Who have been the 3 MVP's so far this season for the Washington Capitals?
It has been one heck of a start to the season for the Washington Capitals. In more ways than one really.
Overall, the team has had a great amount of success. Nineteen games into the season they are fighting for first place in the division. Currently the Capitals are 13-5-1, good for 27 points. The record and point total puts them third in the Metropolitan Division, but they are just one point back of both New Jersey and Carolina who are tied for first with 28 points each.
Offensively this is a team that's been on fire all season. They have scored 79 goals so far in the year. Only one team has scored more and that would be the Winnipeg Jets, who by the way, are off to a 16-3 start. They have scored 80 goals on the year.
This is a good looking Capitals team. Obviously, the reason the team is playing so well is because you have a lot of players on the team who are playing well. This year it hasn't been one line that has been hot or carrying the offense. It's not the defense that has been suffocating and not allowing anything. It's not that the goaltenders are unbeatable. It really is kind of everyone pulling their own weight.
While a lot of players have played pretty good, some have played a little bit better. That's what we'll be showing off here today. Who are three of the Capitals "Most Valuable Players" at the 1/4 mark of the season?
Dylan Strome
I keep saying this and I keep saying it because I mostly cannot believe it. Dylan Strome is the biggest steal in the NHL.
I think you could make the case that Strome is the best player on the Capitals. Yes, Ovechkin had an explosive start to this season. And he had a very good end to last season as well. Others on this team have had moments as well. Like Tom Wilson to start this season. But I think Strome has been the most consistent player on this team since the start of last season.
To tell you how big of a steal his contract is just know this. Strome could be the best player on the Capitals, he is the 8th highest paid player on the Capitals books right now. Strome's cap hit is $5 million a year. Andrew Mangiapane has a higher cap hit than Strome does, his hit being $5.8 million. And Strome's deal doesn't run out until 2028. Incredible deal for the Capitals. Actually a pretty bad deal for Strome.
Strome leads the team in points this year having 28 points in the teams 19 games. He has scored 6 goals and has 22 assists. He currently is 3rd in the entire NHL is total assists. He's behind only Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Eichel. Players who most would call elite.
We're talking about this seasons MVP's on the team so far, but I think this is worth noting when it comes to Strome.
Since February 6th last season Strome has 50 assists in 54 games played. Those 50 helpers have him fourth in the league in that time. He's behind only McDavid (69), Kucherov (65), and MacKinnon (63). Without showing how many assists all these guys have, he's ahead of high profile players like Panarin, Marner, Kaprizov, Draisaitl, Crosby, Makar, the Hughes brothers, and whoever else you want to think of.
Strome has turned into a no doubt top line center on this team. Something that helps in being a top line center is being good at faceoffs. So far this season he has won 166 draws while losing 133. That meaning he is winning over 55% of the faceoffs he takes. That's the best on the team among usual faceoff takers.
He's consistent, he puts up the points you want a top line player to put up. He's been great. Easily an MVP on this team for me.
Connor McMichael
Last and very much not least. I think it might be a toss up on what has been more exciting for Capitals fans this season. Ovechkin and his almost can't miss start would probably win. But right behind him has to be Connor McMichael and his breakout start.
McMichael is behind only Ovechkin in goals scored with 12 tallies. Those 12 goals puts him pretty high in the league as well. He is ahead of some pretty impressive names too. I think the "best Connor Mc in the league" is an incredibly overused joke on social media, but he does have more goals than McDavid.
While you do need luck for shots to go in, and McMichael has gotten that luck so far this season, his success isn't for lack of trying. He leads the team in both individual scoring chances with 63 and individual high danger attempts with 37. Is he getting luck in pucks going in? Yes. But he's getting there. He's getting in the scoring areas and creating chances. That's almost all you want in hockey. If you're in a slump and you're not getting chances that's a problem. If pucks aren't going in but you're getting those chances you think at some point they'll start going in.
Well, they're going in for McMichael right now.
It'd be unreasonable to say that McMichael has carried the 2nd line this season. Both of his linemates in Wilson and Dubois have played well this season. But neither of those guys have a lot of goals this season, especially recently. Dubois scored in the Capitals last game, he has 2 goals in 19 games. Wilson does have 6 goals in 19 games, but he has one goal in his last 15 games and he hasn't scored a goal since Halloween, which is now almost a month ago.
So yes, McMichael kind of is carrying that line offensively.
Numbers are numbers. Sure, we can look at them. He has a 54.18 scoring chance for percentage, 5th on the team. His high danger attempts percentage is 55.75, 6th on Washington. Both good.
But at some point it's just about watching a player. On a lot of nights McMichael looks like the Capitals best player. Which when you're talking about him maybe being better than the two players we've already talked about, that's a pretty good accomplishment.
Final Thought
I was going to put some honorable mentions here, but decided against it. Because at what point do you stop when you do that? Like we said earlier, there are a lot of players playing well this season. Dubois and Wilson have both been very good, they should be mentioned. I think Jakob Chychrun has looked very good too. The goaltending, while not outstanding by any means has been good.
Even a guy like Jakub Vrana has come in and scored some goals, he's scoring half a point a game basically. That's been a fun thing to see early in the year, a guy trying to revive his career.
So instead of picking just one or maybe two guys and going into a little more detail on them, there are a few mentions of guys who have been doing things worth mentioning. But you could still mention other players as well. It's been a good start in Washington.
