Washington's Woes

The Washington Capitals are one of those teams that captured nothing but headlines at the start of the season, but have rolled by the way-side down the stretch. Young Superstars Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semin are a dynamic pair of young NHL superstars, but the team's recent slump can hardly be attributed to the pair struggling mightily in the crunch.

The heralded two-way physical play of Ovechkin from fans and critics alike in year one, has silenced considerably this season as he is currently a minus 18 and often appears lost in the defensive zone. Perhaps the effort has not quite been the same in his defensive game this year, but the hard nosed two way play has rarely been seen in his game to this point.

Combine Ovechkin's recent defensive struggles with the fact that Semin has not been able to duplicate his great start to the season, and there is little surprise that the Capitals have slid in the standings. Rarely can a team win important games when their best player has the worst plus/minus rating on the team.

While this team is dynamic, there are still some glaring areas that require improvement; and the most important of these is a lack of a veteran shutdown defenceman. The Capitals have some young D-men that are being asked to do too much right now. The potential for a couple of these youngsters to develop into studs is there, but the Caps need some veteran presence to allow them to develop and help instill confidence.

Mike Green, Steve Eminger and Milan Jurcina have the potential to excel at the NHL level, but some of the big pressure minutes they currently play need to be eaten up by a steady veteran that can offer leadership and consistency to a team desperately in need of just that.

Just to press the point, the Capitals record with Olaf Kolzig between the pipes is 20-19-6, while their record with Brent Johnson is a dismal 5-14-6. Although Johnson has not had a poor season, he does not offer his young defence any leeway for mistakes, which in turn has resulted in some piling up in the loss column. Kolzig has quietly had another strong season and actually had this team in contention for a playoff spot until his injury at the start of February put the Capitals rebuilding process on hold for yet another year.

This is a team that completely cleaned house to build with youth and they appear to be sticking to their guns; and are making considerable progress. However, Kolzig is not getting any younger and this team is ready to add some veterans to their lineup to give themselves the best possible opportunity to get to the next level. Here's to hoping the Capitals can possibly find what their looking for in this summer's free agent pool and climb to the next level by this point next season.