Washington Capitals Opening Night Analysis
With NFL training camps in full swing, it is the perfect time to take a look back at one of Washington's other teams, the Capitals. Remember them? The draft and free agency are behind us, and the league is in the middle of its annual two-month long lull in which nothing ever seems to happen (hence the lack of hockey news on DC Pro).
This is the time of year where fans love to talk about and predict what the upcoming season's roster may look like. So here is our guess.
The Capitals had a major overhaul this offseason. Let's take a look back at the changes the offseason brought us.
- Capitals hire Dave Prior and Olie Kolzig as goaltending coach and assistant goaltending coach
- Capitals sign C Mattias Sjögren to a two-year contract
- Capitals acquire LW Taylor Stefishen from the Nashville Predators in exchange for 2013 7th Round Pick
- Capitals acquire Troy Brouwer from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for 2011 1st Round Pick
- Capitals acquire 2012 1st Round Pick and 2012/13 2nd Round Pick from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for Semyon Varlamov
- Capitals select G Steffen Soberg, D Patrick Koudys, C Travis Boyd, D Garrett Haar at NHL draft
- Capitals re-sign D Patrick McNeill, LW Brooks Laich, D Sean Collins, C Mathieu Perreault, RW Francois Bouchard, D Karl Alzner
- Capitals sign C Jeff Halpern, RW Joel Ward, D Roman Hamrlik, G Tomas Vokoun to one-way contracts
- Capitals sign C Ryan Potulny, RW Matt Ford, D Danny Richmond, LW Jacob Micflikier, C Christian Hanson to two-way contracts
- Capitals acquire RW Danick Pacquette and 2012 4th Round Pick for Eric Fehr
Quite a re-build for the Capitals.
Now, we can speculate as to what the Capitals opening-night lineup may look like. Most likely, none of the prospects mentioned above will be on the roster, and we have to remember the players on the roster from last year. Without further ado...
Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Bäckström - Mike Knuble
Line re-assembled from previous seasons, shown to be successful before.
2010-2011 Equivalent: Alex Ovechkin - Nicklas Bäckström - Mike Knuble
Brooks Laich - Marcus Johansson - Alexander Semin
If Johansson can continue his form of late last season, he is destined for a duties with Sasha and Brooks.
2010-2011 Equivalent: Brooks Laich - Jason Arnott - Alexander Semin
Troy Brouwer - Mattias Sjögren - Joel Ward
New line who will score with great but be good defensively. Will be fun to watch.
2010-2011 Equivalent: Marco Sturm - Marcus Johansson - Eric Fehr
Matt Hendricks - Jeff Halpern - Jason Chimera
Big improvement from last year, should score more goals too.
2010-2011 Equivalent: Matt Hendricks/Jason Chimera - Boyd Gordon - Matt Bradley
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Karl Alzner - John Carlson
An easy choice, the two will continue to develop in their sophomore seasons.
2010-2011 Equivalent: Karl Alzner - John Carlson
Mike Green - Roman Hamrlik
Finally a good partner for Green. Could become 30-goal-scorer again.
2010-2011 Equivalent: Mike Green - Jeff Schultz
Dennis Wideman - Jeff Schultz/Tom Poti/John Erskine
Outrageously good for a third pairing, no matter who you throw in.
2010-2011 Equivalent: Dennis Wideman - John Erksine
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Tomas Vokoun
Michal Neuvirth
Huge signing comes in as starter. Neuvirth will follow in the footsteps of the very best Czech.
2010-2011 Equivalent: Michal Neuvirth - Semyon Varlamov
What are your thoughts on the new-look Capitals? Discuss it in our Sea of RED forum...
