We knew the Washington Capitals wouldn’t coast to another Presidents’ Trophy. We knew that this regular season would be a greater challenge than in seasons past. Some of us even thought that was perhaps for the best. (It is not.) But with the Caps barely above .500 one month into the season, there is increased chatter about Barry Trotz being on the proverbial hot seat.
While Trotz is making some confounding choices in lineup and deployment, those choices follow the same pattern that has led him to four very successful seasons as head coach: deliberate game pace, limited usage of young players, high leveraging of veterans. The difference between previous seasons and now is simple: the Caps roster is not as good as it used to be. Trotz’s decisions certainly exacerbate the problem, but it’s obvious that he has not been given the ingredients to win big this year.
In this week’s snapshot, we examine our ingredients to see which are making the pizza so bad that we need to drench it in garlic butter just to mask the taste.
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | Rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Burakovsky | 9 | 121.8 | 55.7 | +9.2 | 51.9 | 100.0 |
Oshie | 14 | 199.9 | 53.4 | +8.5 | 65.7 | 103.7 |
Backstrom | 13 | 190.1 | 53.1 | +8.3 | 68.6 | 105.4 |
Vrana | 14 | 176.0 | 49.3 | +2.7 | 59.3 | 103.4 |
Stephenson | 5 | 62.3 | 48.4 | +5.9 | 100.0 | 125.4 |
Wilson | 10 | 117.2 | 48.4 | +1.0 | 58.6 | 105.4 |
Smith-Pelly | 14 | 145.2 | 46.1 | -1.7 | 46.1 | 99.8 |
Eller | 13 | 146.8 | 45.6 | -2.6 | 51.2 | 104.1 |
Chiasson | 13 | 122.4 | 44.8 | -3.3 | 35.7 | 96.5 |
Beagle | 14 | 130.0 | 44.2 | -3.8 | 41.6 | 99.5 |
Ovechkin | 14 | 191.8 | 43.8 | -5.3 | 54.3 | 102.5 |
Kuznetsov | 14 | 199.5 | 43.1 | -6.4 | 52.9 | 103.3 |
Connolly | 10 | 99.1 | 37.7 | -14.6 | 23.9 | 98.1 |
Player | GP | TOI | SA% | Rel SA% | GF% | PDO |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Djoos | 11 | 145.8 | 53.1 | +6.9 | 57.2 | 103.3 |
Orlov | 14 | 257.4 | 49.8 | +4.0 | 45.1 | 99.3 |
Carlson | 14 | 263.7 | 49.1 | +2.9 | 48.8 | 100.4 |
Bowey | 9 | 125.7 | 47.0 | +0.3 | 54.2 | 102.4 |
Orpik | 14 | 257.8 | 45.0 | -4.0 | 50.3 | 101.3 |
Niskanen | 5 | 82.6 | 43.7 | -7.3 | 70.3 | 117.4 |
Chorney | 10 | 109.2 | 43.2 | -5.9 | 70.0 | 111.7 |
Ness | 7 | 80.8 | 41.4 | -5.8 | 62.1 | 108.3 |
Rank | Statistic |
---|---|
23rd | Shot attempt percentage (possession) |
24th | Shot attempts per 60 minutes (offense) |
22nd | Opponent shot attempts per 60 minutes (defense) |
19th | Expected goals per 60 minutes (offense) |
23rd | Expected opponent goals per 60 minutes (defense) |
27th | Non-offsetting penalties taken |
21st | Non-offsetting penalties drawn |
2nd | Shooting percentage + Saving percentage (luck) |
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Photo: Steve Babineau
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