GM Brian MacLellan gives his take on where Capitals stand in NHL hierarchy

The Washington Capitals have reached the playoffs in eight straight seasons and 14 of their last 15. The team has a core of players that includes Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie, Tom Wilson, John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov. All seven players were on the Stanley Cup-winning team in 2018. They are all signed to deals of $30 million or more. Wilson will miss the start of the season recovering from a torn ACL.

GM MacLellan gives his take on where Caps stand in NHL hierarchy. The Capitals have reached the playoffs in eight straight seasons and 14 of their last 15. They have a core of players that includes Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie, John Carlson and Dmitry Orlov. All seven players were on the Stanley Cup-winning team in 2018. Maclellans sees them as somewhere between Pittsburgh Penguins and older teams that could still win the Cup. The upper echelon of NHL teams isn't clear-cut following the eventful offseason.