First let me say, I was going to write about what Matt Bradley said about Alexander Semin but I don't wanna get into the he said she said stuff. Instead, I found an interesting article (either on ESPN or NHL .com, and of course I can't find it) just last week that stated which player on each team in the league has to improve for his team to have a better season. Of course for the Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin was named. I have a few issues with that. Unless you have closely followed Ovechkin since Boudreau took over, then you wouldn't really have a clue in if Ovechkin had a good or bad season last year.
Let's start with the obvious, first we all know point production was down. Ovechkin scored his lowest goal total ever by 14 goals. His point total the lowest by only 7 points. First thing to argue there is that Ovechkin has begun to set teammates up and pass the puck more rather than force shots. While it wasn't his career high in assists, it was only 6 off the pace. His plus/minus was almost half of what it was the year before, but that has to do with the Caps new defense first system. One positive is that his penalty minutes went down from 89 to 41, which is his lowest as a Cap. Power play goals have decreased since scoring 65 goals (22 on PP) in the 07-08 season, but he is still among the league leaders in game winning goals each year (that has not changed). One stat that should be looked at is Ovechkin's total shots. In 72 games in the 09-10 season he had 368 shots. In 79 games in the 10-11 season he had 367 shots. Less shots will produce less goals and production every year. Let's remember that Boudreau did put him on the ice less for during the PP and with Ovechkin buying into the new defensive system, he would give up opportunities to keep the puck deep in the opponents zone (thus losing goal opportunities) to get the fresh legs on the ice. In the last 25 games of the 10-11 season Ovechkin scored 13 goals and had 19 assists, a total of 32 points. Span that out during 82 games (these numbers are after Ovechkin and the team became comfortable playing in a defensive first scheme) and he would end up with roughly 40 goals and 62 assists for a 102 point season. Granted thats not his 50 goal norm but thats 62 assists (and a career high). Those numbers alone put him 2 points behind Daniel Sedin for the points lead, 6th place in goals and 4th place in assists. Let us not forget he finished 7th in points in the NHL. I personally don't place the need for Ovechkin to have a masterful season as the must have for the Caps to advance in the playoffs. Let's however take a look at a few other players who need to up their production in order for the Caps to improve...
Nicklas Backstrom:
Backstrom had a tough year. He had his lowest point total of his career and dropped 36 points from the 09-10's pace. With Ovechkin's numbers down that did hurt Backie's stats but he also seemed to have lost something. The hand injury towards the end of the season didn't help and once he returned from it he was still not the same player. Could it possibly be that he wasn't 100% but was not going to miss the playoffs? That can be debated. Backstrom is usually a point per game playoff producer and last year only had a bare 2 assists in 9 games. The sudden downfall of the Capitals power play also did not help, as Backstrom had far less points during his special teams shift. Continued improvement on the faceoff will also help the Caps. Backie has gotten better every year and if he can get a few more back to Ovechkin and Semin right off the face off, the Caps can strike quickly on the PP. Backstrom has to regain the form in his 2nd and 3rd season in order for the Caps to remain successful, regain the swagger of the power play and for Ovechkin to get back on track with his type of numbers and play.
Brooks Laich:
Firstly, Brook's has to make sure that the big money deal stays in the bank account and at his home and not affect his work on the ice. I am not accusing or speculating that Brook's cant or wont do this, but we have seen our fair share of instances in Washington DC with the new bigger contracts. Brook's needs to bounce back from a down season also. He is a top 6 forward, should be on the top line in my personal opinion, and has to take that next step. While he only dropped 11 points from 09-10 to 10-11, his goals dropped by 9 and his power play goals dropped by 8. With all of Boudreau's line shuffling, I sometimes felt as though Brook's was hurt in that manor. There were some games where it seemed he had to be more of a defensive grinder and others where he had to somehow muster a goal or two with very little line support. Brook's plays great on the PP, when given the opportunity to stand in front of the net, and on the penalty kill. Playing on the PK will of course tire him out a bit some games and force his numbers to decline, but with the additions made in the offseason we should see less Laich on the PK and more on the PP and top two lines. Brooks Laich is a prime candidate of a player who must improve in order for the Caps to advance.
Mike Green:
Yes, he was hurt, but when healthy he had by far his worst season since he's matured into a scoring threat. Sure Green was trying, and faired quite well, to become more of a defensive defenseman. The downside is, Mike Green is paid to score goals, create offense and drive the puck from one end to the next and create scoring opportunities. Having him play more defense is great, especially come playoff time, but there were times where I looked at the game and said wow, what happened to Green. Let me say though, Mike Green (statistically) had his best playoff season to date. Until his injury, so mostly just the Rangers series, he was relevant. That is a plus, but during the regular season, though he only played in 49 games, he had just a plus 6 rating. Far off his recent totals of plus 39 (09-10) and plus 24 (08-09). While making the transformation to a more defensive player, we didn't see the coast to coast puck handling that Green brought to the table in recent years. When Green does this, he does end up out of positions, out of breath and sometimes turns the puck over but when the Caps are at their most potent on offense, Green is making plays on offense. He must improve on his 8 goal 16 assist performance. His penalties also need to decline. Just this past season, he averaged just under a 2 min penalty ever two games. His penalties went up but that would most likely have to do with the new defensive scheme. Keeping Green off the ice however hurts the teams potential for quick strikes and scoring opportunities. Look for Mike Green to have a good year both offensively and defensively.
To me these are the three main players that must have an improved season in order for the Capitals to be successful and advance in the playoffs. Of course we have to see steady improvement from Neuvirth, Carlson, Alzner, and Johansson, but that just goes from being rookies to their second year in the league. You can throw Alexander Semin into the mix but we know with Semin he's gonna score goals, get a few assists and make dumb hooking or tripping penalties. I don't know that an improvement from Semin is necessary for the Caps to improve. Maybe Semin staying healthy but you can't keep an injury from happening. As for now, my opinion stands that between Backstrom, Laich, and Green one or all of them must have a more improved season over last in order for the Capitals to advance deep in the playoffs.
No comments:
Post a Comment