The Capitals’ power play is 0 for 9 through the first two games of the season after the unit struggled mightily during the 2021-22 campaign. The special teams struggles are a major reason why the Capitals are winless to start the season.

During the team’s morning skate on Saturday, Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette made some changes, and most notably, the top power-play unit is getting a revamp.

Marcus Johansson was added to PP1 while Evgeny Kuznetsov was bumped down to the second group.

1st PP Unit

NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti reports that Johansson will play in the goal line position while Dylan Strome will skate at the half-wall quarterback position that Kuznetsov was previously in. Johansson, who is exceptional at carry-ins, is very familiar with the down-low spot because it’s where he played his previous stint with the Capitals.

“We’re just looking for changes,” Laviolette said. “[We had] a starting point and we’ve been there for a little bit and it hasn’t worked and hasn’t produced. Let’s take a look at something else and see if that works.”

Turning to Johansson for his new role does have a successful precedent. During his first seven seasons with the Caps, only Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom played more time on the power play than Johansson. Johansson’s 84 power-play points ranked fourth on the team during that same time span.

The moves come after Laviolette said the unit’s decision-making and execution are what has contributed to its freezing-cold start.

“A lot of it is execution,” Laviolette said postgame Thursday. “We’ve got to be better with what we’re doing out on the ice. We’ll go back and continue to work on it, but for me, I think the execution has got to be better. The decision-making, it’s what you’re doing, it’s what you’re thinking, it’s how we’re moving the puck. It’s gotta be better.”

The Capitals have struggled on the man advantage without Nicklas Backstrom, who remains out due to hip issues. Strome will be the next player to step up at the half-wall position that the Swedish center used to occupy.

“He was good there,” Laviolette said of Strome. “He became an option to shoot. He became an option to make plays. Again, just to change it. It hasn’t worked the way we wanted it to, to start.”

The second unit at the morning skate sported Kuznetsov at center with wingers Anthony Mantha and Connor Brown. The two defensemen are Dmitry Orlov and Erik Gustafsson.

Laviolette did not call the move a demotion for Kuznetsov and was frank that he just wants production from the units as a whole.

“We’re going to need both units,” Laviolette said. “The way it’s worded in the room, the unit that gets going is the unit that goes out for the next power play.”

Headline photo: Alan Dobbins/RMNB