough time living up to his five-year, $27.5 million deal, but if he can contribute to making Washington a more balanced team, it won’t matter early on.

FORWARDS – There is no disputing that Ovechkin is perhaps the most dominating scorer in the NHL — his league-leading 51 goals from a season ago attest to that — so the challenge will be getting him to play a complete two-way game.

Trotz’s first order of business was to move Ovechkin back to left wing after he played on the right side under Oates, scoring 83 goals. However, 24 of Ovechkin’s tallies a season ago came on the power play, so Trotz is hoping the shift to the left side will improve his 5-on-5 scoring.

One thing that won’t change will be center Nicklas Backstrom feeding Ovechkin the puck on the top line. Last season marked the third time in his seven seasons that Backstrom tallied at least 61 assists.

With Ovechkin switching sides, the right wing spot is open on the top line, with Tory Brouwer or Eric Fehr likely to fill the void. Fehr is moving back to the wing after playing center, while Brouwer was second on the club with 25 goals.

With Mikhail Grabovski exiting as a free agent, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Marcus Johansson, both former wingers, will battle for the pivot position on the second line, one that should receive a boost if Brooks Laich is finally over the groin issues that have plagued him for the past two seasons.

Kuznetsov, the 26th overall pick of the 2010 draft, finally came over from Russia last season to play for Washington, posting three goals and nine points in 17 games. The 22-year-old could have a major impact on the Capitals in his first full NHL season.

Jason Chimera and Joel Ward should stick together on the third line, with winger Andre Burakovsky, the 23rd overall pick of the 2013 draft, a possible wild card to make the club.

DEFENSE – Trotz is known to get a lot of offense from his blueliners and he will be able to roll out three deep pairings that feature an impressive puck mover on the right side in Niskanen, John Carlson and Mike Green.

Niskanen set career highs last season with 10 goals, 36 assists, 46 points and 81 games played. The 27-year-old also potted six game-winning goals from the blue line for Pittsburgh.

Carlson also scored 10 goals last season and Green, while no longer the major goal-scoring threat he once was, was able to stay healthy a season ago and pot nine tallies.

Trotz will pair each of his puck-moving defenders with a solid, stay-at-home counter. Orpik didn’t play much with Niskanen in Pittsburgh and could team with fellow American Carlson, with Alzner pairing with Niskanen. That leaves 23-year-old Dmitry Orlov as the likely partner for Green.

One thing is for sure and that is that the Capitals will try to avoid the carousel at the back end from last season, when 14 different defensemen logged minutes at the blue line for the club.

GOALTENDING – After flirting with Jaroslav Halak down the stretch last season, the Capitals traded his rights to the New York Islanders before free agency, confirming their commitment to 25-year-old Braden Holtby.

Holtby could be one of the biggest benefactors of the coaching change as he struggled when Oates had him change his positioning and game plan between the pipes. That led to his goals against average rising from 2.58 the previous season to 2.85 in 2013-14.

But with the inexperienced Justin Peters signed as the backup, the Capitals are counting on Holtby to rebound and flash the form that led to the club going with him in net for the playoffs in 2012 and 2013.

Waiting in the American Hockey League is 22-year-old Philipp Grubauer, who got into 17 games with Washington last season while going 6-5-5 with a 2.38 GAA and .925 save percentage, an actual improvement over his AHL stats from 2013-14.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE – Washington’s upcoming season will largely depend on if Ovechkin and Trotz can co-exist and if the changes at the blue line are worth the investment. Given that the Capitals just missed out on a playoff spot, there won’t be much improvement needed for the club to return to the postseason. However, as long as Ovechkin is wearing a Capitals uniform, the critics won’t be silenced until the franchise goes on a nice, deep playoff run. Washington hopes that Trotz’s penchant for defense is the missing piece.

Categorized in: NHL