The Washington Capitals didn’t just tinker with their roster before the season - they gave it a real facelift. And through the first month, the newcomers have done more than blend in. They’ve become central to the way this team is scoring, defending and surviving the early grind of Alex Ovechkin’s final NHL season.
The headline names are all producing. Boone Jenner, Jordan Kyrou and Alex Tuch have emerged as the Capitals’ top three scorers, while Vincent Desharnais made an early impact before an emergency appendectomy sidelined him.
Jack St. Ivany, claimed off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets, stepped into that opening and has already made his mark.
Tuch has been the loudest addition by a mile. He leads Washington with 11 goals in 15 games and sits second on the team in points.
That kind of pace puts him in rare company: he’s the fourth player in franchise history to score at this clip, joining Ovechkin, Dino Ciccarelli and Guy Charron. He’s also logging 19:14 a night, has five game-winning goals and has won 50% of his faceoffs.
The Capitals expected him to matter. He’s gone beyond that and looks like their best player.
Kyrou has been just as important, even if his value shows up in a different way. He has 14 points in 15 games, has moved between the second and third lines, and has recently found a groove alongside Tuch and Dylan Strome.
Per Capitals Public Relations, he has totaled a team-high 12 points in his last eight games. He also leads the club in power-play points with five and is tied with Strome for the team lead in overall points.
Washington also marked Kyrou’s 500th career game, and he scored two goals on Wednesday while extending his point streak to five games at 3g-5a-8p.
Jenner has been the steady hand in the middle of it all. He may not light up the scoresheet every night, but he’s doing the kind of work that keeps a lineup humming.
Through 15 games, the 33-year-old has six goals and one assist while averaging 15:47 of ice time. That goal total has him second on the team behind Tuch, and his faceoff work has been a major asset too.
Jenner is winning 55.2% of his draws, his best mark since the 2017-18 season. He’s been a dependable presence in the bottom six, skating with Aliaksei Protas, Tom Wilson, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Justin Sourdif, Ryan Leonard and others.
Desharnais gave Washington a different kind of value. Through nine games, he had three assists and was averaging 19:25 of ice time, fourth on the team.
At 6-foot-7, he brought size, and he used it with 22 hits and 14 blocked shots. Then came the setback: an emergency appendectomy on Oct.
- He is expected to miss four to six weeks and should be back sometime between late November and early December.
That opened the door for St. Ivany, and he has taken advantage.
The 27-year-old was claimed off waivers to help cover for Desharnais, and in five games he has already posted five points - one goal and four assists. He became the first franchise player to record multiple assists in each of his first two games, then scored his first career goal with the team against the Florida Panthers in his most recent outing.
He’s plus-3, averaging 14:20 of ice time, and has clicked immediately alongside Cole Hutson. Since arriving, St.
Ivany has assisted on both of Hutson’s goals.
Taken together, the moves have worked. Washington’s front office has hit on its additions, even if the results haven’t fully matched the preseason hopes just yet.
The Capitals are 9-6-0 with 18 points and sit fourth in the Metropolitan Division. There’s still a long way to go, but the foundation they’ve built through these pickups is already clear.
In Other News...
Flames Suddenly Have A Blue Line Decision They Can't Rush
Even with the trade chatter around Ivan Miroshnichenko circulating, Washingtons situation on the blue line is the kind that cant be forced. The Capitals are weighing what they might want back in any deal, with the ask reportedly centered on either high draft picks or prospects who are a year or two away, but the bigger issue is the fit, and whether there is actually room for him right now.
For a team trying to balance present needs with future value, that makes the next move tricky. Miroshnichenko still has enough profile to draw interest, yet Washington does not appear eager to rush into a decision just to get something done, which means this could linger into the season before the picture becomes clearer. [Read more 🡒]
Capitals Roster Gamble Just Put More Pressure On Justin Holl
The Capitals used a quick roster shuffle to patch a hole on the blue line, recalling veteran defenseman Justin Holl after the brief departure of goalie Rmi Poirier. Holl brings a long NHL track record with multiple teams, and Washington has already seen him chip in offensively in recent games, which gives the move a little more substance than a simple paper transaction.
Still, the sequence adds another layer of pressure to Holl as he tries to carve out a steadier role in Washington. The Capitals brought in Poirier with a future asset attached, only to move on from the goalie almost immediately, and now the spotlight shifts back to whether Holl can make the most of this opening and give the club the dependable minutes it needs from the back end. [Read more 🡒]