The Capitals were a surprisingly competitive team last season, slipping into the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 40-31-11 record as the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. Most didn’t expect them to be any good at all, and while they were quickly ousted from the playoffs by the Presidents Trophy-winning New York Rangers, they at least can say they exceeded expectations.
It seems that they are trying to bridge the gap from the Alex Ovechkin era into the next for the franchise, while still trying to retool and compete on the fly. They were aggressive this offseason, and clearly, that always comes with some risk.
Trading for Pierre-Luc Dubois was their first move, which is certainly a massive gamble, and they gave L.A. their starting goalie Darcy Kuemper. He has seven years remaining on an eight-year, $68 million contract that he signed with the Los Angeles Kings last year, who were very quick to dispose of him. He struggled last season, generating just 40 points in 82 games after he had an NHL career-high 63 points in 73 games the previous year.
However, he is just 26 years old, and is just entering his prime. They are banking on him rebounding this year.
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The Caps also traded for forward Andrew Mangiapane from the Calgary Flames, defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Ottwa Senators, and goalie Logan Thompson from the Las Vegas Golden Knights. They also signed some quality players in free agency, such as defenseman Matt Roy, and forwards Brandon Duhaime and Taylor Raddysh.
Thompson is a large upgrade in the net from Kuemper, owning a 2.70 GA/G and .908 SV% compared to Kuemper’s 3.31 GA/G and .890 SV%. This is going to be a much deeper team this season, and they should be better on offense as well, after being 28th in scoring last year.
While it certainly is a longshot, I don’t think it is crazy for this team to win the Metro in 2024-25. I expect New York and Carolina to take a step-back, and I haven’t been a believer in the Islanders for years. I like the Caps roster better than Pittsburgh’s, who is also attempting to stay competitive in Sidney Crosby’s last years.
Philly is a team on the rise, and so are the Devils if they could keep their entire roster off the IR for a season. The Blue Jackets suffered a major loss with the passing of Johnny Gaudreau, both on and off the ice.
At +1800 odds at BetMGM, I think you could do worse than taking a shot on Washington to win the Metro Division.
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