3 Washington Capitals Who Will Regress In 2024-25

The Washington Capitals somehow snuck into the playoffs last season, but in an attempt to make it back, they have gotten better than last season. While some new faces were brought in to help make the team better, some players are bound to regress, especially a couple of veterans. Here's a look at three players who should be in line for a worse season in 2024-25.

Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin scored 31 goals and 65 points in 79 games last season. It was the first season in which he didn't come close to finishing with a point-per-game since 2016-17, the off year where the Capitals played much more defensively. Ovechkin had a rough start to the season in 2023-24, and while I don't think that happens for that long, overall, he should continue to decline steadily. He is going to be 39 by the time the season starts, but still has the goals record on his mind.

John Carlson

Like Ovechkin, John Carlson is one of the last remaining veterans from all the years of success in Washington. The Capitals loaded up on defense and are looking pretty good. This will take the load off a declining Carlson, even if it's just a little and he does just a bit worse. The Capitals now have Jakub Chychrun who can help out on the power play and Matt Roy who is solid defensively to take some of that burden off of the 34 year old. He scored 10 goals and 52 points last season. I think he dips below 50.

Charlie Lindgren

Charlie Lindgren was a huge reason why the Capitals made it to the playoffs last season with his play. He went 25-16-7, and even though his SV% was .911 and GAA was 2.67, a few bad starts dropped those numbers down. He took over the starting job from Darcy Kuemper and played 50 games as well as recording six shutouts. At age 30, it was just his second full season that he spent in the NHL. Even though the defense is better, he has Logan Thompson to battle for starts and is bound to decline after what may be a career year when it's all said and done.