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Nathan Walker and Christian Djoos looked solid in Caps 4-1 preseason loss

By Patrick Holden

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September 18, 2017 10:11 pm

The Caps opened their preseason on Monday night against the Devils and lost 4-1. These preseason games are more meaningful than those in recent seasons, as the team has a lot of roster spots up for grabs.

Let’s talk preseason hockey, shall we?

Let’s get this out of the way up front. It may only be the preseason, but CFTC is not only in the best shape of his life but also in mid-season form:

Other thoughts on the game:

  • It seems to be an assumption that Taylor Chorney will get a roster spot and possibly crack the top-six on defense, but Aaron Ness should get more consideration than he’s being given for Chorney’s roster spot. Ness has good wheels and makes crisp passes, two huge assets for a defender in today’s league.
  • Nathan Walker is one of the favorites to grab a roster spot and he wasted no time showing why. His tenacious, high-energy style of play will endear him to Caps’ fans in no time.
  • Tyler Graovac spent a lot of time on the penalty kill. As a player on the bubble, a strong showing on the PK would give him a better shot at the 13th forward spot.
  • Andre Burakovsky spent time in the Marcus Johansson spot on the power play. It will be interesting to see who fills this very important spot on the first unit this season. Evgeny Kuznetsov seems like the obvious choice, but the team may prefer him in the Backstrom spot on the second unit to have better balance between the two units.
  • You may remember a guy named Nate Schmidt that we all thought was going to play on the Caps second defensive pair this season. Well, he’s gone and Christian Djoos is the front-runner to replace him.  Djoos did his best Schmidt impression tonight, leading the team with a 66.7 shot attempt percentage. Djoos was victimized on a two-on-one after John Carlson hung him out to dry, but overall looked unspectacular yet solid.
  • It looks like slashing and face-off violations are going to be called a lot stricter this season. I’m all for cracking down on slashing. The face/off stuff? Meh.

What stood out to you tonight?

Headline image: Bruce Bennett

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