I Have Not Been This Concerned About The Future Of The Washington Capitals In My Entire Life

Rob Carr. Getty Images.

The handshake line. Very sad. Perhaps the saddest you can be every year as a hockey fan. Only one team gets to lift the Cup, and this year it will not be the Washington Capitals, after they lost last night in game 5 to the Bruins. 

It was a series that though the Caps had home ice, we were never the favorites. I'm not an excuse guy, but I have never seen a team more banged up heading into the playoffs. Ovi, Backstrom, and Carlson were all hurt in the final week of the regular season, Samsonov and Kuzy were on the COVID list, and Oshie couldn't even do morning skates. It was just the absolute worst time for the entire team to get injured, and though they battled through it, the Bruins didn't relent and were clearly the better team from game 2 onwards. I do not think they mailed it in, they simply did not have the juice needed to compete with a team as good as the B's. That team is dangerous as fuck and deserved the series.

But now, we need to look to the future and for the first time in a long, longgggg time, I am a bit concerned. There are so many question marks heading into the offseason. 

First off- can we get Kuznetsov off of this team? I mean, thank you for your service or whatever, but that dude has GOT to go. I don't even know if Seattle takes him if he's left unprotected, that's how much the league has soured on him. If Seattle doesn't take him, hopefully we can move him for a draft pick or something, but I do not think he should be wearing a Caps sweater come next season.

Speaking of Seattle- who else gets left unprotected? Oshie has a backloaded contract and turns 35 in December, making him a prime candidate to become the first ever captain of the Kraken. It would deeply sadden me and every other Caps fan to see him go, but it might be a business decision they have to strongly unfortunately consider. 

I don't think John Carlson gets left unprotected, for those who are tossing his name around, but if he was it wouldn't necessarily be the MOST shocking thing in the world I suppose.

And then, there is Ovechkin. 

Our beloved Alex Ovechkin is no longer under contract. He didn't want to negotiate during the season and now we have a long off-season of wondering what happens. And here is my very sad take on it- people who think he won't play anywhere else besides Washington (or Russia) are delusional. It happens in every sport, every year- a legend signs with a new team and we talk about how weird it is. Roger Clemens played for the Yankees. Tom Brady left New England. So why do we think Ovechkin won't go somewhere to finish his career? Even Wayne Gretzky played for 4 teams. I don't ever want to see Ovi wear any other sweater, but would it be shocking? Absolutely not. This is a business and he wants to win. The Caps, as sad as it is to say, are not as set up to win a Cup as a dozen other teams. 

The Caps are as in flux as I can ever remember. At least the last time we rebuilt, we knew it was a rebuild. This is some sort of half-rebuild as is (due to the Seattle thing) but could also be a full rebuild if Ovi leaves, Oshie leaves, Carlson leaves, and then others could be traded. 

I hate writing this, but we could possibly be in for a tough next few seasons. I hope I am thinking worst possible scenario, but I am seeing the writing on the wall and I fucking hate it, but it's there.