It's the middle of the Summer and the Washington Capitals have been among the quietest teams in the NHL.
As I wrote the other day, most of their moves have been of the internal variety. They hired a new coach, who was already an associate coach under Barry Trotz, and they re-signed John Carlson, Devonte Smith-Pelly and Michel Kempny.
But as for adding to the team? Not so much.
But aren't they the Stanley Cup Champs? Do they need to add?
As you can see from this handy depth chart, the Capitals maintain a top-heavy roster.
Their top two lines and first defensive pairing is pretty sweet. But after that, like Murtaugh's retirement plans, it gets a bit thin.
Looking at the roster, you can see the Capitals are deep at centre, goalie (though they could use a new backup, obviously) and left wing.
On right wing, they're not very good. Tom Wilson might be the absolute worst right winger on a first line in the NHL, and Oshie is declining fast.
The fourth line is terrible. DSP is a replacement player, Stephensen and Walker are not much, if any better. The Capitals lack depth in the lineup for sure.
The defense with Orlov, Niskanen and Carlson is very good, but the Capitals need someone better than Madison Bowey.
To sum up: the Capitals could use a first line right winger, an entirely new fourth line, a fifth or sixth defenseman and a back-up goalie.
In the coming days, I'll review some options for those positions, internally and externally.
Washington Capitals Blogger • 
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