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NHL Postseason Dissection: Predators, Capitals See Early Playoff Exit

by Michael Augello

May 19, 2022

in Nashville Predators, NHL, Washington Capitals

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The Predators and Capitals failed to make it past the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. What lies next for these two franchises?

With the National Hockey League regular season and the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the rear-view mirror, it is a good time to look at a couple of clubs that were eliminated and see exactly why their season ended.

Today we look at one club that was predicted to miss the postseason altogether and a former Cup winner who came close to beating the President’s Trophy winner.

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Nashville Predators

What went right?

Nashville got great regular season performances out of goalie Juuse Saros (who played 67 games and was nominated for the Vezina Trophy), defenseman Roman Josi (who led the club with 96 points and was nominated for the Norris), 42 goals from forward Filip Forsberg, bounce-back years from Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen, and 24 goals from rookie Tanner Jeannot, that enabled them to beat out Vegas for one of the Western Conference wildcard slots.

What went wrong?

The Preds unfortunately matched up with top-ranked Colorado in the first round and without Saros (who was injured in the final week of the regular season), the chances of an upset went from longshot to near impossible. Backup David Rittich gave up five goals in the first period of Game 1, and 25-year-old Connor Ingram was valiant in relief, but it did not prevent Nashville from falling in four games.

What will they do?

GM David Poile extended head coach John Hynes and his staff for two years on Thursday, but his real work will be to get Forsberg re-signed before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in July. The two sides reportedly negotiated up until the trade deadline before the Preds chose to use the winger as an own-rental. Nashville has nearly $26 million in available cap space, but they do not spend to the cap and Forsberg’s salary demands (reportedly in the same neighborhood that Josi/Duchene/Johansen make) may not work with their budget.

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Washington Capitals

What went right?

Washington benefited from the struggles of the New York Islanders and nearly had a playoff spot locked up in a segmented Eastern Conference by the All-Star break. Alex Ovechkin continued to be a scoring machine, registering his ninth 50-goal season, Evgeny Kuznetsov picked up the scoring slack until an injured Nicklas Backstrom returned midway through the season, while Tom Wilson scored a career-high 24 goals, and John Carlson put up 71 points.

What went wrong?

The Capitals goaltending tandem of Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov was average at best, which had GM Brian MacLellan searching for an upgrade, and cap restrictions prevented them from adding anything more than depth forwards at the deadline. Injuries also hampered Peter Laviolette in the playoffs against a stacked Florida team, as Ovechkin suffered a shoulder injury late in the regular season and Wilson suffered a high-ankle sprain in Game 1.

All that being said, the Caps had a lead late in Game 4 to go up 3-1 and a 3-0 lead in Game 5, but the Panthers came back to win both games before eliminating them in overtime in six games.

What will they do?

The direction of the off-season may depend on the health status of Backstrom, who hinted at the possibility of hip surgery this summer and there is some speculation that the 34-year-old could take a year off or even retire. MacLellan has just under $9 million in cap space to work with and his top priority will be to finally remedy his issues in goal. Samsonov and Vanecek are free agents and the goaltending market this summer could be brisk with names like Marc-Andre Fleury, Darcy Kuemper, and Ville Husso available.