Capitals biggest questions heading into the new season:
The Washington Capitals are fifteen days away from starting the pre-season for the upcoming 23-24 season and have a few question marks to answer. The first question is one of the bigger ones to figure out. The question is, ” Has Nicklas Backstrom healed up from his hip resurfacing surgery” and “Can he contribute at a high level.” The second question is ,” How has Tom Wilson recovered from his ACL injury?” The third and final question is, “Can Kuznetsov contribute at a high level?”
Nicklas Backstrom had hip resurfacing surgery back in 2022. He then sat out for a better part of the 22-23 season. He looked slower on ice as well as some of his puck handling skills had gone downhill. This offseason and training camp period is going to be very telling for his ability to perform and play at a high level this season. The team is going to watch and grade his performance before deciding what to do in terms of playing this season.
Tom Wilson tore his ACL and had it surgically repaired. He seemed like he was getting his feet back under him towards the end of last season. This season he seems to be back to his old self however the question remains, is his ACL good to go and can he still skate as hard as he did on it?
Kuznetsov is coming off of one of his worst seasons statistically. There are times when his play looked uninspired and sluggish. During an off season in which rumors flew about Kuznetsov wanting a trade to a new team, he has also denied ever saying as much. With the Capitals having a new coach, power play coach, a lot of people think that this can be a bounce back year for Kuznetsov. The million dollar question is which Kuznetsov comes out and plays for the team, the uninspired player or someone with a desire to prove himself.
