Washington Capitals

No longer aspiring to be a high-scoring outfit, this team will try to win with a rebuilt defense

By Pete McEntegart

Team Page | Predicted Finish: 16

Last season Washington cast itself as a free-wheeling team, with rookie coach Bruce Cassidy turning loose high-priced forwards Jaromir Jagr ($78 million over seven years), Robert Lang ($25 million, five years) and Peter Bondra ($18 million, four years). The result was a 10-13-2-0 start in which his team was outscored 75-63, so Cassidy installed a trapping system that helped the Capitals to a 29-16-6-6 finish. But in the playoffs Washington was knocked out in six games by the Lightning and owner Ted Leonsis was left fuming, as much by the thousands of empty seats in the MCI Center as by his team's postseason performance. He pledged to reevaluate whether he should continue to spend so generously.

Jaromir Jagr Doug Pensinger/Getty Images SI RANKING (1 best - 30 worst) OFFENSE 15 DEFENSE 26 GOALTENDING 11 POWER PLAY 11 PENALTY KILLING 25 G.M. AND COACH 18

That meant trying to dump Jagr, but at $11 million per season there were no takers. What the Capitals did lose were two of their top four defensemen -- Calle Johansson (retirement) and Ken Klee (free agency) -- and no veteran replacements were brought in. Even so, Cassidy plans to stick with his defensive style of play. "This organization was built on defense," says goalie Olaf Kolzig. "We tried to change it last year, and we lost the defensive edge. Well, it's time to rebuild."

That process will include blueliners such as 19-year-old Steve Eminger, the team's top draft pick in 2002, and Josef Boumedienne, 25. The 6'2", 200-pound Eminger, a stay-at-home defenseman, has been paired with hard-hitting, 6'2", 229-pound vet Brendan Witt. Boumedienne, who scored 30 points for Washington's American Hockey League affiliate in Portland, Me., last year, has been teamed with Sergei Gonchar, who had a career-high 67 points in '02-03. "I don't know if thin is the right word," Cassidy says of his defense. "Inexperienced is better."

In a weak Eastern Conference, and an even weaker Southeast Division, the Capitals should have enough talent to make another trip to the playoffs.

Insider

Second-year coach Bruce Cassidy will be on the hot seat if he doesn't get high-scoring F's Jaromir Jagr and Peter Bondra to buy into his defense-oriented system.... If G Olaf Kolzig gets on a roll, he can be good enough to help the team overcome its defensive deficiencies.... G.M. George McPhee, who stole C Michael Nylander from the Blackhawks and F Mike Grier from the Oilers in trades last season, needs to work similar magic to add depth to the team's blue line.

Issue date: October 13, 2003