On Thursday, the Caps used lines that look reasonably close to what could be an opening night lineup. And indeed, assistant coach Todd Reirden confirmed that the lines are a potential preview of how the Caps will line up when the season opens:
On these lines, Reirden basically said they're legit (and they'll continue experimenting) https://t.co/MVU3KGLN0R
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) September 29, 2016
While plenty can change between now and the start of the season, and the lines will certainly change throughout the season, the particular lines the Caps used Thursday can help give a glimpse into a lineup the coaching staff is thinking of using this season.
Here are the lines that Reirden said are legit:
Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Oshie
Burakovsky – Backstrom – Williams
Johansson – Eller – Galiev
Winnik – Beagle – Connolly
Alzner – Niskanen
Orlov – Carlson
Orpik– Schmidt
There’s nothing too shocking here, but definitely some things of interest.
- For the time being, Evgeny Kuznetsov is centering the first line. The current trio on the first line skated 178 minutes together last season, according to Corsica. The results were great, as the Caps owned 55.9 percent of the total shot attempts and 63.2 percent of the total goals when Kuznetox was on the ice with Alex Ovechkin and TJ Oshie at 5v5. While Nick Backstrom would generally be thought to bring more defensive stability to this line than Kuznetsov, the Caps gave up over 10 fewer shot attempts per 60 when Kuznetsov centered this line than when Backstrom did. This was in an admittedly smaller sample, there’s more context that can be given, and this isn’t to say Kuznetsov is a better defensive option than Backstrom for the first line. But, early returns suggest the first line could be fine in all three zones with Kuznetsov as the pivot.
- The second line didn’t skate together last season at 5v5 during the regular season. But, there’s some things that point to this line being really strong together. For starters, you’ve got two reliable, well-rounded, and offensively strong veterans in Justin Williams and Nick Backstrom. As you can see from Micah’s viz, this duo seemed to always have the puck when they were on the ice together:
- Putting a young player as talented as Andre Burakovsky with a duo of talented and crafty veterans who play well together seems like a combo worth trying. Translation: I could not be more excited to see this trio together and I hope they get an extended look.
- The third line will likely look a bit different on opening night if Tom Wilson is healthy. Regardless, having Marcus Johansson and Lars Eller as two-thirds of the Caps third line speaks to the depth this team has. I polled Twitter on who should get the third line right wing spot and here’s how people voted through the first 4 hours:
- The fourth line is likely to be Daniel Winnik and Jay Beagle skating with either Brett Connolly or Stan Galiev. Having either Connolly or Galiev skate on the fourth line gives the line potential to have some offensive punch.
- On defense, the biggest story is that, as expected, Dmitry Orlov is getting a look in a top-four role while the possibility of Brooks Orpik having a reduced role seems to be likely. Getting a puck mover like Orlov more ice time has the potential to benefit this Caps team. Although, if Orlov is going to get top-four minutes, I’d prefer he be paired with Matt Niskanen.
Okay, your turn. What do you think of these lines?
Photo by Chris Gordon
