The roster is set and the Washington Capitals’ 51st season is just over 24 hours away…so what are some key positions to keep an eye on for the Caps that will ultimately determine how successful this season will be?
Third-Line Center
The third line was arguably the team’s biggest weakness in 2024-25, and while Hendrix Lapierre initially earned that 3C spot out of camp last year, it seemed to almost be decision by default and his struggles ultimately led to them bringing Lars Eller back into the fold. Eller wasn’t really the solution there, either, and so the Caps struggled to put together the balanced, rolling-four-lines attack they wanted to have.
A year later and, despite talk that Connor McMichael could slide back into the 3C role, Lapierre has once again stepped in – only this time you can’t say he didn’t earn it, as a strong training camp and preseason performance made him the ideal candidate to center a new-look trio.
But earning the spot is just the first step, and it remains to be seen whether Lapierre has taken enough steps forward to be able to carry that line. On a team where high-end talent is somewhat lacking, depth is going to be the key to their success as it was last season – and a strong third line could be what they need to take the next step in the playoffs.
First-Pair Defense
For over a decade, John Carlson has been the backbone of the Caps’ defense, and that will certainly be the case again this season. He has regularly led the team in ice time and scoring, putting up 51 points last year while averaging over 23 minutes a night.
However, Carlson will be turning 36 in January, and having him play 23-25 minutes a night doesn’t seem sustainable for much longer. Coach Carbery has talked about managing workload and how that will be a focus for him and the coaching staff this season – but it’s not just a matter of cutting Carlson’s ice time. You need to have him paired with the right person and the rest of the blueline will need to pick up the slack, with an emphasis on guys like Jakob Chychrun and Martin Fehervary, each of whom picked up big contract extensions in recent months.
How well the rest of the defense performs around him, and how much gas is left in Carlson’s tank, will be worth keeping an eye on – especially with this being the last year of Carlson’s contract.
Goal
There’s no question that a great deal of the Caps’ success last season, particularly in the early part, can be traced back to the stellar performance of the team’s goaltending tandem of Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren. Both goalies, and particularly Thompson, far exceeded expectations to start the year and it drove the team to its hot start.
There’s also little doubt that Thompson in particular was maybe not as good as he could have been in the playoffs (although that is certainly not to say that he was bad, nor was he anywhere near the only reason they were knocked out in the second round).
In short, the team will go as far as Thompson will take them, and whether he can be as good this year as he was in his inaugural voyage as a Capital.