ARLINGTON, V.A. — For Ray Bennett and the Washington Capitals, fixing the power play is a priority, but that doesn't just mean putting a Band-Aid on things and hoping that the struggles go away. Instead, they're going to start entirely from scratch.
That was the message Bennett got across on Saturday, as he pulled his power-play units off the ice during their practice to hold a quick meeting about the man advantage.
It was an honest discussion, one that pointed out where the Capitals are falling short and how the team is in desperate need of change there.
"We just looked at some stats briefly in between the practice there, and we're 32nd in the league in multiple things," Dylan Strome said. "It's just not good enough entries, O-zone time with the puck, slot shots, things like that. We're just not getting to the inside enough, and it's nice to get a fresh set of eyes on it and we'll see how it goes from there."
Coach Spencer Carbery appreciated the candor on Bennett's part, but after getting that discussion out of the way, it was time to throw the past year and change out the window, as Bennett called for a clean slate.
"Him just coming in with honesty and saying, 'Let's take a step back and build this thing from square one,' to me, that's the smartest approach," Carbery said. "You don't want any preconceived notions of 'What went on last year? What went on two years ago? Where (Alex Ovechkin) played? Who was out for this?' Wipe it away. Let's build this thing from scratch."
To do that, Bennett established some balance, combining some familiarity in with some of the new faces to create formidable 1A and 1B power-play options for D.C.
The first reunites the familiar five-man unit of Alex Ovechkin, Dylan Strome, Jakob Chychrun and Tom Wilson and Pierre-Luc Dubois, who was limited to just 29 games last year due to injury.
"A lot of communication, a lot of barriers are broken down. They know each other extremely well," Carbery said of that grouping.
Though that unit has a lot of the same pieces, with Ovechkin wide open in his office, Strome on the half-wall, Wilson in the bumper spot and Chychrun quarterbacking on the other point, they're going to move around more, and the body of work will look different.
"It's on us to to find ways to to get Ovi open for the shot, or to just get some traffic in front of the net. Chychy has one of the best shots in the league as a defenseman, so to get some traffic in front and use the shooters that we have, I think that's going to be our success this yea," Strome noted.
That's where Bennett's expertise, from his years of working with the star-studded Colorado Avalanche, among other teams, comes into play.
"Entries will look different. Ray has different ideas," Carbery explained, adding, "Ray has a ton of experience with some really, really high-end power plays, and inevitably, they go stale; I don't care if you have Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, or Alex Ovechkin and John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun. That's where the experience of making subtle adjustkments and moving some guys around and changing your entry or your attack points, moving guys, he's got a lot of experience with that."
The second unit is a newer one, and sees many players playing different roles. Ryan Leonard and incoming freshman Ilya Protas will be vital players on that unit, and newcomers Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch have set roles, too, with Kyrou expected to help with entries and work the half-wall while Tuch operates as the bumper.
All the while, the entire unit will be quarterbacked by rookie defenseman Cole Hutson, who'll serve as the catalyst from point position with his hockey IQ, quick hands and emphasis on lateral movement.
"It's pretty cool to get that trust from the coaching staff," Hutson said. "It's something I'm not going to take for granted at all.
When it comes to how he plans to operate, Hutson said he'll look to pick Bennett's brain, but that he wants to emulate Makar and Evan Bouchard, and more than anyone else, his brother and Montreal Canadiens star defenseman Lane Hutson.
"I watched so many of his games last year. I think just the way he moves that early on the blue line is pretty cool, so I kind of learned from him," he noted.
Washington had the eighth-worst power-play last season, and the goal this year is to get it back in the top-10, with Bennett pointing out that nine of the top-10 power-play teams made the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
That being said, the Capitals are hoping that the man advantage is headed in the right direction. They also know that it falls on the players on the ice to not only make the power play among the best in the league, but to also generate energy for the group, something it didn't do last season.
"Ultimately, it comes down to us you know producing and scoring goals in the power play and creating chances and and you know keeping momentum for our team," Strome said. "Everyone's excited when we get a power play, but I feel like last year, too many times when the power play was over, it was like we lost momentum for the team, and that just can't happen. At the end of the day, it cost us a few games for sure.
"We've had some success before as a unit of five, and I think just coming into it with an open mind and not being selfish and realizing that each unit is probably going to play around a minute depending on who starts on the power play — at the end of the day, if the team wins and the team's successful, (you're) putting yourself in a real good spot to be a successful team."
