For the last 20 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber and the team have reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 21st annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead and the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what we take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

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Gone – Connor Brown, Gabriel Carlsson, Carl Hagelin, Matt Irwin, Conor Sheary, Craig Smith

Incoming – Joel Edmundson, Max Pacioretty, Matthew Phillips

Impact Of Changes – The Capitals weren't the busiest club when it came to adding pieces to their roster with much of that having a lot to do with their current cap situation as the Capitals are already right up against the cap limit. If there's one addition though that could make a positive impact, it's adding Max Pacioretty to this roster. The only issue being, is he healthy? Pacioretty reaggravated an Achilles injury last season in Carolina, which forced him to miss the entire regular season after appearing in just five games. If Pacioretty is in fact healthy and ready to suit up, the Capitals gain a player that in the COVID shortened season of 2020-21, was 15^th in the NHL in shots on goal. The alternative is that he won't be ready come opening night, which would likely mean starting the season on LTIR.

Also, worth mentioning that Peter Laviolette will not behind the bench this season for the Capitals after mutually parting ways with the club following the end of last season. Spencer Carbery will replace Laviolette as head coach. Carbery spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach in Toronto.

Ready For Full Time – There's going to be teams that bring up a player or two that could immediately make a splash that will have fantasy owners checking their waiver wire to see availability. The Capitals will probably not be one of these teams. If there's a player to keep an eye on though it's 25-year-old goaltender Hunter Shepard. Shepard helped lead the Hershey Bears to a Calder Cup championship and while success in the AHL doesn't always resonate with the NHL club, Shepard's play was encouraging. He posted a 14-6 record with 2.27 GAA while on his way to winning Calder Cup playoff MVP honors. What could stop him from seeing regular NHL time this season is what the Caps already have at the NHL level with Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren both signed and will in all likelihood be the Capitals primary netminders.

The Capitals had one of the weakest prospect pools leading into the 2023 draft, but if there's one name that came from the draft to keep an eye on for leagues that will draft rookies, it could be Andrew Cristall. Cristall was projected to be a first-round lock but fell to the Capitals at 40^th overall which may have been a surprise to most, coming off a season with the Kelowna Rockets where he scored 95 points in 54 games played. He has great hands and vision on the ice which could help him to someday project out to be a middle or top-six forward for the Capitals in the future.

Fantasy Outlook – Alex Ovechkin. Surprise, right? ESPN ranked him at 77^th following the end of last season (11^th LW), but in drafting him you can pencil yourself in for 85-90 points in a season along with 180 or so hits to add to his value. Unless this is finally the season where clubs decide to shadow him on the power play (history has shown us that this is not the case), Ovechkin will continue to be great for fantasy. His scoring last season may have been a little low for him with goals wise with 42, but this was also with him leading the team with seven posts. 

One name to note as a potential sleeper is Tom Wilson, who may not be what comes to mind when the word "sleeper" is thrown around as there is nothing sleepy about his game. He may just go overlooked come draft night as on fantasy sites that automatically filter by last season. He will be further down in the player pool and that's because of missing the majority of last season. Wilson only appeared in 33 games, but in that time managed to get 22 points with a 2.5 SOG per game which higher for him. That's also not forgetting the likely 200 hits and 50 blocked shots to go along with them to help add his to his value. 

On the blue line it's John Carlson, but curious to see just where his production goes this season. He wasn't the powerplay distributer we've come to recognize him as last season with only 12 power-play points. Even with missing almost half of the season, it was a bit saying that he had only seven leading up to his injury on December 22, with the season prior him hitting that mark almost a month earlier on November 24. Carlson still has value and could be a good defenseman to potentially target in the middle to late rounds.

For a fantasy grade…is ho-hum the right way to put it? They Capitals didn't really do much this offseason but in a lot of ways, there weren't many moves for them to make. The biggest question here is the overall health of the club, and sure that can be said for any NHL team, but the Capitals might lead the league in Band-Aid Boy Certified players, which TJ Oshie may just be the cover athlete for. Remember, a bunch of "old guys" with big contracts is never the way to go.

Fantasy Grade – C+ (Last year was an A-)