The 2024-25 NHL season has been the season of the Washington Capitals. From dominating performances to Alex Ovechkin dabbling in a bit of record-breaking, the Caps have been flying high. Well, so far. Because with the playoffs swiftly approaching, they’ve just encountered a stumbling block in the shape of the Columbus Blue Jackets. In a striking turn of events, the team faced back-to-back defeats at the hands of the Blue Jackets, enduring a staggering 7-0 shutout followed by a 4-1 loss, even as Ovechkin managed to net his 896th career goal in the second game. Minor blip or cause for concern? An NHL insider has just had his say.

When discussing the Capitals’ form on the 32 Thoughts podcast with co-host Kyle Bukauskas, Elliotte Friedman talked about the wider implications of these losses. “I’m not concerned, but they have been very leaky. There’s, there’s no question about that. They’re giving up three goals just about every game now. Right? And it’s been masked by a—they’ve had a huge lead all season. They’ve been excellent.”

They say the best defense is a good offense, and it’s a mantra the Caps have been following all season. After all, does it really matter if you’re shipping 2-3 goals per game when you’re also outscoring opponents with ease? Well, as the Capitals have found, it does because they need a plan B when the offense dries up, as it has the past couple of games. Especially if they want to make a deep playoff run.

Friedman then pointed to the focus on the Gr8 Chase that also distracted from the team’s overall performances. But the chase is over, and there’s nothing left to paper over the cracks. So, Friedman laid out a more unorthodox approach the Capitals could take to overcome their troubles. “So it was funny,” said Friedman. “I was talking on Sunday to a retired coach who’s older. And he said to me, If this was 1985, like a 1980, someone who was coaching in 1985 would be putting the Capitals through practices of doom this week.”

“Like, they would be getting it so bad because, and he said, even there’d be some coaches now, like we always joke about John Tortorella or maybe even coaches like 10, 15 years ago still. Like this week, the Capitals would get grinded. Like somebody would just say, you know what? Enough’s enough; the playoffs are 2 games away. We’re leaky, and it’s time to crush everybody and get their heads back where it needs to be.”

Despite the old-school advice, the unnamed coach Friedman spoke to did give his stamp of approval on Spencer Carbery‘s leadership throughout the season. But the question is, how will Carbery turn things around? “Because there would be a time 10 years ago, 20 years ago, you know, 40 years ago, where a coach would just say, ‘I am grinding you down this week. You think this week is going to be fun because the playoffs are next week? And we’ve clinched first place in our conference? No, this week is not going to be fun. You guys are going to get it’.”

It’ll be interesting to see what approach Spencer Carbery takes with the team now. The playoffs are days away, so does it make sense to strip back and keep training sessions spartan and intense, like the retired coach suggested? Or is it exactly the jolt the team needs? Either way, for the Washington Capitals, what’s important right now is to plug those defensive leaks and rediscover their scoring mojo. The return of Alex Ovechkin from his mini break is sure to help there, and speaking of Ovechkin, have you heard this story from his Draft days?

Washington Capitals’ owner opens up about the 2004 Draft

In a recent interview with the Washington Business Journal, Ted Leonsis shared his thoughts on his first meeting with Ovechkin, saying, “ When we picked Alex Ovechkin, I had never seen him play. In fact, they gave me a little CD-ROM that you put into your laptop. And we went to the draft in North Carolina, and we were told he’s a force of nature. And I never met anyone like him from the first moment.”

Before his legendary NHL career was his hockey career in Russia with HC Dynamo Moscow, first in the junior system and then as a professional playing in the Russian Superleague (now KHL). It’s a testament to the “force of nature” he was that then Panthers GM, Rick Dudley, attempted to draft him the previous year, claiming that he would be age-eligible if leap years were taken into account!

The leap year excuse, as you can imagine, didn’t stand; the Washington Capitals picked him the following year, and the rest is history. Ovechkin was full of surprises on the ice, but he had his fair share of them off of it too. As Leonsis recounted, “We did the draft, and we were having a party. And we said, ‘Be there at 5.’ And a quarter to 5, Alex was there, and he was shaking everyone’s hands, giving autographs, and eating cantaloupe.”

Sounds fairly innocuous, right? But wait. “He had never had cantaloupe. He ate eight cantaloupes.” He may have only been 18, but he sure did reinforce his commitment to the number that is now synonymous with him! He’s a hockey icon, but one thing’s for certain, and it’s that his abilities are remarkable both on and off the ice, to say the least.