This Season Is the Washington Capitals' Best Chance To Raise The Stanley Cup

Thanks mostly to having Alex Ovechkin on their roster, the Washington Capitals believed they always had a chance to win the Stanley Cup. They have gone into the season with past-their-prime goalies, a swiss cheese defense and nothing past the top line, but they still felt they had a chance. Looking back at it, this is the best chance they’ve had in over a decade.

The Capitals spent the last two seasons making sure they fixed the holes around Ovechkin. They finally signed a head coach who can work with everyone on the team and bring a sense of discipline to the team that it was missing. Barry Trotz also has a coaching pedigree that demands respect. They fixed the back end by bringing in Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik from the Pittsburgh Penguins. That move added to their team and took away major assets from a division rival. That helped them rank seventh in the NHL in goals against. Another factor in that stat is the growth of Braden Holtby. He went from a major question mark to a bonafide top ten goalie. The Capitals spent years shuffling through the Michal Neuvirth, Semyon Varlamov and an ancient Jose Theodore. Now they know who will be their goalie for at least the next six seasons.

Getting to the playoffs has never been an issue for the Capitals; it is advancing that is a problem. They brought in Justin Williams, who could be the most clutch forward in recent memory, to show this team what a Stanley Cup winning club looks like. His presence alone will give this team extra confidence when the lights are shining brightest.

The front office wasn’t done adding pieces, as they went and got T.J. Oshie from the St. Louis Blues. He gives them a truly legit first line right wing. He can play with Nicklas Backstrom, who may be better than anyone in the league at setting up his linemates. This move will end up being great for both sides.

Ovechkin’s prime will not last forever, and the Capitals finally realize this. They are in win-now mode. While other times it seemed like they had the same type of urgency, that only caused them to make forced, bad decisions. This season they made calculated decisions. It could be the difference that they didn’t have every season prior.

Nick Villano is the NHL feature writer for Rant Sports. He also adds to the site’s NBA, MLB and NFL content. You can follow him on Twitter or add him to your Google circle.