Each Monday this season, District Sports Page will rank the active roster of the Washington Capitals “power ranking” style. Cause who doesn’t love a gimmicky, made-for-page-hits power ranking?
The Caps went 1-2-0 last week. They looked good on the power play, but much less so at 5-on-5, especially in their own end. Just two games this week: Thursday against Carolina and Saturday against Colorado.
| Rank | Player | The Good, Bad or Ugly |
| 1. | Alex Ovechkin | 4 goals, 2 assists, -1, 4 PIMs. Ovi’s picked up right where he left off last season. |
| 2. | Mikhail Grabovski | 3-2-5, -1, 0 PIMs. Grabbo had a real big night in Chicago and is settling in nicely on the power play. |
| 3. | Nick Backstrom | 1-3-4, even, 0 PIMs. Backstrom’s would-be goal in Dallas was waived off after he cross-checked Kari Lehtonen in the head. |
| 4. | Karl Alzner | 0-1-1, -1, 2 PIMs. Karl is logging heavy minutes, befitting as his status as top defensive defenseman. |
| 5. | Mike Green | 0-4-4, -3, 2 PIMs. Looked like he had a pair of goals in the opener until video review transferred them to Grabovski. |
| 6. | Marcus Johansson | 0-4-4, +1, 0 PIMs. Was a passenger in Chicago but followed that up with a pair of nice games. |
| 7. | John Carlson | 0-0-0, even, 0 PIMs. Carlson’s taken just four shots in three games. Expect him to get more involved in the offense this week. |
| 8. | Braden Holtby | 0-2-0, 4.48, .848. Holtby’s had a couple of clunkers, but looked good against Dallas. He needs to justify Oates’ confidence in him this week. |
| 9. | Brooks Laich | 0-0-0, -3, 0 PIMs. Laich has managed to stay in the lineup, but you wouldn’t have noticed it by his stat line. |
| 10. | Troy Brouwer | 0-0-0, -2, 0 PIMs. Notice a theme? Caps have just three goals at even-strength. That’s just not gonna cut it. |
| 11. | Joel Ward | 0-1-1, -5, 2PIMs. Most noticeable thing he did last week was get stuck in a toilet. |
| 12. | Jason Chimera | 0-0-0, -4, 0 PIMs. Averaging 15:05 of ice time a night. What’s he doing with it? |
| 13. | Michael Neuvirth | 1-0-0, 1.22, .964. Neuvy came on in relief in the win over Calgary and stopped 27 of 28 shots against. That’s what you need from the back-up. |
| 14. | Eric Fehr | 0-0-0, -6, 2 PIMs. That -6 is worst on the team. With no offense to back that up, Fehr’s minutes might start to drop. |
| 15. | Tom Wilson | 0-0-0, even, 5 PIMs. Wilson’s averaging just 6:16 on ice time a night, lowest of any forward still on the roster. How much is he learning at that rate? |
| 16. | Steve Oleksy | 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIMs. Took Hillen’s spot against Dallas, but Oates won’t go with the off-hand shot at left D for very long, if at all. |
| 17. | Jay Beagle | 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIMs. Snoopy’s back on the 4th line after Latta was sent out. Can only do so much with what he’s got. |
| 18. | Connor Carrick | 1-0-1, -2, 6 PIMs. Carrick had a rough first week in the bigs. Has shown promise for sure, but the penalties and responsibility breakdowns have to get cleaned up if he wants to stay. |
| 19. | Martin Erat | 0-0-0, -1, 0 PIMs. Just 7:59 of ice time per night. They need to play him, either for production of trade value. 4th line duty with Jay Beagle is sucking all value from him. |
| 20. | John Erskine | 0-0-0, -3, 4 PIMs. Big John is the poster boy for the Caps problems. He’s getting skated past every single night. |
| 21. | Aaron Volpatti | DNP. Healthy scratches first three games. |
| 22. | Michael Latta | 0-0-0, even, 0 PIMs. Latta looked okay in Chicago, but was sent packing with the waiver claim of Alexander Urbom. |
| 23. | Jack Hillen | 0-0-0, -2, 0 PIMs. Hillen will be out 4-to-6 months after the collision that left him with a fractured tibial plateau. |
| HM | Alexander Urbom | Honorable Mention: Claimed off waivers from New Jersey. Was their 4th ranked defensive prospect. Big (6’4, 215), a good skater and a left-handed shot, not that he uses it all that often. |
About Dave Nichols