After my last post I was just before the All-Star game. I made a few depth moves prior to the deadline to address injuries and also just add all around size to the lineup.

Key Additions:

C - Orlando Sipotz
D - Andrei Safronov
D - Scott Harrington
D - Mason Geertsen
LW - Reginald Drummond

I didn't give up too much as far as roster players. Norm Anderson was moved, as was Hampus Lindholm (who was severely underperforming). The other major one was Nelson Cullen, who I had acquired earlier in the year but didn't feel was physical enough for my blueline.

End of the Season Roster:

Washington Capitals (Shot=Overall)
#	CENTERS	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
16	Eugene Bylsma (TWF)	21	6'1"	198 lbs	86	USA
47	Boris Glebov (SNP)	27	6'2"	205 lbs	85	Belarus
53	Valeri Fedorov (PLY)	27	6'1"	191 lbs	84	Latvia
82	Orlando Sipotz (PWF)	22	6'6"	250 lbs	81	Canada
95	Ruslan Kapitanov (TWF)	27	6'4"	225 lbs	80	Russia
88	Andrei Ovechkin (SNP)	22	6'2"	205 lbs	79	Russia
12	Clark Bishop (PLY)	27	6'1"	188 lbs	79	Canada
22	Karel Kalinka (SNP)	27	6'2"	201 lbs	76	Czech Republic
90	Dean Sugihara (TWF)	21	6'2"	210 lbs	74	Canada
#	LEFT WINGS	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
18	Bradley Boulerice (SNP)	25	6'2"	205 lbs	87	Canada
19	Matt Puempel (SNP)	30	6'2"	206 lbs	84	Canada
77	Antti Rissanen (SNP)	27	6'4"	222 lbs	80	Finland
24	Ivan Barbashev (PLY)	27	6'1"	186 lbs	79	Russia
92	Reginald Drummond (SNP)	26	6'3"	218 lbs	77	USA
#	RIGHT WINGS	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
93	Valentin Zykov (SNP)	28	6'2"	217 lbs	88	Russia
83	Bryant Gudbranson (TWF)	25	6'0"	188 lbs	87	Canada
55	Howard Ryznar (PWF)	26	6'3"	234 lbs	82	Norway
21	Vic Breen (SNP)	27	6'2"	204 lbs	79	USA
45	Shawn Forney	21	6'3"	202 lbs	76	Canada
#	DEFENSE	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
74	John Carlson (TWD)	33	6'3"	212 lbs	86	USA
4	Oleg Khomutov (TWD)	27	6'4"	212 lbs	86	Estonia
51	Andrei Safronov (DFD)	26	6'8"	226 lbs	82	Ukraine
2	Alan Aubry (TWD)	27	6'4"	216 lbs	81	USA
3	Lou Hamhuis (TWD)	27	6'4"	212 lbs	80	USA
44	Phil Baltisberger (TWD)	27	6'1"	216 lbs	80	Switzerland
6	Scott Harrington (DFD)	30	6'2"	207 lbs	80	Canada
25	Mason Geertsen (DFD)	28	6'3"	204 lbs	79	Canada
59	Mats Danielsson (TWD)	25	5'11"	189 lbs	77	Sweden
86	Seth Woywitka (DFD)	27	6'9"	237 lbs	77	Canada
#	GOALIES	AGE	HT	WT	SHOT	BIRTH PLACE
34	Kelly Schaeffer (BUT)	22	6'4"	206 lbs	89	USA
31	Robert Renberg (HYB)	25	6'2"	190 lbs	80	Sweden
32	Henrik Backstrom (BUT)	27	6'3"	207 lbs	80	Sweden
30	Lee Dubnyk (BUT)	25	6'4"	206 lbs	77	USA

We went on to have a solid season, despite many injuries to key defensemen, including Oleg Khomutov who was injured just after the Deadline and would miss the rest of the year. We'd also lose Fedorov for a while, and he'd never quite recover to form.

Despite all this, we wound up 47-21-14, second in the division.

Capitals Stats Stats - 2022-23
Skaters	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	GW	PIM	SOG	SPCT
Valentin Zykov	82	39	51	90	13	4	26
Bradley Boulerice	81	38	38	76	16	7	22
Boris Glebov	82	28	45	73	19	3	39
Matt Puempel	77	35	31	66	15	8	19
Bryant Gudbranson	80	13	51	64	7	2	29
Valeri Fedorov	65	8	44	52	13	3	36
John Carlson	6	25	31	31	6	2	140
Alan Aubry	71	4	20	24	11	1	37
Howard Ryznar	79	9	11	20	-1	3	25
Andrei Safronov	75	7	12	19	-6	0	24
Vic Breen	82	15	4	19	-2	2	37
Phil Baltisberger	48	7	10	17	2	1	19
Eugene Bylsma	66	4	13	17	-8	0	32
Lou Hamhuis	49	1	15	16	0	0	12
Oleg Khomutov	46	5	10	15	1	1	27
Ruslan Kapitanov	82	3	11	14	-19	1	36
Orlando Sipotz	80	7	7	14	-10	3	39
Antti Rissanen	49	5	8	13	4	0	9
Ivan Barbashev	60	3	8	11	-13	1	8
Karel Kalinka	2	1	2	3	2	0	2
Goalies	GP	W	L	T	GAA	TOI	SV	SV%	SHO
Kelly Schaeffer	60	37	14	5	2.24			.920	1
Robert Renberg	17	8	8	0	2.70			.903	2

In the Playoffs we had 3 rematches from last year.

Round 1 vs. the New York Islanders saw us easily win the series 4-1
Round 2. vs. the Toronto Maple Leafs was also fairly easy, with us winning 4-2
Round 3 vs. the Buffalo Sabres was closer, and we played game 7 missing 3 of our top 5 d-men. We prevailed in game 7 though.

The Stanley Cup Final was a rematch against the Dallas Stars. Unfortunately they were missing their top goalie and defenseman. Still, they went up 3-1 in the series, and we had to battle back to force game 7.

In game 7, Schaeffer allowed 3 goals on 11 shots in the first 11 minutes, in a half of a game that we were desperately outplayed. I put in Robert Renberg and took a timeout, changed the lines. By the end of the second it was 4-3 for the Capitals. Dallas tied it up in the 3rd period and we went to overtime. In OT my depth came through, producing chance after chance until Valentin Zykov took a 5 minute major penalty late in the first OT. A strong penalty kill sent it into a Double Overtime, and we kept killing it off. Glebov hit the post shorthanded, and at the end of the kill we found ourselves in the offensive zone. Drummond, who served the penalty, had a great chance in front but was stopped, Aubry kept it alive, but the Dallas defense collected it. Kapitanov, rushing in from the bench, took out his man, grabbed the puck in the slot, and would put it home to win the Stanley Cup!

Conn Smythe winner was Matt Puempel

Capitals Post-Season Stats Stats -
Skaters	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	GW	PIM	SOG	SPCT
Valentin Zykov	25	7	17	24	4	1	19
Bradley Boulerice	25	12	11	23	4	1	8
Matt Puempel	25	9	12	21	13	4	4
Boris Glebov	25	12	9	21	11	2	4
Bryant Gudbranson	25	5	12	17	14	2	8
Andrei Safronov	25	1	9	10	8	0	21
Alan Aubry	24	1	8	9	7	0	6
Vic Breen	25	7	2	9	1	0	0
Valeri Fedorov	16	3	5	8	-6	0	11
John Carlson	25	2	6	8	9	2	16
Goalies	GP	W	L	T	GAA	TOI	SV	SV%	SHO
Kelly Schaeffer	25	15	7	2	1.99			.918	5
Robert Renberg	4	1	1	0	2.42			.896	0

Offseason:

Released/Traded:

C - Valeri Fedorov (84)
RW - Howard Ryznar (82)
D - Andrei Safronov (85)
LW - Matt Puempel (84)
D - Scott Harrington (82)
D - Mason Geertsen (79)
LW - Yury Kolesnik (80)

Acquired:

C - Toby Gelech (79, rookie)
D - Blake Roach (80, rookie)
C - Jerome Laraque (75, 22 years old)
LW - Tim Fata (80, 23 years old)
LW - Bo Horvat (80)
D - Lasse Pikkarainen (85)
D - Mikael Ohlund (80)
G - Juuse Saros (79)

Well, I got rid of a lot of good players on my team in favour of some younger talent. Puempel and Ryznar were good warriors, but I wanted to open some spots up for some younger players. Toby Gelech is a big 6'4, 211 lb center, sniper, who has a great future in the league. While he might cap out as a 2nd line center, he also could easily become our top line center in a few seasons. This gives some pressure on Bylsma to perform better than he has in the future, or else the young two-way center could be on the move.

Blake Roach is a big 6'6", 218 lbs defenceman and, at least in my eyes, could be a future #1 defenceman in the league. Like Gelech, he'll get 1 year in the AHL to develop a little more. Could be called up later in the season or for playoffs given his great defensive prowess. A little work offensively and he'll be a true stud.

Jerome Laraque is a young player who actually played 110 NHL games previously. Good speed and shot, I am planning to develop him a little into a possible 3rd line center. This season though he'll be an AHLer.

Tim Fata is a grinder from the Oilers who is young, and decent speed who can obviously hit. Solid 3rd-4th liner, going to be a key contributor to the team for the future.

Bo Horvat was a 4th liner for the Canucks, and when I was trading Safronov and a few others for Pikkarainen, he was thrown in. Solid PWF who could contribute for us.

Lasse Pikkarainen is a very solid defenceman, also from Vancouver. Safronov was traded for him, he brings in a more mobile, offensive defenseman, while not hurting us defensively. Brings me some excitement on the back end.

Mikael Ohlund was my only really important free agent signing. The former Islanders defenseman has terrorized me in the past so when he was a UFA I jumped all over that. Also gives me GREAT depth on the back end and lets me not force Roach into the lineup.