The Washington Capitals look to be breaking out of their 1/4 season slump.

With a very respectable victory against the quietly, high-scoring Tampa Bay Lightning, the Caps are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games, with a 14-10-5 overall record for 3rd in the Metro with 33 points.

The last few games have seen the Capitals look more tenacious on the puck. They have been giving opposing teams less space and getting to loose pucks more quickly. This has opened up a lot of ice for players like Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Backstrom (who scored a hattrick against Tampa on Saturday).

However, Ovechkin has been struggling lately to find the back of net. He has 3 goals in his last 8 games, including a 4 game stretch where he failed to register a point. It's not like he hasn't been trying though. Ovechkin has been firing shots at the net, including a season-high 9 shots against Columbus two games ago, and he leads the league in shots with 135.

The Caps are in need of a more consistent wave of secondary scoring.

Nick Backstrom tallied three against the Lightning on Saturday, but he isn't going to contribute like that night-in and night-out as he plays the role of set-up man.

Evgeny Kuznetsov has been looking very good lately, but he needs to play with skilled players and not power forwards. I don't like him very much with Johansson, either.

Burakovsky has lost his confidence and tired himself out, and now he's stuck on the third or fourth line unless he's scratched.

The only other threats the Caps have are Joel Ward and Troy Brouwer. Ward usually contributes well, but lately hasn't had much luck on offense. The same can be said for Brouwer, who had goals in back-to-back games against the Lightning and Blue Jackets, but has only scored 8 times in 29 games this year. Both Ward and Brouwer are still on pace for their usual numbers, but if the Caps want to compete they're going to need a little more 'umph' up front.

The Trade Freeze is coming up, and chances are the Caps aren't going to do anything going into the first month of the New Year. There is no hint at what they are looking to do to fix anything, and there shouldn't be because this is still a year of transition and they have a lot of contracts ending at the end of the season.

At this point in the year, however, I can see them parting ways with Mike Green and renting him out to the highest bidder.

If (when) they do trade Green, they're going to have to get a roster player in return. The Caps do have a few young, talented players waiting in the wings, but they need to stop screwing around with the time they have left with Ovechkin and Backstrom.

Like Giroux and Voracek in Philadelphia, Ovechkin and Backstrom are almost being wasted as the team around them doesn't play up to the expectations of the coaches and management.

The Caps need secondary scoring help in the form of a veteran player and not a rookie.

The elusive second line center issue is going to haunt the Caps until they make the proper move to obtain one. The loss of Grabovski in the offseason was a mistake, and I can't imagine how he would have looked with Burakovsky or Kuznetsov.

I have no doubt this is an almost impossible task, as the Caps would have to be a position to give up Green (as a rental) to a team who is willing to give up a quality center-man and still have a good playoff run. I can't help to think, however, of the Kings and Mike Richards.

If the Kings saw value in Green for a playoff run, it could help their cap issue by renting him for the rest of the season and giving up Richards. Richards' contract is up in 2019 with a cap hit of $5.75M, and the Kings need to re-sign key, young players.

At 29, Richards is at the tail end of his prime, but that doesn't mean he couldn't still contribute with the right team and the right coach. He's a natural leader, and someone the Caps desperately need. As a 4th line center with the Kings, he's not able to play the game he was once used to. He has 12 points in 30 games this season and is averaging 14:31 of ice time a game.

With the Capitals, he would take on second line minutes and play with more skillful players.
His two-way game is something the Caps need as well, and, under Trotz, I think Richards would be a nice fit.

There is the whole Ovechkin issue though. Could Richards and Ovechkin get along?
Well I guess they'd just have to, wouldn't they?

It could work.

I'm sure this isn't going to happen though, but it's fun to speculate.

What veteran do you think the Caps should kick the tires on?

More to come...

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