Potential for improvement
The offense was the problem child last season. 215 goals scored during play meant only 28th place in the NHL overall rankings. It almost seems like a miracle that they even managed to qualify for the playoffs. The problems with creating dangerous plays start at the face-off point. The Capitals only won 46.7 percent of puck shots last season. That meant the fifth worst result of all 32 league representatives.
There is also room for improvement in the special teams. The success rates of 20.6 percent in the power play (18th place) and 79.0 percent in the penalty killing (19th place) were pretty poor and were one of the reasons why Washington had to worry about making it into the postseason until the very end.
Promising talents
Three young players will try to make the NHL squad in training camp: 19-year-old forward Ryan Leonhard, one-year-old attacker Ivan Miroshnichenko, and 21-year-old defenseman Vincent Iorio.
Leonhard (overall pick No. 8 in the 2023 NHL Draft) impressed at Boston College in 2023/24 with 60 points from 41 games. Miroshnichenko (No. 20 in the 2022 NHL Draft) made 21 appearances and scored six points for the Capitals and 47 games and scored 25 points for the AHL farm team Hershey. Iorio (No. 55 in the 2021 NHL Draft) got a taste of NHL action six times with Washington. He did not manage to score a single point. Unlike his appearances in Hershey, where he scored 14 points from 60 games.
Playoff chances
The Capitals have lost their reputation as a sure-fire contender for a place in the postseason. Nevertheless, thanks to their new signings, they should make it to the finals in 2024/25, at least via one of the two wildcards in the East. However, this requires that the attack department improves significantly compared to last year and that the team is spared long-term losses of other key players.
