ARLINGTON, VA — The NHL is set to host the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament this February, but there won’t be any Washington Capitals players on the ice. When Team Canada, Team USA, Team Sweden, and Team Finland announced their tournament rosters Wednesday, the Caps were one of just two teams without a representative, joining the Seattle Kraken. And while the Kraken sit four points out of a playoff spot, the Capitals currently lead the Eastern Conference.
Head coach Spencer Carbery spoke on the snub Thursday morning, pointing both to the team’s overall record and strong performances from players who were eligible for the tournament.
“Disappointing to see that,” Carbery said. “I thought we had several players that had strong arguments and cases to be a part of the tournament and to represent their countries. I understand that my opinion is a little bit biased, but I also think it’s one thing if you’re advocating for your players and you’re sitting at .500, but we’re sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference right now [in the] standings and to not have one guy there is a little odd to me.
“Especially with some of the seasons that guys are having and when they scout it so heavily and look into the numbers and [ask] ‘Why have the Washington Capitals had success thus far this season?’ There’s a lot of players that we have that have strong cases.”
Logan Thompson (Canada), Tom Wilson (Canada), and John Carlson (USA) all saw plenty of buzz before the rosters were announced, with Dylan Strome (Canada), Connor McMichael (Canada), and Rasmus Sandin (Sweden) also making arguments for a spot on their respective national teams.
With nine days set aside for the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, the tournament could give the Caps some much-needed rest at the two-thirds mark of their season. Carbery acknowledged that the time off could prove useful, but knows his players would give it all up for the chance to don a national team jersey.
“Maybe [there’s a silver lining there], if you start to get over the fact that they don’t get an opportunity to represent their country, which guys — other than playing in the NHL and making the NHL and winning the Stanley Cup — it’s right there with that honor, to represent your country,” he said. “So the time off, yeah. It’s easy to say that now when you don’t [need it], but I still think about: if I ever had that opportunity to miss out on that, I’d give up my whole summer to be able to do that. So I don’t think guys look at [the time off] that way, but maybe we will at some point in the second half.”
This year’s Capitals roster is used to being underestimated. After barely squeaking into the playoffs last spring, the Caps were hardly expected to be one of the league’s best teams this season, even after turning over a third of their roster this summer. But 25 games in, the new-look Caps rank third in the league with a 17-6-2 record — fueled in large part by players eligible for the tournament.
As the Capitals prepare to play a back-to-back in Toronto and Montreal, two of hockey’s biggest markets, Carbery remarked on how low expectations from around the league have only pushed his team to prove others wrong.
“I feel like our group has been pretty fueled from the offseason, this summer,” he said. “We don’t have to go into it, but there’s not a lot of people in the hockey world that have picked the Washington Capitals to be sitting where they are.
“And frankly, for that matter, some of the players having the seasons: if you look more individually, John Carlson’s still playing at an elite level. You can make strong arguments that he’s playing as good as he’s played in the last ten years when you look under the hood and look at his numbers. And his analytics are through the roof. Dylan Strome, the season he’s having. Willy, Logan Thompson, you just keep going. Ramus Sandin, who’s taking a huge step this year. I feel like our group is just very, very self-motivated and they want to be the best and they want to win.”
