Connor McMichael (Caps Outsider)
A new era of Washington Capitals hockey is here. It’s starting with a chase, but not the one you’re thinking. Its a chase for a team accomplishment, a playoff spot, rather than the biggest individual record in the game.
The Alex Ovechkin era of Capitals hockey came to an end on March 18, 2024 in Calgary. No, he didn’t retire or get traded or have a career ending injury, but with the number of players left from the 2018 Stanley Cup Championship dwindling, and young players stepping up, it’s time for a change. Call it The Chase Era, or The Transition Era, whatever you want to call it started Monday night in Alberta.
For the first time since early January, the team is in a playoff spot, despite having sold at the trade deadline. The Caps are in the thick of a playoff race for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
But it isn’t the veterans that were brought in to continue the team’s contention window following the 2018 Stanley Cup helping propel the team into the race. It’s the young players like Connor McMichael, Hendrix Lapierre, Rasmus Sandin and Ivan Miroshnichenko, 11 games into his NHL career. Not to mention, Charlie Lindgren, a 30-year-old goalie who up until last season, had just 29 games of NHL experience.
It isn’t a savvy veteran head coach either. It’s Spencer Carbery, the youngest coach in the league in his first season.
The team is deeply flawed. Just one look at their -27 goal differential will tell you that. But who said a flawed team can’t make a surprising run?
Who knows what the next month will bring. Will the team make the playoffs? Will they come up just short? Whatever the result is, enjoy the ride. This is just the first season of a new era in Capitals hockey.
