I was going to preview training camp, but I just didn't have the stomach to recap the garbage summer the Capitals had. No matter what GM Brian MacLellan ever accomplishes, he'll always be the guy who traded Marcus Johansson for a sandwich.
Trading Johansson in a panic after completely botching the expansion draft, free agency and (one assumes) cooking breakfast, MacLellan should no longer be running an NHL team.
But of course he still is.
I could write about how Ovechkin is looking to recapture his game, or I could write about the new goalie coach or I could just post this hilarious list of "NHL Additions" published in today's Washington Post (Democracy Dies in the Dark Dawg).
John Albert (Karpat in Finnish league, free agent), Tyler Graovac (Minnesota Wild/Iowa in AHL, trade), Anthony Peluso (Winnipeg Jets/Manitoba Moose in AHL, free agency), Wayne Simpson (Providence in AHL, free agency), Devante Smith-Pelly (New Jersey Devils, free agent)
I have just one question: Is that the Tyler Graovac?
Oh man did this team botch the off-season worse than John Keats botched his fourth elegy, or what? Just kidding, John Keats never botched anything. The man was a genius.
What is there to say? Everyone is optimistic, cause it's training camp, but should they be? Its not like this team sucks or anything. But after losing at least five impact players, their depth is completely gone. Sure, the stars are still here and there are quite a few of them, but the team is so top-heavy now.
It's not like they're going to be bad, and it will be honestly interesting to see how it plays out. I vacillate between thinking that no team with Ovechkin, Backstrom, Kuznetsov, Orlov, Niskanen, Burakovsky, Connolly, Oshie, Carlson and Holtby can possibly miss the playoffs, and thinking that any team that brags about the addition of Devente Smith-Pelly is probably screwed.
Ultimately, I don't the good players will be good enough to compensate for the bad players. Unless the Capitals find a taker for Orpik in order to free up some cap room, they are going to be in tough in the best division in hockey.
It will be fun to see what happens.