The Washington Capitals were Eastern Conference titans in the 2024-25 regular season, but this year's Capitals are a study in mediocrity despite standout individual efforts. What's the key for them to end their prolonged slump?
At this time last season, the Washington Capitals were on a six-game win streak, and their 33-10-5 record put them atop the Metropolitan Division and the Eastern Conference.
By the time the regular season ended, the Capitals finished first in the East with a 51-22-9 mark. Although the Caps were still in the Alexander Ovechkin Era, the team's future under coach Spencer Carbery looked bright.
Then this season rolled around, and something odd happened: the Capitals became rather ordinary. Washington started the year strongly, going 6-2-0 in the first 10 percent of their season.
Since then, the Caps have gone 19-19-6, and they’re currently in 12th place in the East, recently ending a four-game losing skid. The really strange thing is that their mediocrity has happened while certain individual players are having very good seasons.
For instance, starting goalie Logan Thompson has been terrific, with a .914 save percentage and 2.35 goals-against average. Veterans Tom Wilson and Ovechkin are both leading the team with 44 points, while Dylan Strome, John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun have combined for 118 points. Washington also has the NHL’s eighth-best defense, averaging 2.85 goals-against.
But the Capitals’ overall offense isn’t nearly so impressive. When they were in the midst of their four-game losing streak, they generated just nine goals. They need improvement in that regard right away. But that doesn’t mean they should press the panic button in D.C., and Carbery explained what the issue is with his team.
“At the end of the day, we're just making too many big mistakes," Carbery told THN.com after the Capitals’ loss to the lowly Vancouver Canucks. "I sound like a broken record, but that's just the reality of it. We're making massive, massive mistakes. And it's throughout — you just can't in this league, it's just too competitive. You just cannot give free goals, and that's what we're doing too much."
The Capitals presently have $7.25 million in salary cap space, and that amount more than doubles if they use it at the March 6 trade deadline. So the Washington brass has every reason to go out and acquire help for them to (a) make a playoff push, and (b) go far in the post-season once the playoffs begin.
The Caps’ regular season dominance didn’t do them much good in the 2025 playoffs, so the focus for Washington is to be a stronger team in mid-April than they are leading up to that point. The Capitals have a lot of talent, so panicking won’t save their season. They need slow-but-sure improvements starting now.
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