Monday night’s Washington Capitals win over the Anaheim Ducks had it all – a hat trick, fights, penalty shots, with the hosts cruising early to a 5-1 lead and then nearly losing it before a pair of empty-net goals finally sealed a wild 7-4 result.
The last few weeks, the Capitals have shown flashes at times of being very good, as well as being very bad. Washington hasn’t been delivering consistent 60-minute efforts often as of late, and Monday’s game was a prime example, in the first half showing payback on Anaheim for Ryan Leonard‘s injury the last time the two teams met in Orange County, but the second half the Ducks controlled play and Washington relied on Charlie Lindgren holding off the attack long enough to pot to empty-netters and secure the two points.
Change will be coming to Washington for the deadline, but with the strange state of the NHL, it’s not quite clear how it will arrive.
Washington badly needs an additional forward or two, and with Aliaksei Protas and Tom Wilson out of the lineup against the Ducks, Capitals coach Spencer Carbery had to dress seven defensemen. Even short-handed up front, Justin Sourdif, whom the Capitals acquired in the off-season in a much-criticized deal, recorded a five-point night with his first career hat trick.
Despite Sourdif’s career night, clearly, with a team that is mostly powered offensively by the defensive pushing, there will be an addition or two coming – just a matter of when.
For the time being, Washington is more likely to give some players from Hershey some time, as Protas’ brother Ilya, Andrew Cristall or Ivan Miroshnichenko may see action before the Olympic break begins for the Capitals in less than a month.
Defensively, the Capitals are likely to make room for Cole Hutson, who became USA Hockey’s top-scoring defenseman in World Junior play over the holidays, but also suffered a scary injury that kept him out of action for a spell. Hutson’s likely to slot into the lineup once Boston University’s season ends, and with the Terriers below the cut line for the 16-team tournament at the moment, that could come as early as mid-March – just after the trade deadline.
While Washington was tied in rumors to former Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, the U.S. star wasn’t really a fit for the Capitals, and after the fact seems more a tool to bolster the blueliner’s return from the Minnesota Wild rather than a genuine interest, with one reason being how much they value Hutson coming to the lineup. With a team that already relies heavily on offense from their defense, Hutson will fit right in once he arrives in just over two months.
But the trade deadline is still two months off, and there are a couple of reasons a trade for the Capitals may be a few weeks away.
For one thing, the current NHL standings don’t have too many teams clearly missing the playoff cut as of yet, meaning few sellers in what is expected to be a number of teams still in contention for a playoff berth once March 6’s deadline arrives.
Prices could be high to acquire pieces from the few teams that have decided to look to restock for the future, and while some teams may be more willing to pay a higher price for rentals, as in past Olympic seasons and last year with the 4 Nations break, there figures to be a lull in activity until just before the hiatus begins and teams look to add pieces for the stretch drive with the league dark for much of February.
Another reason to encourage being patient is cap considerations, as while the season is just over halfway done, the cap space available to teams in a month or two will be much larger to fit in new contracts in at that time than today. While that can be overcome somewhat with retaining salary in trades, doing that also carries a price in what needs to be paid for certain players, and teams likely will opt to not limit themselves to essentially paying a lot more in cap space for a player now if they think they can survive another few weeks and have more room for additional adds with some patience.
The Capitals have been bitten hard by the injury bug this season, especially with Pierre-Luc Dubois being out until at least after the Olympic break, causing a major hole down the middle for Washington. But overall, Washington is showing that it is capable of remaining in the playoff chase with its current makeup, being currently tied in points for second in the Metropolitan Division with the surprising New York Islanders, and just three points behind the equally inconsistent Carolina Hurricanes, and just four behind the surprising Detroit Red Wings in the Eastern Conference race.
Much of the credit for that goes to the solid goaltending Washington has had, as both Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren have been solid in keeping the Capitals in games they had no business being it, as well as protecting leads as Lindgren did last night with the Ducks dominating the latter half of the contest. While Washington’s offense has sputtered at times, they also able to make the goals count more despite the more limited production.
Part of that, too, is the muddled state of the Eastern Conference, which is separated by just 11 points, and half the teams currently occupying playoff spots – the Red Wings, Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, and Pittsburgh Penguins – have missed last year’s postseason and need to last another half-season to actually qualify.
What Will The Caps Do Before The Deadline?
Washington will certainly be adding a forward or two to complement what they have now and add some more potency to the attack come playoff time. The Metro and Eastern Conference have proven this year to be a collection of flawed teams, with every team inside looking like Stanley Cup champs one night and a lottery club the next, with Washington being no exception.
Overall, the Capitals are still on a 95-point pace despite their inconsistency, and after their seven-goal outburst, are now tied with the Tampa Bay Lightning for most goals in the East. They also have a plus-17 goal differential – a key metric for making the playoffs – second only to the Lightning’s plus-32 in the conference. They are certainly well off last year’s 61 points at this number of games last season, but they aren’t alone, as last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners, the Winnipeg Jets, currently occupy the NHL’s basement.
So, while fans want some adds to the Capitals’ attack this season, they likely will have to be patient as the economics of the game become more favorable as the games dwindle – along with the cap hit the Caps would be responsible for down the stretch.
The trade market will heat up once the Olympic Games approach, and as long as the Capitals remain in the playoff mix, they likely will remain patient until the deal they can make arrives.
