UPDATE: Caps have released the following from their roster: Ness O'Brien Peters Roy Stanton Stephenson
Well maybe that wasn't so tough after all.
It looks like Latta and Beagle will be grabbing the two center spots and Sean Collins will be the extra forward. Taylor Chorney will be the 7th defenseman.
************************************************************************ The Washington Capitals finished up a very strong pre-season with a 6-2 blow out over an inexperienced Islanders team last night at Verizon.
The Caps were led by Alex Ovechkin (2 goals), Evgeny Kuznetsov (1g, 3a), T.J. Oshie (1g, 2a) and John Carlson (1g, 3a) against an Islanders team that was without their star John Tavares and their starting goaltender Jaroslav Halak.
After going 5-0-2 in the pre-season, the Caps are now faced with some tough decisions regarding the opening night roster.
“To be quite honest with you, we made the decisions in the last day here,… said Head Coach, Barry Trotz. “We were just hoping we got through the game with no injuries and if there were injuries we might rethink a couple things.…
With the Caps not opening the season until Saturday, the team has plenty of time to rest up, heal up and get more practice in before their first game against the Devils.
One of the big questions regarding the roster is the fate of PTO Derek Roy, who played a great few games for the Caps. If the team has room for him, Roy has shown that he can still play a solid two-way game, and he would be a strong addition to an already strong team, but anything can happen this time year.
“That’s a joint (decision),… Trotz said. “To be quite honest, we want to know where we are as a team and also have the right role for Derek. That’s really important for us, too, not only for Derek.…
The other big issue is the status of center Nicklas Backstrom, who will not on the opening night roster as he still recovers from off-season hip surgery. Backstrom is practicing but has not taken any contact yet. He is skating very strong and his agility is looking great.
Evgeny Kuznetsov is more than ready to take Backstrom's place alongside Alex Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie. The three have worked very well together this preseason. Kuznetsov finished with 6 points in 5 games, while Ovechkin grabbed 4 goals.
Andre Burakovsky will start the season as the second line center after a solid pre-season. His development has been very strong over the past few months and Barry Trotz has been impressed, giving 'Burra' more responsibility.
With the two top-center spots taken, the 3rd and 4th line center positions are relatively up for grabs, and that's where the decisions need to be made. Jay Beagle will center one of the two, but it could be either Derek Roy or Michael Latta who pick up the other slot. Latta has become a great grinder for Trotz and he has played well with Chimera and Laich, as has Beagle.
Judging by Trotz's earlier quote, he has an idea of how he wants this team to look by Tuesday at 5 when rosters are to be turned in to the league, but Monday will be the day when players' anxiety is high awaiting news of their future.
Whatever happens, the Washington Capitals are poised to do great things this season both as a team and as individual players. This is the strongest Caps team I've seen since the Boudreau-era.
More to come...