Hands up, both of you, who believed in the Washington Capitals.
OK, maybe there were three of you. But there weren’t many.
This wasn’t supposed to be a season to remember for the seemingly ordinary Caps. This was supposed to be about Alexander Ovechkin scoring goals and really nothing else. This was about chasing a record.
And that was it.
But here we are, at the Christmas break in the National Hockey League, and the ‘Who are They?’ Capitals have the best record in the Eastern Conference – playing their first 34 games at 115-point pace.
And we repeat, who are they and how is this happening?
Brian MacLellan, who has moved from general manager to president of hockey operations, was busy last summer making moves no one paid much attention to.
He appointed low-profile executive Chris Patrick as general manager, an announcement that almost went unnoticed. But in a few days in June and early July, MacLellan made a series of moves that were about almost as headline-screaming as the Patrick appointment.
He signed nobodies. Or perceived nobodies. He moved some money around. He made one trade that everybody cringed at – mostly because Pierre-Luc Dubois had one of those dreadful contracts the Los Angeles Kings were trying hard to escape from.
“Dubois has been really good for us,” said MacLellan in a lengthy interview. “You look at his totals and you may not see that but he’s a glue kind of player who has played against the best line every night and he’s really played well for us.”
MacLellan got him on the cheap – in a trade for the run-of-the-mill goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
The Capitals are nothing at all like the Maple Leafs. The Leafs have the second, seventh, 11th and 12th highest-paid players in the NHL — all of them forwards — and yet Washington scores more goals and, to date wins more games.
Teams, not individuals, win in hockey.
The Caps leading scorer is Dylan Strome, who was drafted one pick ahead of Mitch Marner, and their names are rarely mentioned together since.
MacLellan and other Washington scouts watched Strome play for the Chicago Blackhawks. They were particularly impressed with how well he played on a line with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. For some reason, the Blackhawks chose not to qualify Strome, making him a free agent at the end of the 2022 season.
Washington signed him and Strome has scored 65 and 67 points in his first two years with the Caps, playing some of that without Ovechkin on his line. This year, playing completely with Ovechkin until the superstar went down, Strome is having his best season. He has 38 points in 34 games. Right now, he’s on pace for 91.
“Not every player develops at the same speed,” said MacLellan. “It’s taken Dylan a while to get here. The knock against him was always his skating. But to me, he always had a good offensive mind for the game.
“And he’s getting better every year. He’s a little stronger, a little quicker, we’ve liked that about his game.”
They also liked the advanced development of their version of Connor McDavid in name only, Connor McMichael. McMichael was a 2019 first-round pick, 25th overall.
“We drafted him in the COVID year,” said MacLellan. “The development of those players was a little challenging. But he’s improved every year with us. And he just keeps improving. He’s a little faster, a little more confident, he’s like our whole team, just getting better.”
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By the first of July, MacLellan had traded for Dubois, winger Andrew Mangiapane, goalie Logan Thompson and defenceman Jakob Chychrun. And given up next to nothing in return. He named Patrick GM on July 8. In all, MacLellan made eight roster additions – altering 40 % of his roster – five of whom were priced under $2 million a year.
The goalie Thompson — who MacLellan believes should have been named to Team Canada — is being paid $766,666 this year. The goalie he shares with, Charlie Lindgren, is the high-priced help at $1 million a year.
And all this without mentioning Spencer Carbery, a likely coach of the year, the former Leafs assistant, who is drawing rave reviews for the second straight season in Washington. How is this group, without Ovechkin, or even with him, this successful?
“I like our team,” said MacLellan. “I know other people don’t. I hear that enough.
“I really think we’re a good team. We’ve added a lot through trades and free agents. Maybe it’s surprising to other people but it’s not that surprising to us. We didn’t expect to be where we are but we expected to be a playoff team.”
Soon, Ovechkin will return. Soon, the focus will go back to his goal scoring. The Capitals welcome the diversion from everyday life.
“There was an outside narrative that all we were doing was trying to get Ovi the record,” said MacLellan. “All we were doing was trying to satisfy him. That couldn’t be further from the truth. All we’re doing is trying to build here. We’ve lost (Nick) Backstrom. We’ve lost (T.J.) Oshie. (Evgeny) Kuznetsov isn’t here anymore. That’s a lot to replace.”
Now players like Dubois and Strome and McMichael are filling those spots along with Chychrun on defence and bit pieces who have fit in rather seamlessly.
A team that almost nobody saw coming. And now it’s there. Go figure. And you still wonder still for how long?
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