The Capitals are actually good this season and here’s why

After dropping their season opener to the New Jersey Devils, Washington has won four in a row and has done so against formidable competition. The Caps beat the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and then the Devils in a rematch, before trouncing over the struggling Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night. 

They’ll play Philly again in the second half of a back-to-back series on Wednesday, looking to make it five straight.

The way the Capitals are winning seems much more sustainable than last season, when their offense struggled to control play and many of their victories were due to puck luck and goaltender Charlie Lindgren’s heroics. In all five of Washington’s games thus far, the team has lit the lamp at least three times, and it is getting solid production from all areas.

Dylan Strome has emerged as a bona fide star, with eight points in five games. Tom Wilson has been a goal-scoring machine, finding the back of the net in each of Washington’s first four contests. Connor McMichael is performing at a point-per-game pace as he continues to develop into a core piece of the team’s future and John Carlson remains one of the NHL’s best offensive blue-liners. 

Then, of course, there is Alex Ovechkin, who has only tallied once thus far, but leads the team in shots on goal, so he’s due for some positive progression.

Many of Washington’s offseason acquisitions have made a difference as well. Andrew Mangiapane was the headline addition, and he’s already scored multiple times including a short-handed goal against the Flyers (one of two “shorties” that the Caps scored on Tuesday). 

Defenseman Jakob Chychrun has been perhaps the biggest needle-mover thus far, though, as he and Carlson have absolutely dominated the opposition while they’ve been on the ice.

The rest of Washington’s roster is filled with formidable depth, with a solid mixture of emerging youth and savvy veterans earning their share of ice time each night. Bringing back Jakub Vrana has seemed to reignite the speedy forward whose career had fallen on hard times since being traded by Washington in 2021, and retaining fourth-line center Nic Dowd during last season’s sell-off has proved to be the right call.

All in all, it’s about as promising of a start for Washington as one could have realistically hoped for. Former general manager Brian MacLellan did an impressive job of fixing his team’s roster holes before stepping down from his position late last summer, and second-year head coach Spencer Carbery has his revamped squad quickly building some superb chemistry. 

The Capitals’ 2023-24 playoff berth may have been largely a product of smoke and mirrors, but what it did accomplish was keeping the organization in a mindset of maximizing its opportunities. That has paid off thus far this season, and if the Caps keep up their hot start, this team should be their best one in several years.