In a quiet, steady way. If he’s had an entire summer to build NHL level strength, he’s going to have a much better time of it when the big boys go to the corners with him. He should be much better at the end of the season than at the beginning and I think he will be.

I was going to say Fehr, but no one has really been moved that would allow F16 to get more PP time or even significantly more ES time. I’d love to see him at ~16 a game in total TOI, but I suspect he’ll hover around 14.

Main problem here is, which Caps haven’t had a breakout season? There are two who I think could.

First, Carlson. He showed last season that he has the talent, I think he is ready to have a big season. I think he’ll be given more responsibility, and it could pay off big time if he can handle it.

Second, Gordon. He’s not going to have an enormous impact, but if he can stay healthy (which I think will finally be the case), he can help the PK and 4th line. He is the better of the two 4th line centers in everything except possibly faceoffs, and I think he has a shot at taking over that role.

Neuvirth, but not until the playoffs. No reason, really. Just my uninformed prediction.

A full season in BB’s system will allow him to take advantage of his speed and hopefully he will bury a few. I’m predicting a career high in points, especially if his center is someone like MP or Mackan.

Alzner, Welcome to the NHL permanently.

Part of me wants to say Carlson, but heck, our expectations seem so high for him that anything less than a breakout would be a disappointment.

I can’t really think of a forward that doesn’t fall into one of these categories
A) beyond the ‘breakout’ point in their career
B) won’t be in the position TOI-wise to breakout
C) just coming off a breakout year (Fehr comes to mind).

And for those reasons above, I settle on Alzner, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. He’s hit the back-burner with Carlson getting all the young defenseman attention, but I’ve been looking forward to him contributing far longer and having an even larger impact than Carlson.

Does Belanger count, even though he hasn’t been officially announced as signed? I could see him putting up 50+ points as the Caps’ second line center if he stays healthy.

I’m also going to add that I think Flash is primed to step up and prove something to us this year, at least in the last two months of the season. Don’t know if I’d call that a “breakout” season though.

Flash. Because he’s the only skill player that ain’t yet broke out.

(Also Alzner, for all the reasons listed above.)

Dave Steckel…

…wait, this isn’t the summer of ’09?

Real answer: John Carlson. I think he will mostly meet our expectations. He will probably struggle some, just like all rookies. But since his expectations are so high, and since I think he will come close to meeting them, I think that will qualify as a breakout season.

I know its been said that Fehr’s breakout season was last year. I would argue, however, that with increased ice time, and increased power play time, not to mention a full offseason of training (which with back and shoulder injuries he has not had recently), he will breakout more.

One of the two goalies. Not sure which one is going to seize the opportunity, but either neuvy or varly will. Competition does that.

Matty Perrault!! OK, not really. But I can hope.

/Read it as "Which Capital is poised for a breakout this season?

Mike Green. Because apparently he needs one to get some respect.

/snark.

I’ll shock everybody and say Fehr. Here are the reasons why, he very talented guy, skilled, tall, smart and for first time he has had a full summer to train and get stronger. He is incorporating mixed martial arts into his training regimen and as a bjj student I will vouch for it’s benefits strength and endurance wise.

He also was given a vote of confidence with a two year deal, so he can just play. I believe that he will get a couple extra shifts a game and a few more chances on the PP and average 14toi.

I look for him to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 points, 26g 24a +24.

Fehr and Ovechkin (if we get a good 2C)

I think Fehr is going to have a break-out season because he finally got to spend an entire summer with 2 working shoulders. He’ll come out of the blocks with great conditioning, more ice time (one hopes), and burly shoulders. His versatile style of play will help him situate easily on either the 2nd or 3rd line while BB tries out line combos for the right second line center.

If we get a good 2nd line center, either from Flash practicing the position all summer, Mackan ascending to NHL rank, or from another team, it will finally balance the offence and give BB tons of different lines to roll. Once BB gets these lines rolling, with all the offensive depth we have, teams will have to focus less on Ovechkin, and more on lines 2, 3, and hopefully, 4. Also, with the advent of Backstrom (and by advent, i mean everybody else seeing what we’ve always seen), teams will probably focus more on the duo then just on Ovie

I am going with King Karl.

I look forward to seeing a full season of Alzner on the blue line with well-deserved playing time. Carlson may be flashier, but I have always been a sucker for the reliable stay at home D-man have had as part of their blue line corps in the past (e.g Langway, Rouse, Tinordi etc)

David Steckel

15 goals, 30 points

But I’m on medication…

Toss up between Steckel or Semin. Both are playing for contracts.

Someone asked this question last summer and I said “Chris Clark”, so I guess I’m not too good at this.

Ima go ahead and say Alex Semin.

Fehr.

His per-minute and per-game numbers are consistently outstanding. He accomplished a lot last season (over 20 goals) playing 3rd-line minutes without skilled linemates. Give him more icetime, especially on the PP, and some better linemates, and he could potentially leapfrog Flash, Laich, and Knuble to become the 4th best forward on the team.

Deep down we all know that Varly can’t sustain an entire season. Neuvirth gets yank’d in game 2 of the conference quarter finals and Holtby delivers a cup.

Ovechkin. No one’s talking about this kid but I think he’s gonna turn some heads with his talent.

Haha, Ovechkin as 6D would be a sight to see. Probably fewer people screaming about him carrying the puck up the zone than about Green, and we know he can clear the crease (by pushing people into the net).

Even though Nicky already broke out last year, I expect even more goals this year. Other than Nicky its obviously Fehr.

Time for him to play a full season and show us what he can really do

Any year now.

but would a breakout require changing all four tires and wiperblades?

Carlson – 10 G 35 A

I’m gonna go out on a limb and say other than Carlson/Alzner, I think Flash is going to have a good season. I say he’s going to start as our 2C and do a pretty good job. If he does well enough to keep the spot the whole season and get some momentum, I think he’ll put up numbers that MIGHT quiet some of the TRADEFLASHFORX talk (but who am I kidding?).

Oh, and Varlamov is going to emerge as an above-average starting goalie in the NHL by staying healthy for the majority of the season.

Travis Zajac.

Mike Green.

John Carlson can carry some of the offensive load, and the Caps have better top-4 D depth than they’ve had in the last three years. That means Green can focus more on D and doesn’t have to be everything for everyone this year.

Green’s defense will improve by, say, 10 or 15% because of maturity and because of his more limited role. But the leaguewide reaction will be as though his defense improved three or four times that. Part of that is that he doesn’t get enough credit now for his defense. Part is the legitimate improvement he’ll show. And part is just storylines.

He’s going to make one hell of a redemption story — particularly if he gets less PP time so his offensive production drops — something that in today’s perverse hockey media environment will make him a better Norris candidate (as long as he still leads the league). The story will be about how he sacrificed some of his offense to start paying attention to his defense. It’s a bullshit story — the more true story would be “young defenseman improves his defense with maturity” — but it’ll have legs.

I’m not saying he’ll win his Norris. There are too many good defensemen who are improving right now to guarantee a thing like that. But he may very well be a better defenseman this year overall than Duncan Keith was last year.