It’s time for a new Capitals mailbag! Check it out below.
Have a Caps question you want answered in the next mailbag? You can submit your questions here at the Capitals Mailbag submissions page on NBCSportsWashington.com.
Please note, some questions have been edited for clarity.
Justin Cade writes: As 2020 approaches, what kind of New Year’s resolutions do you think the Caps are making for the second half of the season? What would you add to a list of Caps’ New Year’s resolutions?
Taking fewer penalties must be the top resolution for this team. That was on full display the past two games as Washington gave up 13 power play opportunities. That's just far too many. No team in the NHL has taken as many minor penalties as the Caps. Those are correctable mistakes and they need to correct them quickly, because they cannot take that many and hope to be a successful team in the playoffs.
In addition, I would say the Caps need to stop passing up high-quality shots for the extra pass and more people need to shoot on the power play which has become too predictable. More on that later.
John Fleming writes: Does Columbus have the "blueprint" on how to beat the Caps? Will other teams copy it? How can you explain the two recent losses to Columbus, of all teams?
There is no question that John Tortorella has a solid gameplan on how to beat Washington. Let's not forget, Columbus had the Caps on the ropes in 2018 up 2-0 in their playoff series before the Caps came roaring back. This is a team Tortorella is familiar with and he is using what has worked in the past. The Caps struggle with a heavy forecheck which we saw in the playoffs last season. They then took advantage of Washington's tendency to over pass and suffocated them defensively.
Considering all the video work and scouting teams do, I am sure every team is well aware of how the Blue Jackets have won and those who have similar personnel and systems may try to replicate it. The key is getting the puck out of the zone quickly in the face of the forecheck. Columbus' gameplan only worked if it was successful in suffocating Washington's office. If the Caps can move the puck against an aggressive forecheck, teams like Columbus do not have the firepower to keep up with them.
Craig Boden writes: The power play is down. Why do they keep using the back pass (slingshot) on the PP even when sometime they might already be past the first defender?
I spoke with players who play on the power play as well as assistant coach Blaine Forsythe about the power play before the season began. First off, what we think of as the slingshot is not what the slingshot actually is. Every player I spoke with as well as Forsythe told me the drop pass is not the slingshot, but rather the slingshot was its own play and different. Regardless, they do still utilize the drop pass as an option for breaking into the offensive zone on the power play. Forsythe admitted the team used it far too much last season and there is no question they do not use it nearly as much this year. But Forsythe still wants the team to use it when necessary.
“We probably used it a little bit too much last year, but you still need it in your arsenal because there's times when we have to use it depending on how the PK forecheck is playing it,” Forsythe said.
Basically the team has a number of different transition plays to get the puck into the offensive zone and, depending on how the opposition penalty kill operates and is set up, the power play is supposed to react by using the most effective transition technique. When you see them use the drop pass, it is because they believe that is the most effective way to get the puck into the offensive zone against the team and the penalty kill they are facing.
I was a vocal critic of the drop pass last season because it was all they did. It became predictable and easy to stop. I am fine with it being an option so long as it is not over-utilized and I do not think it has been this season.
Having said that, if transitioning into the offensive zone was the team's biggest problem last season, why is the power play still struggling now that they have cut back on using the drop pass? To me, I think the power play has become too predictable. They either try to set up the shot from the slot or Alex Ovechkin in his office. Nicklas Backstrom needs to shoot more. John Carlson needs to shoot more. Evgeny Kuznetsov needs to shoot more. The team also needs to react better to what the penalty kill is showing. The Boston Bruins PK on Monday, for example, was all over the place. The Caps should have been able to pick it apart had they reacted to what the Bruins were doing. Instead, they stayed in their lane and kept trying the same setups over and over again.
No dramatic scheme or personnel changes are necessary, the team just needs to utilize all the weapons on the ice on the power play and stretch the penalty kill thin. A power play is a lot easier to defend when you know a team is trying to do one of two things.
Michael Fleetwood writes: With Nic Dowd and Garnet Hathaway under contract for two and three more seasons respectively after 2019-20, do you see Brendan Leipsic sticking in D.C. or will Travis Boyd get a deserved shot at a full-time role? What would be the determining factor for Brian MacLellan with both on expiring deals?
I think the determining factor will be how Brian MacLellan evaluates Boyd's skill set and what role he thinks Boyd can play. We know Leipsic can play on the fourth line. His skill set fits there and he fits with the other personnel. He does not kill penalties which is not ideal for a fourth-line player, but certainly is not a deal-breaker.
So what is Boyd? Boyd does not really seem to fit the mold of a fourth-line player either, but that role continues to evolve in the NHL. He is a productive player offensively, but the problem is he does not do much else. He does not have enough skill to be a top-six NHL forward or play on the power, but more skill than you usually see from the fourth line so the question is can he be productive enough getting in limited time to justify a roster spot? Brett Connolly was able to do that and Leipsic has done that this year, I am not sure about Boyd just yet.
John Fleming writes: Any chance the Caps go for Ilya Kovalchuk? How could he not improve the third line?
No.
The Caps do not have the cap space to add a player like Kovalchuk without taking someone off the roster and even if they did, I don't know why you would want to. Kovalchuk can't improve the third line because he is old and slow. He had three goals and six assists in Los Angeles while getting 15:25 of ice time per night. That's way more ice time than he would get in Washington. Carl Hagelin has seven points in 13:51 of ice time.
Kovalchuk's time has passed. I do not see how he would be beneficial to this team at all.
Thanks for all your questions! If you have a question you want to be answered in the next mailbag, you can submit it here at the Capitals Mailbag submissions page on NBCSportsWashington.com.
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