Month: March 2023

Washington acquired two roster players at the deadline: Craig Smith (from Boston) and Rasmus Sandin (from Toronto). Neither has improved the team.

Smith has been, mostly, invisible skating as RW on the third line. Nothing terribly bad, just nothing positive.

Sandin, garnering praise for gathering 10 points (1 G 9 A) in 7 games, has been – in my mind – a disaster. He’s quickly become the biggest defensive liability on the team. Ovechkin would be a better choice on the blue line!

There are a number of players in Hershey who would both improve the Caps standing by playing and could get the experience they need for next season by being brought up to Washington.

Of course, the Caps would need new coaches and management for that to happen. I hear Bruce Boudreau is available.

With their chances of making the playoffs fast approaching zero, the Washington Capitals (#ALLCAPS) need to think about what their fans want to see so that they can retain an interest in the team. The one thing that stands out is the goal-scoring of Alex Ovechkin, the Gr8.

I cannot fathom why the coach continues to have Evgeny Kuznetsov center Ovi’s line – that combo is the worst Ovi’s been on all season. The best? When Strome centers and Sheary is on the right wing. I’m no Sheary fan (he turns the puck over far too often) but somehow he appears to complement 8 and 17.

With that in mind, the forward lines I’d like to see are:

Ovechkin – Strome – Sheary
Protas – Kuznetsov – Wilson
Milano – Backstrom – Oshie
Mantha – Dowd – Aube-Kubel

Let’s help Ovi get goals and – at the same time – help the team win a reasonable number of games in what’s left of this disappointing season.