But in the Washington Capitals’ sweep at the hands of the New York Rangers, which ended with Sunday night’s 4-2 loss, Ovechkin couldn’t find the net, not once. It’s symbolic, really, because the four straight first-round losses that ushered the Caps out of these Stanley Cup playoffs showed that this franchise, defined by Ovechkin for so long, is in need of transition. And soon.
The Caps’ core won the Cup. The Caps’ core can do it no more. Let’s go, kids. It’s time.
In so many ways, the experience of those four games — regardless of the results — was important. Think about how fragile it was even to get here: Fail to beat Tampa Bay, Boston and Philadelphia over the course of four nights to close the regular season, and the Capitals’ year would have been more than a week in the rearview. They would have missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons for the first time since Ovechkin’s rookie and sophomore seasons — which would be back in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Instead, Washington had eight players make their postseason debuts against the Rangers.
“It’s huge,” Capitals veteran Tom Wilson said. “You realize at this time of year what it takes, how hard it is. … It’s just different. It’s a different animal.”
In that sense, the Rangers provided the ideal foil. They set the standard as the team with the NHL’s best record in the regular season. In the series, their considerable skill was on display, but so was their take-care-of-business, do-your-job approach. They won the series not because they overwhelmed the Capitals, but because they were a smidgen — at least — better in every single area. They’re a perfect model for what the Capitals once were, and would like to become again.
“New York is right there at the top with some of the teams that expect to win the Stanley Cup,” first-year coach Spencer Carbery said. “So it’s a good measuring stick moment to see, ‘Okay, this is the level that I’m trying to aspire to get to and be able to do it consistently.”
In saying that, Carbery stopped himself. He just completed his first season as an NHL head coach.
“I don’t care what our scenario [is] — rebuild, youngest team in the league,” he said. “It will not matter to me and we will never be satisfied if we,” and he went for air quotes here, “ ‘gained experience,’ ‘got into the playoffs.’
“Because to me, that’s a loser’s mind-set. … You should have a mind-set that you expect to win, and you expect to get in the playoffs, and you expect to beat the New York Rangers in the first round. And anything short of that is a failure.”
The tone is set, then. The Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018, a franchise-altering spring that secured the legacy of Ovechkin and Co. But only four players who had a hand in raising that chalice suited up Sunday night. They are simultaneously trying to rebuild while the old guard ages out, and it’s hard. The Caps have now played five playoff series since taking the Cup. Their record: 0-5.
In Carbery, they would appear to have their coaching bridge from Ovechkin’s era to whatever lies beyond. What these past two years show is that they need a further overhaul of the roster. For the first time in the past few offseasons, it may well be possible.
The unsettled nature of this season began when franchise pillar Nicklas Backstrom decided, after eight games, that his resurfaced hip wouldn’t allow him to play to his standard, and he stepped away from the game. If Backstrom retires this summer, there could be some financial relief from the $9.2 million he counts against next year’s salary cap.
Either way, Backstrom’s contract is up after 2024-25, as is that of T.J. Oshie, whose chronically bad back continues to limit him — and may have him pondering what to do next season as well.
Even with no relief in either of those situations, the Caps will have nearly $7 million of available cap space, according to Spotrac. They should be able to augment a roster that needs improvement, particularly in the speed department. And then the following offseason — as Ovechkin heads into the campaign when he hopes to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark for goals scored — they’ll have the space to truly spend in free agency.
What the Rangers series showed, too, is that in order for the next few seasons to be more successful than the last few, a transition from the players who won the Cup to the new core has to start in earnest. That has to be in minutes and production. As long as they have stalls in the locker room, Ovechkin, Oshie, John Carlson and Wilson will set whatever tone the Caps want to set. But the era when that quartet can lead the team statistically has passed.
So take Hendrix Lapierre, still just 22 and entrusted with centering Ovechkin’s line Sunday night. When the Caps trailed in the second period and badly needed someone to something — anything — here came Lapierre, slicing through the Rangers’ defense, getting a backhand on goalie Igor Shesterkin, then poking home his own rebound. More of that was needed in this series. More importantly now: More of it is needed over the course of next season.
That’s from Lapierre, who will probably play his first full season in the NHL. But it’s from Connor McMichael, too. And Aliaksei Protas. And Rasmus Sandin. And Ivan Miroshnichenko. The kids can’t be along for the ride, waiting to follow Ovechkin et al. They have to begin driving the franchise. And someone among them — maybe Ryan Leonard, last year’s first-round draft pick who will return to Boston College for a second season — will have to become a star.
Because the stars of old have the Cup, but the stars of old are fading. The Capitals weren’t embarrassed by the Rangers, even in a sweep. But they also weren’t close to the class of the league. The climb back awaits — and the characters have to change.
Apsny News English
