Photo: US Adult Literacy
What can a Capitals fan do with their team missing the playoffs this season? Some fans will skip watching the hockey playoffs and focus on watching another sport, or even focus more on non-sports activities.
But for those fans who love hockey and want to take an interest in rooting for the playoff, they could consider a temporary “cart” role for a playoff qualifier. Here are some options to consider.
1. Root the team with one or more players from the previous Capitals
Capitals fans can access former Capitals players who have been traded or signed as a free agent. The following is a list of teams qualifying for the playoffs that feature former Capitals players or other former Capitals employees.
Metropolitan Department
- New Jersey Devils – Current team consisting of Vitek Vanecek, former Capitals goaltender, and Jonas Siegenthaler, former Capitals defender
- New York Islanders – The current team of former Capitals goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov. Len Lambert, their head coach, used to be an assistant coach for the Capitals. In addition, one of the Islanders’ players, Brock Nelson, is the nephew of former longtime Capitals player and Miracle on Ice Gold medalist, Dave Christian.
- New York Rangers – The current team of Yaroslav Halek, who played in the caps after the 2013 commercial deadline.
Atlantic section
- Boston Bruins – The current team of Dmitry Orlov and Garnett Hathaway, who were traded at this season’s trade deadline. They thrive in their new business and have the virtue of being on the best team. If the Bruins win the Cup, maybe Dmitry Orlov will get some extra time with the Stanley Cup as he lost several hours due to sending the Cup to the wrong city.
- Florida panthers – The current team of Radko Judas, former Capitals defender and son-in-law of ex-Capitals goalkeeper, Michal Neuwirth.
- Tampa Bay Lightning The former Capitals is not currently playing with Tampa Bay but former Capitals Jeff Halpern is an assistant coach with them.
- Toronto Maple Leafs – The current team of former Capitals goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov.
central section
- Colorado Avalanche – Current team for center Lars Eller who was traded at the 2023 trade deadline. He played with the Capitals for several years and scored the winning goal in the last game of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2018. Their head coach, Jared Bednar, began his professional experience coaching with the South Carolina Stingray, The Capitals ECHL Team.
- Minnesota Wild – Current team of Marcus Johansson who played several years with the team before being traded and returned to the team last season only to be traded again. Commodores Evason, their head coach, used to be an assistant coach for the Capitals.
- Winnipeg Jets – The current team is made up of Brendan Dillon and Nate Schmidt, two former Capitals defensemen, and Axel Johnson Vegalby, a former Capitals forward.
Pacific Division
- Las Vegas Knights – The current team of Chandler Stephenson, who was part of the 2018 Stanley Cup winning Capitals team. Former Capitals General Manager, George McPhee is now the team president with them. Former Capitals head coach, Bruce Cassidy, is currently the head coach of the Golden Knights.
- Los Angeles Kings – Current team for Pheonix Copley, who was the backup goaltender for the Capitals in 2018-19 and has played goal for the Hershey Bears for many years.
- Seattle Kraken – The current team of Andrzej Borakowski and Philip Grubauer, who were part of the 2018 Stanley Cup winning Capitals team. They also have two other former Capitals, defenseman Justin Schultz and forward Daniel Sprung.
Photo: Eileen Thompson/The Associated Press
2. Root for the underdog
Another option is rooting for an underdog team. Underdogs include wildcard teams, teams that made the playoffs after being persecuted for many years, and teams that never won a Stanley Cup or suffered a championship drought that lasted at least a generation.
- Seattle Kraken – Last season, as a first-year expansion team, the Kraken finished last in the Pacific Division. This year, they qualified for the playoffs in only their second year of existence and had the largest points improvement for a second-year expansion team (28 points).
- New Jersey Devils – The Devils finished second in the Capital Division and qualified for the playoffs. This is a huge improvement for a team that finished seventh in the D.C. Division in 2021-22 and has qualified for the playoffs only once since the 2011-12 season, when they reached the Stanley Cup Finals. The last time the Devils won the Stanley Cup was in 2003.
- Winnipeg Jets The Jets is a wild card team that has missed out on the playoffs in the last two seasons. In the more than 20 years of their existence, they have never advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, let alone won the Stanley Cup.
- Toronto Maple Leafs – Although they are a strong team at the moment, they have not advanced past the first round since 2002-2003 and have not won the Stanley Cup since 1966-1967.
- Edmonton Oilers – They haven’t advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals since 2005-2006 and haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1989-90.
- Florida panthers They have been around since the 1993-94 season and have never won a Stanley Cup. Their last appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals was 1995-96
- Dallas stars They last won the Stanley Cup in 1998-99.
- Las Vegas Knights They haven’t won the Stanley Cup and have been around since 2017-18.
- New York Islanders They haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1982-83.
- New York Rangers They haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1994-95. The last Stanley Cup before that was in 1939-40.
Photo: Klaus Andersen/Getty Images
3. Root for the team that reminds you of the previous Capitals team
Another option is to come up with a team that reminds fans to replay the Capitals’ past (or present) team.
- Toronto Maple Leafs – In many ways, the current team is very similar to the Washington Capitals from the “Young Guns” era from 2007-2008 through 2011-12. The Maple Leafs’ top forwards Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander evoke memories of Alex Ovechkin, Alexander Semin and Niklas Backstrom. Plus, they have an offensive defenseman, Morgan Riley, who brings up memories of Mike Green.
- Carolina Hurricanes – The current edition of the Carolina Hurricanes resembles the Washington Capitals ahead of their Stanley Cup-winning team in 2017-18. Since the pandemic, the Hurricanes have regularly finished first in their division but will be eliminated in the second round. Ironically, before the pandemic, the Stick used to finish in the playoffs before that, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals as a serious underdog.
Enjoy the postseason, everyone…if you’re into it.
Written by Diane Doyle