With two preseason games left before the 2026-27 NHL season opens on Oct. 2, the Washington Capitals are still polishing one of the most important parts of their game: the power play.
That was a problem area last season, and it showed up in the standings. Washington finished with a .579 win percentage but still missed the playoffs by three points.
The Capitals’ man-advantage numbers told part of the story, too - they converted only 17.8% of their chances, which ranked 25th in the league. In a Metropolitan Division where every point matters, that kind of production can be the difference between playing in April and watching from home.
The group around them was good enough to keep the season alive for a long stretch. At different points, the Capitals sat in the top three in the division and stayed in the race until the end. Their goaltending tandem, two-way defense, and strong forward group kept them afloat, but the lack of finishing on the power play left a door open that never quite closed.
Dylan Strome pointed directly at the issue when talking about what needs to change.
“I think that we’ve just got to have that mentality of when the puck gets lost, we need to find a way to get it back,” he said. “Last year was too much standing around and too much just accepting that if off a shot, they clear it, it’s like, ‘Oh well, whatever.’ But this year we’ll try to go into a little bit of a different mindset and how we’re going to get pucks back and keep plays alive.”
The Capitals are trying to build a unit that fits the roster they have now, not the one they had a year ago. Assistant coach Ray Bennett has been in charge of the overhaul this preseason, and the team has split into two separate power-play groups.
One group is built around familiarity: Ovechkin, Strome, Jakob Chychrun, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Tom Wilson. That core has plenty of history together, and head coach Spencer Carbery pointed to that shared understanding as a real advantage.
“There’s a lot of familiarity there, a lot of communication, and a lot of barriers are broken down. They know each other extremely well,” said head coach Spencer Carbery.
The second unit brings a different look. Ryan Leonard, Cole Hutson, Ilya Protas, Jordan Kyrou, and Alex Tuch make up the newer group, and while they haven’t spent much time together, each one brings a skill set that could make the power play more dangerous. The chemistry still has to be built, but the raw ingredients are there.
The two units are set up in similar ways. Both include a left-handed defenseman - Chychrun on one side, Hutson on the other - a physical presence in Wilson or Protas, and three forwards who can create and finish. The idea is clear: keep the structure, mix in the right traits, and give the Capitals a better chance to cash in.
Hutson, in particular, already has a strong case to be part of the solution. In a 14-game stretch at the end of last season, Washington’s power play clicked at 26.3%, and Hutson had a hand in six of the team’s 10 power-play goals during that run. That kind of production is exactly what the Capitals are hoping to tap into as they try to rebuild the unit and squeeze more out of every opportunity.
The need is obvious. Over the last eight seasons, Washington has managed just one top-10 finish in power-play conversion rate, coming in 2020-21. Bennett, Carbery, and the rest of the Capitals are hoping this preseason reset gives them a better answer when the games start counting.
In Other News...
Ovechkins Status Suddenly Feels Like A Real Capitals Concern
Alex Ovechkin was back on the ice with the Capitals for a brief stretch of practice, but the session ended early when a lower-body injury interrupted what had been a welcome return. Coach Spencer Carbery called Ovechkin day-to-day, and the team is treating the situation carefully as training camp unfolds, knowing how much a healthy start matters for a veteran whose presence still drives everything Washington wants to do.
Carbery said the club will keep monitoring him as camp continues, and for now the focus is on avoiding anything that turns into a bigger problem. The Capitals have reason to be cautious here even if the early read is encouraging, because Ovechkins condition is the kind of storyline that can linger around a team until it gets clearer separation between a temporary setback and something more serious. [Read more 🡒]
Ethen Frank Is Fighting For His Capitals Future Again
Ethen Frank is back in the familiar spot of trying to turn a strong offseason into a real role with the Capitals. As he readies for the upcoming season, the forward has been working on the parts of his game that can help him stick, putting extra attention on his hockey IQ, his positioning and his ability to see the ice a little quicker.
Frank has been doing that work with help from the coaching staff as he competes for a roster spot, which has made this summer feel less like maintenance and more like another test. He knows the path is simple but never easy: keep sharpening the details, keep earning trust, and leave no doubt when camp opens. [Read more 🡒]