Offseason report: Washington Capitals

From July 16-Aug 16, we’ll be profiling all 30 NHL teams by recapping what they did this offseason and previewing their upcoming campaigns.

2011-12 season

42-32-8, 92 points. Second in Southeast Division, seventh in the Eastern Conference.

Additions

Joey Crabb, Wojtek Wolski, Mike Ribeiro, Jack Hillen

Departures

Dennis Wideman, Alex Semin, Jeff Halpern, Keith Aucoin, Cody Eakin, Mike Knuble, Tomas Vokoun

2012 Draft

First round, 11th overall — RW Filip Forsberg (Leksands, Sweden); 16th overall – RW Tom Wilson (Plymouth, OHL)

Looking back

Despite all the significant changes to the roster and the signing of defenseman Mike Green to a new contract, the biggest move GM George McPhee made this summer might’ve been hiring head coach Adam Oates.

Washington’s transformation from run-and-gun to collapse-and-block since its shock first-round elimination at the hands of the Canadiens two years ago has been nothing short of remarkable. The Caps scored just 222 goals last season, 60 fewer than league-leading Pittsburgh. That compares to the 318 Washington racked up in 2009-10 under head coach Bruce Boudreau, who was fired in November and replaced by Dale Hunter.

Hunter promised the Caps would be “really responsible defensively” and delivered on that promise. In the playoffs, Washington managed to score just over two goals per game, yet with a game plan that saw Alex Ovechkin riding the pine when the team held the slightest of leads, fell one win short of advancing to the conference finals.

Looking forward

There’s not a whole lot more McPhee absolutely has to do before the season starts, though with ample cap space he could make a move should an opportunity arise.

RFA defenseman John Carlsson still needs to be re-signed, but that shouldn’t be a problem.

McPhee might also look at adding another defenseman for depth and/or a scoring winger to replace Semin.

Have your say

Vote in our poll and let us know what you think of Washington’s 2012-13 outlook in the comments section.