It is still just mid-September, a long, long way from the bitter postseason hockey battles of the spring.
But the Capitals, for the first time in five years, earned a taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season, eventually losing a first-round series in seven games to the Philadelphia Flyers.
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And with virtually every key player back, including NHL Most Valuable Player Alex Ovechkin, the defense of Washington’s Southeast Division title and an expected deeper playoff run begins this weekend with the opening of training camp at Kettler Capitals Iceplex.
Unlike past years, talent won’t be an issue as the front office chooses the final 23-man roster. But there are still plenty of unresolved questions: How does the team get under the NHL-mandated salary cap by the time rosters are finalized? Which young players, including forwards Eric Fehr and Tomas Fleischmann, will earn a starting spot and which must settle for being a part-time fill-in? Is prized rookie defenseman Karl Alzner ready to step in and play a top-four role or would he be better suited to a few months at AHL affiliate Hershey?
“I just think we’ve got a real nice, well-rounded team with a good coaching staff and we’ll go to work here and hopefully be even better than we were last year,” said Caps general manager George McPhee. “We’re now at a point where we don’t want to set limitations on what we may be able to do.”
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau — last year’s NHL Coach of the Year — also must decide on seven defenseman out of eight candidates — and possibly nine if veteran defenseman Brian Pothier can overcome the post-concussion symptoms that ended his season last January.
New goalie Jose Theodore must prove that his resurgence last season in Colorado was the norm, not his sub-par play the previous two seasons. The Caps also welcome back forwards Chris Clark (groin) and Michael Nylander (shoulder), who missed the majority of last season with injuries and must fit into a lineup that found its stride without them down the stretch last season.