Here are 17 thoughts on the Capitals as the team officially hits the halfway mark of the season.

WASHINGTON — Another Sunday, and another busy week for the Washington Capitals. Alex Ovechkin is ailing, the team is still looking for offense and the second half of the season is officially here.

That said, here are our 17 Things for this week.

17 Things

1. Alex Ovechkin has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury he suffered back on Jan. 5 against the Carolina Hurricanes. For those who missed it, Ovechkin collided with Jordan Staal, and the two appeared to also clip legs while the 38-year-old took the brunt of that fall to the back of his left leg.

After playing through a couple of game-time decisions, the team had him sit out the home-and-home with the New York Rangers — and that was the right call. The ailment held him out for four of five practices, and even at Thursday's optional skate, he was on and off the ice. Now, it's a wait-and-see situation for Tuesday against the Anaheim Ducks, but something tells me his ability to play through it means it's not long-term. That's just an opinion, though.

2. Speaking of Ovechkin, he has some new gear and some new custom-made sticks. They aren't affiliated with any of the big markets like Bauer or CCM, which makes sense, considering he's a free agent and not under any contract. The sticks have his own logo on them, and they also read "Pro Stock. Intended for Ovie use only" on the back. Not too shabby for the greatest goal scorer of all time, and he's been able to keep his six-game point streak alive with them.

3. With Ovechkin absent, head coach Spencer Carbery has discovered two decent line combinations: Pacioretty-Strome-Oshie has been a fun trio to watch, combining for two of the team's three goals over the last two games. Per NaturalStatTrick, the three of them have combined for a 64.71 Corsi-for percentage and 75 percent shots-for percentage, with 15 shots for and just five against. Oshie himself has also been spectacular since returning from injury with goals in two of the last three games.

Another trio that looked solid at 5-on-5 and was tried out against the Rangers: Dowd-Kuznetsov-Wilson (you can switch Dowd and Kuznetsov as you so please, both are centers and both interchanged on the wing depending on who took the draw). They had a 68.75 CF% at 5-on-5 and 85.71 scoring chances for percentage.

4. That said, I do wonder if Kuznetsov to the wing is going to become something of a regular occurrence here. Kuznetsov has shown that he can play the wing and has looked decent in a small sample size there, and over the last two games, it appeared he was more willing to play the wing while Hendrix Lapierre and Dowd handled things at the face-off dot.

5. Washington does want the best from Kuznetsov going forward and needs it at this critical halfway point of the season. He showed some great flashes of play (just look at his wraparound pass to set up Dowd); if he can give that consistently, things would be different for D.C. Again, I don't see him moving mid-season considering his cap hit and current value, but the offseason could be a different conversation.

6. Speaking of Dowd, he's been driving a lot of offense of late, and his fourth line continues to be outstanding. He has points in five of his last seven games, including two game-opening goals and one game-tying goal. Carbery said he's seeing a more confident player in Dowd, but noted not much has changed with regard to his approach or systems.

7. If Dowd maintains this level of play, though, he could have quite a few suitors that the Capitals could be taking calls on if they elect to sell at the deadline. Per The Daily Faceoff, teams will be "lining up" for Dowd's services and playing like this could fetch a big return.

8. That brings us to the topic of Washington's trade deadline approach, and it truly is all up in the air right now. The Capitals are just three points out of a Wild Card spot, and not everything is doom and gloom in the Nation's Capital. Things have been notably shaky since returning from the break, though, as the team has dropped seven of the last 10 games. If a losing trend continues, Dowd's name could be on the block, and the team could look to sell some red-hot assets at the deadline in order to build for the future.

9. Who else would that include? I wouldn't be surprised if a right-handed defenseman like Nick Jensen could end up on the block, or even a veteran like Joel Edmundson. Other pending UFAs like Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Anthony Mantha and Max Pacioretty may also be of interest. And in net, Charlie Lindgren's impressive play and low cap hit could attract Cup-contending teams hunting for a goaltender and lead to some calls. Whether the Capitals will take them is another story that i don't have an answer for.

10. This is all just noise and speculation at this point, though, not gospel. After all, the standings will ultimately decide how this team approaches things come deadline time on March 8 at 3 p.m. ET. That said, the room is tight-knit. The guys adore each other, so now, it's up to them to play for each other and keep each other in D.C.

11. Going back to Lindgren, he's all but stolen the starting job, and this weekend's performance against his brother's New York Rangers put to rest any doubt. Among goaltenders with at least 900 minutes played, Lindgren ranks first in save percentage (.929), and his .961 SV% from mid-range ranks in the 99th percentile league-wide. His GSAA is also through the roof.

Overall, he has been a savior for the Capitals this season and is a big reason why Washington is still very much in this thing, and I think the organization values that, too, rather than just seeing his play as an asset to sell at the deadline if the circumstances call for it. Still, business is business, and the team does have to think of the future.

12. I also think that there's a bit too much criticism with regard to Darcy Kuemper. While he's struggled at times, and while there are goals that he certainly wants back, he's not performing terribly for D.C. Is his stat line of a .891 save percentage and 3.27 GAA the most impressive? No, but he's come up with big saves when necessary, and Lindgren made a good point when advocating for his goaltending partner: over his career, he's brought consistency, and stats don't tell the whole story about a netminder's performance.

13. That said, there are two very promising netminders also impressing in the system: Hunter Shepard has impressed and grown into a No. 1 with Hershey, but Clay Stevenson has really stepped up in his first AHL season to earn an All-Star nomination and continuously impress night after night.

14. Speaking of AHL All-Stars, I was surprised to see that Pierrick Dube didn't earn a trip to the festivities. His 19 goals through 37 games rank fourth league-wide, and he's been surging of late for Hershey. It's a great sign for the Capitals, who signed Dube to a two-year, entry-level contract in July, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him rewarded with a call-up when the time comes.

15. On to the NHL All-Star Game: the voters have spoken, and Tom Wilson will be the Capitals' sole representative. The two teams that had a lot of pull in the fan vote were the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks, but there are still several franchises with just one representative. The Metro's lack of defence, though, is a sight to behold and will be fun to watch at the game. Wilson will only be a part of the skills competition if he is voted in by the fans, per the new format; he hit the century mark when he did it two seasons back.

16. Back to the future: it's bright. Ryan Leonard picked up right where he left off at World Juniors, wanting to fight everyone on Providence and adding to his goal-scoring total (if he isn't the next Tom Wilson, I don't know who is). Fellow 2023 draft pick Andrew Cristall, who went in the second round, is also now riding a 20-game point streak with the WHL's Kelowna Rockets. Another prospect to keep an eye on is Alexander Suzdalev, who is absolutely tearing it up in his return to North America.

17. Some injury and lineup notes: Sonny Milano (upper-body) and Rasmus Sandin (upper-body) remain in non-contact jerseys and are still progressing in their respective recoveries. Matthew Phillips remains the odd man out up front, but I could see Carbery giving him another game here, with roster decisions looming when the team is healthy again. The same goes for Alex Alexeyev, who has not played since Nov. 24.