With training camp less than six weeks away, there are a lot of balls in the air for the Washington Capitals after a massive offseason, which will push some players out of a starting spot and into other roles. NoVa Caps looks at the five burning questions for Washington entering the 2024-25 campaign:
- Will Trevor Van Riemsdyk or Ethan Bear be Washington’s sixth defenseman?
After signing Matt Roy and acquiring Jakob Chychrun, the Capitals have eight NHL defensemen on the roster with Alexander Alexeyev also in line for a bigger role this season.
Bear spent six months recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and the 26-year-old struggled when he returned, tallying a goal, four points, -5 rating, .4537 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .4089 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4181 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in only 24 games over his first season in Washington. He also did not play from March 14 onwards after entering the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program.
While averaging 18:40 per game (fifth among Capitals defensemen), including 1:35 on the penalty kill (fourth), Van Riemsdyk recorded 14 assists, a -7 rating, .4674 five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, .5049 five-on-five expected goals-for percentage, and .4964 five-on-five scoring chances-for percentage in 70 games. All three possession metrics were the lowest Van Riemsdyk recorded over his four-year tenure in the District. The 32-year-old was also a healthy scratch at times.
Washington will likely see how training camp goes before making such a decision. The team could trade at least one of these players as they combine for $5.625 million against the NHL salary cap and neither are guaranteed an everyday role.
- Will Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre take the next step?
McMichael, 23, impressed last season, finishing with 18 goals (tied for third on the team) and 33 points (fifth) in a career-high 80 games.
Lapierre, 22, established himself as an everyday NHL player as he notched eight goals and 22 points in 51 regular-season games in addition to the goal and assist he earned in the postseason during his first full season. Despite getting sent down to AHL Hershey for five weeks in mid-January, Lapierre scored six goals and 16 points in 27 NHL games (0.59 points per game) from January 18 onwards, fifth on the roster excluding Anthony Mantha and Evgeny Kuznetsov (who were both traded in early March).
Both players were Washington’s first-round picks in 2019 and 2020, respectively, and the team needs to continue to develop young talent to remain competitive. At least one of the two centers establishing themselves as a top-six NHL forward this season would be huge for the Capitals.
- How will the goaltending tandem shake out?
After trading Darcy Kuemper to the Los Angeles Kings, Washington acquired Logan Thompson from the Vegas Golden Knights to form a tandem situation to provide Lindgren, who went 25-16-7 with a .911 save percentage, 2.67 goals-against average, and six shutouts in 50 games during a breakout 2023-24 season, some support. Lindgren, who has just 110 career regular-season games of experience, fell back to Earth in the postseason, posting an .864 save percentage and 3.58 goals-against average.
Thompson, who has even less experience with 103 career games played, went 25-14-5 with a .908 save percentage, 2.70 goals-against average, a shutout, and 5.22 goals-saved above average in 46 regular-season games last season. He posted a .921 save percentage and 2.35 goals-against average in four postseason games during Vegas’ seven-game loss to the Dallas Stars in the first round but Adin Hill started the final three outings of the series.
Both are capable NHL tandem goaltenders but neither has the track record nor established themselves as a starter. A 50/50 split during the season could very well be likely. Each goaltender can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
- Will Pierre-Luc Dubois and/or Dylan Strome cement themselves as a first-line center?
The third overall picks in the 2015 and 2016 NHL Drafts, respectively, will make up Washington’s two top-six centers.
Strome has set career-highs in goals (23 and 27, respectively) and points (65 and 67) in each of his first two seasons in the District, where he has missed just one game combined. Dubois had scored at least 27 goals and 60 points, respectively, three times in his first six NHL seasons prior to his down year with the Los Angeles Kings, where earned only 16 goals, 40 points, and a .497 faceoff-winning percentage in 82 regular-season games and added a goal in five postseason games before getting dealt to Washington for Darcy Kuemper in June.
However, the first-line centers on the past three Stanley Cup Champions had these stat lines the year they won (Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon: 32-56-88 in 65 in 2021-22, Vegas’ Jack Eichel: 27-39-66 in 67 in 2022-23, Florida Panthers’ Aleksander Barkov: 23-57-80 in 73 last season). Both Strome and Dubois may be established top-six NHL forwards but neither has proven themselves as the elite first-line center that puts a team over the edge.
Dubois signed an eight-year contract worth $8.5 million against the salary cap following a trade to Los Angeles in June 2023.
Though he had a disappointing year in Los Angeles, Dubois averaged just 15:42 per game (eighth among Kings forwards), including 2:07 on the power play (sixth), suggesting that he did not get as much opportunity due to Los Angeles’ center depth of Anze Kopitar, Quinton Byfield, and Philipp Danault.
Mangiapane, 28, had the lowest goal total (14) in his five full NHL seasons in 75 games, which is understandable considering Calgary sold off Tyler Toffoli, Nikita Zadorov, Elias Lindholm, and Chris Tanev last season, before getting dealt to the Capitals on June 28. He had at least 17 goals and 30 points in each of his previous four, including a 35-goal season in 2021-22, but needs to up that production more to cement himself among Washington’s top-six forward group.
Washington’s offense needs to be much better after finishing last season 28th in the NHL with a 2.63 goals-per-game average and 29th with 143 five-on-five goals and Dubois and Mangiapane were the guys brought in to fix that, putting some pressure on them to step it up.
By Harrison Brown
