GM: John Charles
Coach: Bob Boughner
Last season: 16th overall; did not make playoffs
Ins and Outs
(Season 12 to Season 13)
In: Kirill Kaprizov (Season 13 draft), Alexander Weiss (trade), Joel Farabee (Season 10 draft), Filip Zadina (Season 10 draft), Caleb Jones (Season 12 draft), Jake Bean (Season 7 draft),
Out: Jamie Benn (trade), Dylan Olsen (free agent), Jason Demers (free agent),
Potential Lineup
Kirill Kaprizov/Scott Conway/Sam Reinhart
Jason Zucker/Kevin Hayes/Tomas Hyka
Dominik Kubalik/Dylan Strome/Josh Anderson
Joel Farabee/Nolan Patrick/Jesse Puljujarvi
Adam Larsson/Brett Pesce
Jared Cowen/Alexander Weiss
Gurkan Cetinkaya/Matt Grzelcyk
Jakub Kovar/Luca Gracnar
Three Questions
1. What is the biggest area of concern in Edinburgh? The Capitals were about 5th from the bottom in offense last season. That should get looked at. They were 8th from the bottom in goals against. Not a huge problem, right? But look closer and you will see that without the very good work of goalies Jakub Kovar and Luca Gracnar (both had save percentages around 90), things would have been much worse. Only Stockholm yielded more shots against per game than did the Capitals. It seems GM John Charles made a good decision in signing Kovar to a multi-year deal. Team defense, therefore, has to be a concern for Coach Bob Boughner. Maybe it’s Boughner’s coaching style that needs a closer look, because there are some very good defensive players on the team, including minute-munchers Gurkan Cetinkaya and Jared Cowen. Then again, there are some players on defense who need to do a better job of concerning themselves with the area in front of Kovar and Gracnar. Shea Theodore, Matt Grzelcyk and Brett Pesce all have defense ratings of 60 or lower.
2. Where will they improve this season? Everywhere. Edinburgh was a young team last year and they naturally improved everywhere when the calendar pages kept turning. Plus, they latched onto the top prize in the draft – Kirill Kaprizov – who could add some firepower from the left wing. Only five starters are 30 or older, and only reliable defenseman Jared Cowen, 32, is older than 31. This team is more geared for the future than Season 13 and it will gain valuable experience in a very stacked conference. Goalies Jakub Kovar and Luca Gracnar will be solid and should even improve a little over last season’s very good performances. Improvement should also be noticed up front, where you should see some slick play sprouting from people like Dylan Strome and Scott Conway at center and Kaprizov who gets first-line minutes thanks to a trade that sent Jamie Benn to Bratislava. Many of Edinburgh’s forwards are of an age where you often see breakout seasons occurring. If you looked at all the forwards’ attributes and came up with an average player, he would be a player of good size who can skate well and thinks about scoring goals most of the time. That’s got to excite Scottish fans. Edinburgh’s defense pairs are far more experienced as a group than the forwards are and they feature a good mix of fast and strong; skill and grind.
3. How about the far-off future? The Caps are sitting on more than a half-dozen mid-80 PO ratings forwards. With the team looking like it is headed for an improvement, GM John Charles and Coach Bob Boughner have to be asking each other “How the heck can we get all these younger guys more experience?” Kirill Karpizov is going from the draft to Jamie Benn’s replacement on the top line in a blink of an eye. If he fails to prove his mettle there, however, he will get passed by Dominik Kubalik (85 PO) and Joel Farabee (84). At center, it’s a pick ’em situation if you are deciding which of this trio will eventually be the best: Dylan Strome (85 PO), Kirby Dach (86) or Nolan Patrick (84). And on the deep right wing, where 27-year-old Sam Reinhart is currently king of the hill, Filip Fadina and Jesse Puljujarvi will be pushing their way toward the front even though Tomas Hyka and Josh Anderson currently have their skates firmly planted in the lineup. For Capitals fans, it will be very interesting to watch how this young forward group takes shape in the next couple of seasons.
Rose’s Focus
“Sam Reinhart has been relied on heavily over the years, leading the team with linemates Sidney Crosby and Jamie Benn. Now both veterans are gone, Scott Conway will be feeding pucks to Rhino and Kirill Kaprizov will be flying up the other wing. You may be surprised to learn that I think experience is a good thing, so I am worried that this younger line is going to be able to compete. If Reinhart can get over 200 shots, like he has three times so far in his career, all will be well in Scotland. Statistics aside, I wish Edinburgh management would make the players wear kilts to and from the games. I don’t see why they wouldn’t. I bet these guys all have nice legs.”
