After 77 games in the 2024-25 season, one of the NHL’s biggest surprises is the Washington Capitals. After barely squeaking into the playoffs last season, they are second in the NHL with 107 points. There are many factors that are contributing to the Capitals’ resurgence this season.
Related: Capitals’ Remaining 2024-25 Schedule as Ovechkin Chases History
Both Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas are having breakout seasons offensively. They came up huge for the team when their captain Alex Ovechkin went down with an injury in November. Speaking of the Russian machine, he continues to show his ageless talent on and off the ice, returning after missing only 16 games from a fractured fibula. Ovechkin also broke Wayne Gretzky’s goal record, scoring his 895th goal against the New York Islanders, on the power play, on April 6. This season-long chase added more fuel to the fire for him and the Capitals.
Not only is the offense putting up better numbers, but the defense is now a shut-down barrier for opposing teams. The goaltending tandem of Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren has been more than exceptional this season, as they’ve put up a combined 49 wins in 77 games.
Alex Ovechkin Continuing His Dominance
Since his return from injury on Dec. 28, Ovechkin hasn’t missed a beat, scoring 27 goals in 44 games. Not only is he scoring, but over the last 11 games, he’s registered 10 assists along with six goals. Of his 27 assists this season, 17 are primary which shows he still has elite vision to go along with his wicked shot. Ovechkin climbed one mountain in breaking Gretzky’s goal record, now his eyes are on the Stanley Cup.
The remaining games of the schedule are a mix between struggling teams, such as the Chicago Blackhawks, and teams making their final push in hopes of earning a spot in the playoffs, such as the Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets. What better way to cap off this remarkable season than against the Pittsburgh Penguins in a battle against his oldest rival, Sidney Crosby.
2019 Draft Picks Coming Through in 2024-25
After six years of development and growth, the kids are coming through this season. McMichael and Protas are wrapping up respective breakout seasons in which they are putting up career highs in multiple categories. In a season where the Capitals needed them to step up, even with their captain out for one month, they exceeded expectations.
McMichael had a blistering start to the season scoring 13 goals in the first 20 games. He’s since slowed down, but has been consistent since the middle of January to now, registering 21 points in the last 30 games. He has a good shot as shown by his shooting percentage of 15.2%, which ranks seventh on the team. If he continues to utilize it, he has the potential to be a 30-40 goal scorer in the future once their captain hangs up the skates.
Moving from one winger to another, after a lackluster start to his NHL career, the big man is finally breaking out. Currently, he has 30 goals and 66 points this season, which is more than he’s put up in his first three years combined. He’s provided the Capitals with an all-around solid effort at both ends of the ice. He can score, he can dish out assists and is defensively responsible. This is a guy that the Capitals have been waiting on to blossom, same with McMichael.
SHORTHANDED GOAL! 🚨
It’s Aliaksei Protas with a sweet feed to Tom Wilson! pic.twitter.com/wXJhvXBhUG
— NHL (@NHL) February 5, 2025
Having a versatile player who is 6-foot-6 and can skate well is a game-changer in most cases and has been for Washington this season. On top of this, he has the best shooting percentage on the team at 21.3%, making him a valuable asset to the Capitals, with a high potential to be an important catalyst heading into the playoffs.
The New Core for the Capitals
The Capitals have been trying to find a core of players to revolve around since the regression and absence of Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov. This season, it looks as if Pierre-Luc Dubois and Dylan Strome are filling these roles.
Obviously the star of this clip is Ovi getting another goal. But can we all take a moment to appreciate how PUTRID this BACKHAND touch pass assist is by Dylan Strome?? This stud gets better every day pic.twitter.com/YyjeqkoZUB
— Empty Netters (@EmptyNettersPod) April 2, 2025
Statistically, each player is very similar to one another in how they play and their production numbers. Much like Kuznetsov and Backstrom, Strome has shown his consistency in putting up 20-plus goals and 40-plus assists in a season, as he’s done with the Capitals each year he’s been with the team. Dubois also fits into this category as he hit the 40-assist mark for the first time in his career and in his debut season with the Capitals.
Related: Capitals’ Pierre-Luc Dubois: From Top Draft Pick to NHL Nomad
One player flying under the radar is Tom Wilson, which is a shocking sentence to type. The hard-nosed power forward is putting up career highs in multiple stat categories this season. The two that stand out the most are his goals and penalty minutes (PIM). Throughout his career, Wilson has had the potential to be a 30-goal scorer, but he spent the majority of the time in the penalty box or serving a suspension.
During the 2017-18 season, he saw an increase in playing time, but over the next few seasons he would miss big chunks due to injuries or suspension. This season, he’s utilizing his offensive skill more and staying out of the penalty box. For the first time in his career he reached the 30-goal mark, with 32 and counting, and his PIM are at a career low of 88 through 75 games (granted, he had 78 PIM in 2022-23 through only 33 games). He also put up a career high in points with 62 and has a chance to increase that total with five games remaining.
Goaltending
A team can’t succeed for long without a solid goaltender in between the pipes and that is what Thompson has been for the Capitals. Coming over from the Vegas Golden Knights last year, he has been nothing short of fantastic this season. He has a 2.49 goals-against average (GAA) and a .910 save percentage (SV%) to go along with a 31-6-6 record. The stat that stands out the most is his goals saved above expected goals against, which is 26. This stat shows the expected goals against for a goalie based on the shot location, type of shot and position of the goaltender. Having saved 26 goals above expected shows how valuable he’s been to the Capitals this season in saving games and earning points.
Lindgren has come back down to earth after a solid campaign last season where he was eighth in voting for the Vezina Trophy. Having adopted more of a backup role as the season progressed, he’s been alright in between the pipes. Currently he has an 18-13-3 record with a 2.65 GAA and a .896 SV%. Throughout the season, his numbers are inconsistent, either having a sub-three GAA or a GAA of over three each month. However, Thompson will most likely take the starting job in the playoffs, leaving Lindgren as the backup option based on this season.
Caps Ready to Roll in May
Despite recent struggles, the Capitals will be ready to make a run at the Stanley Cup this season. The rebuilt core, solid goaltending and resurgence of their future Hall of Fame captain have them in a great position to bring home some more hardware back to Washington D.C.
