r/caps

It feels bizarre to pull for Vegas.

With TvR turning 35 this year, Andrew Peeke (I believe) is a great replacement for that 3rd-pair RHD. Contract wise TvR was on a 3x3, Peeke was on a 3x2.75 and are both UFA's heading into this off-season. Peeke I think could sign somewhere between 2.75-3.5.

I spent some time on hockey-reference and while I'm not the best at understanding every stat ever I think I got a decent read on the stats that matter.

He is an ideal defensive defenseman. Over his career, 64.3% of his even-strength starts came in the defensive zone. On the PK, he is at a 94.6% career shorthand D-zone start. In Boston this past season he hit 98.5%. He's a fantastic shot-blocker with 741 blocks in 386 GP.

While his career 3.7 GA/60 is higher than TvR’s (2.8), I believe that number was inflated by playing on some AWFUL CBJ teams from 22-24. Those teams finished 8th in the metro both seasons and had 59 and 66 points. His GA/60 was 4.8 and 4.5 GA/60 in the 22-23 and 23-24 season respectively. Once he got into Boston his numbers dropped to 2.3, 3.1, and 3.4 in these past 3 seasons.

Peeke also has a stat of 5.43 Blocks/60. The average bottom-pair, defensive defenseman usually lands between 3.0 and 4.0 blocks per 60 minutes. Peeke's rate puts him in the top 15–20 overall among NHL defensemen.

It's a very weak UFA class this year and while we're all focused on getting someone like Robertson (I think we should offer sheet him) I think adding a 28 year old puck eating defensman isn't a bad idea to replace TvR.

Following the Carlson and Dowd trade the locker room took a severe hit in morale. Peeke grew up in the Jr. Panthers program with Jakob Chychrun and Brandon Duhaime (assuming Duhaime is re-signed). He should slot well into the teams locker room, and hopefully bring back some of that agape love.

NOW. I will freely admit that I might be biased because I play with both his father and brother in my Rec league hockey. BUT I do actually think this makes sense.

Thoughts?

For the 50th - 12th moments as officially chosen by the Capitals, click here.

11th Best Moment: The Double Dozen - Capitals win two regular season games with 12 goals, setting a franchise record.

On February 6, 1990, ahead of the Capitals' first conference final appearance, the Capitals set their franchise record for most goals scored in a game - twelve - in a 12-2 rout of the Quebec Nordiques (now Colorado Avalanche) at home in Capital Center. Dino Ciccarelli recorded a hat trick, plus a fourth goal, in the onslaught. Thirteen years later, on January 11, 2003, they would rout the Florida Panthers at MCI Center by the same score, with Jaromir Jagr being the hat trick hero.

10th Best Moment: The Miracle of Christmas 1979 - Capitals score 5 goals in a 3rd period for biggest comeback in franchise history vs. Rangers.

Five of the Capitals' wins all-time involved erasing a four-goal deficit, a tall order. Out of all these five, only one was won at home, an unlikely 5-4 triumph over the New York Rangers ten days before Christmas in 1979 that put a merry bow on the holiday spirit for fans. Down 4-0 between the second and third periods, the Capitals looked done for until Rick Green put Washington on the board with 16:59 left on the clock (the shortest amount of time left in regulation out of all these 5 comeback wins), with Wes Jarvis following a minute later. When ten minutes remained, three more Capitals scored within the next five minutes to complete the comeback, to the thrill of the crowd.

9th Best Moment: The 2011 Winter Classic - The Capitals' first outdoor game, a 3-1 triumph over the rival Penguins.

Several seasons in, the rivalry between the Capitals and the Penguins was showing no signs of abating as they relished an opportunity to enjoy an outdoor showdown as a new wrinkle in their rivalry. The Penguins looked to make the most out of home ice advantage as thousands of faithful gathered at Heinz Field, home of the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers. Evgeni Malkin struck first for Pittsburgh after a scoreless first period, but the Capitals would answer with three straight goals to best their nemesis 3-1, making their very first outdoor game one to remember.

8th Best Moment: First Playoff Series Win Over Penguins - The Capitals eliminate the Penguins in the playoffs for the first time in 1994's first round, four games to two.

Burned by how their first two playoff losses to Pittsburgh led to their back-to-back first two Stanley Cups in 1991 and 1992, the Capitals were thirsting for just a single moment when they could triumph against a challenging foe. In the 1994 playoffs, which notoriously ended with a riot in Vancouver over their Canucks coming one win short of the Cup, the Capitals and the Penguins faced off in the first round, with the latter holding home ice advantage. The Capitals seized a 3-1 series lead over the Penguins as before, but this time, they were able to cut their comeback short with a big Game 6 win at home, 6-3. This first series win over Pittsburgh in particular gave Washington hope that their rivals could ever be beaten in the postseason.

7th Best Moment: 2018 Stadium Series vs. Maple Leafs - The Capitals' third outdoor game, a 5-2 home triumph over the Maple Leafs at the U.S. Naval Academy

Sometimes, the outcome of a season's outdoor game could influence a team's Stanley Cup destiny for that season, and there have been no shortage of outdoor games in which a team's mere participation in an outdoor game would foretell a Stanley Cup championship. Some Caps fans hoped that an outdoor game win would bode well for the team's Stanley Cup chances and were ultimately delighted to see it come to pass after witnessing the Capitals' 5-2 triumph over the Maple Leafs on March 3rd at the US Naval Academy's Navy-Marine Corps Stadium. This was one of many wins in March that helped the team build momentum that would also contribute to a Stanley Cup run.

6th Best Moment: Alex Ovechkin Breaks Power Play Goal Record - Ovechkin scores 275th power play goal to surpass Dave Andreychuk for most in the NHL at Red Wings

The Capitals ended the year 2021 with a bang by routing the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena, 3-1 on New Year's Eve. But it was no ordinary victory, because it was the game when Washington captain Alex Ovechkin surpassed Dave Andreychuk for most power play goals scored in the NHL. The record-breaking goal was the go-ahead goal that put Washington ahead 2-1 in the dying seconds of a Detroit penalty. As the goal occurred so close to the penalty's natural expiration, the game was briefly delayed so that officials could verify that Ovechkin's goal was truly his 275th, record-breaking, power-play goal in earnest.

5th Best Moment: 2018 Eastern Conference Finals - The Capitals defeat the Lightning 4-3 to reach the Stanley Cup Finals again

Following only their second playoff win over the defending Pittsburgh Penguins, who won their fourth and fifth Stanley Cups back-to-back, the Capitals found themselves in a precious moment that they hoped not to waste - a semifinal, conference final appearance. But their next foe turned out to be one that they had never beaten before, the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning not only boasted home-ice advantage that graced the Caps in past rounds, but also an 8-game playoff game winning streak against Washington that knocked out the Caps in their first two playoff encounters with them. To get back to the Finals, the Capitals had to achieve a few firsts: they not only had to defeat the Lightning in a playoff series for the first time, but also fully come back from a 3-2 series deficit after losing a Game 5. Fortunately, they were able to do both, unleashing the fury to finish off the Lightning with two consecutive shutout wins at home and then on the road for Washington's 5th Game 7 win.

4th Best Moment: Alex Ovechkin Finally Surpasses Wayne Greztky - Alex Ovechkin breaks Wayne Greztky's total regular season goal record in 4-1 loss to Islanders

The Capitals' 50th anniversary season was one to remember for more than one reason, even if it ended with them being eliminated in the conference semi-final. As its 50+-win regular season came to a close, the hockey world saw an unforgettable moment that only few would have foreseen years before it happened: Alex Ovechkin scored his 895th career regular season goal in a 4-1 loss to the New York Islanders to surpass Wayne Gretzky's 894 regular season goals. Ovechkin gained a reputation for being a prolific scorer, but even he himself did not think he would go on to accomplish such a feat in his early seasons with Washington. But Ovechkin cemented his place as a mainstay of the Capitals and continued to produce goal after goal, eventually leading to this historic moment when the Capitals, down 2-0 in New York, fed him a power-play opportunity to get themselves on the board. The game was briefly delayed after the goal to allow the Capitals to celebrate this achievement on the ice, with Ovechkin famously being photographed going prone on it. Not even a broken leg early into this season, the worst injury of his career, would stop him from getting here.

3rd Best Moment: Second Playoff Series Win Over Penguins - The Capitals eliminate the Penguins for the second time in franchise history in the 2018 conference semifinals, four games to two

The Capitals were once again frustrated with not only having yet another promising Cup-contending, Presidents' Trophy-winning season ended by their seemingly superior rival Penguins, but also once again seeing them capture another back-to-back Stanley Cup title at their expense, while leaving Washington with none. Flushed with pride and confidence, Pittsburgh sought to three-peat with a sixth Cup in 2018 and dispatched the Philadelphia Flyers in round one of the playoffs to draw a third consecutive playoff encounter against Washington. But this time, the Capitals were more than able to stand toe-to-toe with them. The series had a checkered beginning, culminating in an intense 2-2 series tie like that of the 2009 conference semifinals. Unwilling to let it end tragically like last time, the Capitals erased two early Penguins leads at home in Game 5 before Jakub Vrana scored the go-ahead goal with 4:38 left in regulation to give the Caps a 4-3 lead that the Pens could not answer, resulting a 6-3 victory with 2 empty net goals in the final minutes. With a pivotal 3-2 series lead in hand, the Capitals traveled to Pittsburgh, determined to finish off their foe once again in Game 6. Goaltenders Braden Holtby and Matt Murray stood firm, each surrendering a single goal in the second period. The two teams battled it out to overtime, but Washington was at last able to exorcise its playoff demons, put its conference semifinal troubles behind and advance to the conference finals when Evgeny Kuznetsov seized the puck, charged across the rink and slipped a shot under Murray more than five minutes into the extra period.

2nd Best Moment: "The Save" - Braden Holtby makes a critical save to preserve the Capitals' first win in a Stanley Cup Final, game 2 of the 2018 Finals

Goaltending is an important component to victory in hockey, to the point where certain saves are singled out to be remembered well long after the final horn, especially when it comes to a high-stakes contest like a game in the Finals where Lord Stanley's Cup is only a few games away. After losing their fifth Stanley Cup Finals game in franchise history, a 6-4 high-scoring contest against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1, the Capitals were determined to avoid a 2-0 series hole; the Capitals' prior playoff success on the road would be a key to doing so. Goaltender Braden Holtby found his moment to shine as he hunkered down and turned away 37 of 39 shots in T-Mobile Arena to frustrate the Knights, while the Capitals found more opportune moments to strike, seizing a 3-1 lead that Vegas could only narrow with a Shea Theodore goal in the final minutes of the second period. In the final 2 minutes of regulation, as Washington was unable to extend the lead, the Knights spearheaded an attack with goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury still on the crease. Alex Tuch exploited a hole in the Capitals' defense to set up what appeared to be an easy, low shot into an unguarded side of the net that would have tied the game, but Holtby caught sight of him and made one desperate stretch from one side of the net to the other to shut down what many thought would have been the equalizer, preserving the Capitals' first win in a Stanley Cup final by a final score of 3-2 with a seemingly impossible (and unforgettable) maneuver. Energized by this incredible victory, Washington rolled off three more wins to eventually claim the big prize that had eluded them for long...

1st Best Moment: Winning the Stanley Cup in 2018 - Washington defeats Vegas 4-1 in the Stanley Cup Final to end a 42-year drought of never winning the Stanley Cup

Forty-two seasons is awfully long of a wait to finally accomplish the crowning moment of winning the ultimate league championship for the first time: the Stanley Cup. Though it wasn't the longest wait for a first Cup, those years were more often than not filled with all sorts of failures, including the most heartbreaking ones that have often shattered many fans' hopes that this would be the year over and over, whether it be blowing a lead or being outmatched by a rival or some better, better team that was destined to outdo them all along. A good number of people have anticipatingly joked that Washington was never good enough of a hockey town to even be near the Cup. But after seasons of trying, and through different generations, somehow, the Capitals combined the frustrations and lessons of their past failures with a perfect storm of a lineup, made only possible with some unfortunate key free agency losses after they thought yet another window of winning the Cup had closed, to conquer their playoff troubles and will themselves into a second Stanley Cup Finals appearance against the Vegas Golden Knights twenty years after being swept by the Red Wings in 1998. Despite dropping the first game on the road, 6-4, the Capitals brought in the best of themselves, a diverse, potent offense and a resilient defense, that they have been cultivating for a long time, to undermine the Knights' vaunted low-goal defense and home ice advantage and finally bring the Cup to our nation's capital at last at a time when it was least expected. The heartbreaking wait was at last, long over. May this first championship be remembered forever.

Are caps fans still upset about the Carlson trade? Looking at the duck fans they seem upset about trading a mid 1st for 15/20 games of carlson.

Yes carlson mighta helped us make the playoffs but we wearnt winning this year anyways so who cares. And it sounds like we wearnt resigning him- so I think its a huge win of a trade