2022-23 Season Preview: The Forwards

The 2022-23 season starts in a week. The Caps have a new training camp at the end of this week and the new season begins in 2022.

Alex Ovechkin is coming off his 50th goal of the season. He is 21 goals behind Gordie Howe for #2 on the all-time goals list. 10 of 15 incumbent forwards are over 30. The team has talented players like Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie, and Anthony Mantha. They also have young players Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre. Tom Wilson is recovering from injury. Nicklas Backstrom is still recovering.

The Washington Capitals have brought in some new players at the beginning of the summer.

Dylan Strome signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Caps. Connor Brown was traded from the Senators to Washington. Henrik Borgstrom is a project. He's coming off a season where his relative stats were almost all positive. He could be a good back-up option for Nick Backstrom.

Second City Hockey gives a good breakdown of what the Caps are getting.

The Blackhawks had better possession of the puck when Borgstrom was on the ice. Borgstrom had an offensive zone start percentage of 39.5, which was 10th among the 15 forwards who skated 250 minutes at 5-on-5 last season.

Connor McMichael's rookie season was mixed. He hasn't earned the trust of the coaching staff yet. Mc Michael will need to take big steps forward this season with Backstrom and Wilson on the sidelines and some other unproven pieces waiting in the wings.

Nicklas Backstrom and Wilson are injured. Alex Ovechkin is still young and has a lot of energy left. Connor McMichael is ready to make the full-time roster.

The Washington Capitals have a lot of unknowns about their forward situation for the upcoming season. At best, they can overcome the age issue and ride stellar campaigns by their top talent. The worst, the team struggles without Backstrom and Wilson and the new guys don't mesh.