Alexander Ovechkin set he’s resignation from capital’s today as…
At the rate the Capitals were going at the trade deadline, it seemed like this team was going to come into this season a bit more refreshed than it actually is.
An injury-riddled season that seemed destined for a finish in the dreaded middle inspired a quick retool. A coaching change and a few more tweaks followed in the summer.
At the end of the day, this Capitals team isn’t too different from where it left off. Some supporting players were interchanged and another scoring threat was added in Max Pacioretty. The biggest change came behind the bench, with one of the fresher coaching options in Spencer Carbery.
Is that enough change to add some oomph around the team’s aging core in a competitive Metropolitan Division? Or will the only highlights this season come from individual achievements by their franchise star?
Washington really has one goal in mind: Get Alex Ovechkin to 895.
Last year’s record? Doesn’t really matter. The forecast above? Doesn’t really matter. Next season? Doesn’t really matter. This team is now chasing a different kind of greatness and it’s OK that team success is taking a backseat to that legendary legacy.
But that does mean the Capitals are indeed stuck in a place where nothing else even has room to matter. There’s little avenue for improvement toward making the playoffs with the current roster structure and cap commitments. And a rebuild isn’t happening while Ovechkin chases Gretzky down, either.
So the end result is an 81-point team that doesn’t have much of a shot to do anything noteworthy this year other than get Ovechkin closer to the all-time record. Maybe there’ll be a bounce-back after last season’s collapse, but it really doesn’t feel likely. Expect more of the same.
