Washington Capitals

As a whole, it's just very bland and uninspiring though.

So after their busy off-season, the Capitals have jumped up to 102.5.

They finished-

Yep

if you get him back and he's playing a full season, everything kind of fits into place, and if the power play can improve just a little bit, like I'm not, I wouldn't put them pushing the Hurricanes for first in the Metro, but I feel like it's fair to have them second and then a, a bit of a gap between all these other teams.

Yeah.

I am really high on the Capitals this year, and that is a horrible thing to hear if you're a Capitals fan because we have a, a long-running rivalry, my model and the Capitals, where if I think the Capitals are gonna be good, they end up not so good, and if I think they're bad, they end up really good.

Uh, last year I thought they'd get 95 points though, and they got 95 points, so we might be on the right track finally.

On today's show, the future of the Caps gets tested now.

Hey, this is Ryan Leonard from the Washington Capitals.

Tune in to my favorite podcast, Locked On Capitals.

You're Locked On Capitals, your daily podcast on the Washington Capitals, part of the Locked On Podcast Network.

Your team every day.

Well, hello, and, uh, welcome into this edition of Locked On Capitals, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

I'm your host, Dan Homley.

In today's episode, we talk about three young players that need to make an impact.

And if this season is, in fact, his final season as an NFL player, let's make it a great season.

Also, congratulations to former Washington Capitals winger T.J. Oshie.

He will be enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026.

USA Hockey made the announcement on Thursday morning.

I read to you from the press release, our guy T.J. Oshie, quote, Known for his talent, heart, and grit, T.J. Oshie not only played a prominent role in helping the NHL's Washington Capitals secure their first Stanley Cup in franchise history, but also authored a signature moment in Olympic history with his shootout heroics against Russia at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, a performance that earned him the enduring nickname T.J. Sochi.

End quote.

Congrats again to T.J. Oshie.

I love the Wiz.

I love the Caps.

I love the Commanders.

And, you know...

I love justice.

The Equalizer series with Denzel Washington.

This has a little bit of that to it.

Mark Wahlberg in this movie absolutely kicks ass.

And I don't think there's enough conversation about this team.

And their betting odds are still in that 35 range, even 40 if you shop around, if you're a listener out there that's heading certain places.

Washington Capitals, like it's Ovechkin's last run.

And I'm not, again, I'm a Crosby guy, not an Ovechkin guy, but I'm saying this to be totally transparent.

I really do think when you're looking at this lineup now, it doesn't look that bad on paper.

And I think in a division like the Metro, where after the Washington Capitals and after the Carolina Hurricanes, the third spot is wide open.

And getting a guy like Chris Cryer could be the spark you need to get in you know into a playoff spot by the end of this season so very interesting uh you know it would be interesting to see him go to the islanders after playing with the rangers for so long but the last team i do want to talk about is the most likely contender and that is the boston bruins who have 6.3 million in cap space this season and he would look great in this lineup this is a team that are looking to get back into the playoffs.

Obviously, you've got guys like Pasternak.

But something that I usually do before getting into my latest list is quickly go through how the top 20 looked last time that I went through it, which was at the midway point of the 25-26 season.

It was actually back in January, the same day that Conor Bedard returned from his shoulder injury where the Blackhawks were set to face the Washington Capitals.

I went back and looked at the exact dates.

And here is how my top 20 Blackhawks prospects list broke down at that point in time.

And this Metro division is wide open this year.

Besides, you know, the Washington Capitals, you know, the Carolina Hurricanes.

These are two teams that are going to be atop of the division.

But other than that, it's kind of wide open.

One of them is more of a funny blast from the past for us Sabres fans and some people as well.

But who we play for Cal Peterson? Who was giving Cal Peterson a tryout? The Hartford Wolfpack? The Washington Capitals are giving Cal Peterson a tryout.

Oh, my God.

Okay.