Throughout the season, we’ll check in on the Washington Capitals to see which players, positions, and/or systems are hot and who is…well, not. We’ll kick things off with a look at how the team has done in their games between October 12 and October 19.
Hot Front

Connor McMichael. Preparing-to-be-a-dad strength, activate! Shortly after scoring two goals against the Flyers, McMichael headed to the hospital where his girlfriend gave birth to their first child. Big week for the McMichael family and a continuation of what has been a pretty awesome start to the season for Connor.
Pierre-Luc Dubois. PLD has been playing very well since his arrival in DC, and continues to rack up the assists. That his only goal so far was an empty-netter is kind of amazing considering the number of great chances he’s had – but he is getting those chances, which is key and a good sign that eventually the goals will start going in when there’s a goalie there.
The defense. A few blips aside, the team’s defensive corps – and overall commitment to defense from up and down the lineup – has been very solid thus far, and that continued this week, giving up just 2.33 goals per game on average. They’re doing an especially nice job of limiting high-danger chances; to date, they have the sixth-lowest rate of HDCF/60 and eighth-lowest rate of SCA/60 in the league.
Trevor van Riemsdyk. TvR doesn’t get the accolades, the points, or the spotlight of a John Carlson, but he’s been quietly very effective so far this season and authored a lovely shot for a deflection goal by McMichael in Wednesday’s win against the Flyers. He logged the third-highest even-strength ice time (behind Carlson and Jakub Chychrun) last week, got the most defensive starts of any Caps’ blueliner in that time, and kept his CF% nice and high.
Cold Snap

Tom Wilson. From red-hot to ice cold in a matter of days? Such is the glory and wonder of early-season hockey, and we have no doubt Wilson will find a happy medium (hopefully skewing more toward the hot than the cold side of the thermometer) over the course of the season. This week, however, he was one of just two Capitals without a single point in the three games.
The power play. Just…yikes. Is it getting worse? It feels like it’s getting worse.