Washington Capitals 2022-23 Season Preview
The Washington Capitals will begin their 82-game regular season tonight against the Boston Bruins. The puck drops at 7:00 pm EST in the District at Capital One Arena.
Tonight will be the third year the Capitals are under command of Peter Laviolette, a team where just a year ago he became the winningest American-born head coach in the NHL. The Capitals have produced a record of 83-49-17 through the two regular and postseasons with Laviolette in charge. However, they have yet to win a playoff series in the Laviolette Era in D.C. and will be looking to do so this year.
Just two days ago the final 23-man roster was released, and there are few new faces in the District for the Capitals’ 2022-23 campaign.
All that’s left is to drop the puck.#ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/d7EV8yryLM
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 10, 2022
The Capitals will be without forwards, Tom Wilson, Nicklas Backstrom, and Carl Hagelin, for a large chunk of time to begin their season. However, the absence of these stars means that it is an opportunity for some of the newer guys to step up big time to fill these stars’ shoes.
Some of the guys the team will be looking toward to fill the roles of Wilson and Backstrom will be seasoned young gun forward, Dylan Strome, who is only 25 years old but has been playing in the NHL since the 2016-17 season, as well as Connor Brown, the former Senator winger. Brown got on the score sheet in three of the four preseason games he appeared in showcasing his offensive efficiency. There is no doubt that these two hungry goal scorers have fit in just right with the rest of the team, and will be looking to keep their feet on the gas going into the regular season.
The biggest change going into this season is the arrival of Stanley Cup Champion goaltender, Darcy Kuemper. He had been passed around to several teams before finding a home in Denver last year, where he averaged 2.5 goals against per game and a save percentage of 92%. Kuemper looked strong in the preseason, recording 2 wins in two starts to go along with 67 saves on 72 shots faced.
So the Caps have a very different roster for opening night than what they have had in the past seasons. Nevertheless, with the goal-scoring ability of Ovechkin and Mantha still present to team up with the play-making ability of John Carlson, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and T.J. Oshie, there is no doubt D.C. will have their eyes on the Stanley Cup.
