Can the Washington Capitals' Offseason Triumph Ignite a Championship Run or Hide Unseen Challenges?

The Washington Capitals were the biggest winners of the offseason. If there was an AP Top 25 poll as there is in college football, the Capitals would be ranked No. 1 given the off-the-ice moves of acquiring players like Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou. In addition, Washington signed Boone Jenner and Vincent Desharnais.

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These moves also allowed Alex Ovechkin to decide to come back for another year instead of retiring. That is what Ovechkin wanted from the start: to see if the Washington Capitals would be competitive moving forward. But GM Chris Patrick has retooled his team on the fly and kept them very competitive in the Eastern Conference.

So it is fair to say that the Washington Capitals are one of the favorite to win the Stanley Cup this season. However, as we have seen in the past, most recently with the Nashville Predators, winning the offseason doesn’t matter, as it sometimes doesn’t lead to results on the ice.

Jim Biringer of NHLRumors.com and Full Press NHL joined Sirius XM NHL Network Radio as a co-host previewing the Metro Division and was asked where the Washington Capitals will finish.

NHLRumors.com Transcriptions

Host: “Everybody thinks the Washington Capitals have done enough. They already have a good formation and foundation. Ovi is back doing his thing, but that’s not even the main piece. They like what the Caps have done, the Tuch addition, and all that kind of stuff. Do you believe in the Washington Capitals as the second best team in the Metropolitan this season, Jim?”

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Jim Biringer: “Yes, I do. I like what they did, the Kyrou edition, the Tuch addition, Desharnais, Jenner, and obviously Cole Hutson, full season, full season out of him. Chris Patrick has really retooled this team on the fly, like changed this thing on the fly. I like their goaltending. Logan Thompson, Lindgren back there, and now Ovi is not the focal point of the offense. That’s right. It’s the other guys.”