The Washington Capitals had a breakout 2024-2025 season, finishing with the second-best record in the league and the best record in the conference. CESJDS junior Josh Dori and junior hockey player Ari Solomon are Capitals fans and are looking forward to the future of the team, especially after the team had not made the second round since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018. In the playoffs this season, the Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-1 in the first round series, but fell 4-1 in the second round to the Carolina Hurricanes, ending their playoff run
The Capitals have gained popularity in Washington over the course of the season due to their success, and because of Ovechkin’s chase to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal scoring record. In just one season, Monumental Sports, the Capitals’ TV provider, saw a rise of 37% in viewership.
Entering the new season, expectations were low from the media because the team was full of rookies and new players, with only three players remaining from the Stanley Cup-winning team. Many analysts and experts did not expect the Capitals to even make the playoffs. Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson and Tom Wilson, the three veterans, were key to the team’s success, leading the young team as captains.
“I’m excited for the future,” eighth-grade student and Montgomery Ice Devils and RAM hockey goalie Ethan Rabinovitch said. “They’ve got a lot of good young guys. I know they got a couple of old guys too, like Ovechkin, Wilson and Carlson, but the young core looks good with [Cole] Hutson and those types of prospects. So I don’t think this is going to be a one trip to the playoffs and then back to the lottery.”
According to ESPN NHL sportswriter Greg Wyshynski, Wayne Gretzky is considered to be the greatest player of all time in the NHL. He set the goal record for the most goals scored at 894 goals over 20 seasons. Ovechkin entered the season with 853 career goals, needing 42 to break the record, a mark that seemed out of reach because Ovechkin was 39 years old. Ovechkin started off the season with 15 goals in his first 18 games, but suffered a fractured fibula during his nineteenth game. He was able to come back and beat Wayne Gretzky’s record against the New York Islanders in the sixth to last game of the season.
Junior Dori is one of many Capitals fans who are uncertain if Ovechkin will return after his contract ends during the 2025-2026 season.
“He’s the best goal scorer of all time, but I think this season is showing us that there’s guys who are willing to pick up the slack,” Dori said. “He was out for a couple of months with the injury, but we did just fine, and when given the opportunity, the young core is going to step up. We have more people coming through the pipeline, more people coming to the system, so it’s scary to lose very established players, but at the same time, that’s sports.”
The Capitals performed better in this regular season compared to the last, finishing with a record of 51-22-9 from 40-31-11 the prior season. The loss to the Carolina Hurricanes felt disappointing to Dori after the Capitals were doing so well in the regular season. He thought they could do better than they did.
The new players were big contributors to the team, such as Logan Thompson, who was acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights. He came in with the expectation of having to fight for the starting goalie role, but after having a year finishing top ten in average goals and top ten in save percentage, the team extended him for another six seasons to be the future starting goalie.
“Last year we had a good coach, but we didn’t have as many players step up. This year, I feel like so many players stepped up,” Solomon said. “Thompson was great, which I was saying before the season, he would be the number one goalie.”
Coach Spencer Carbery is the favorite to win the NHL Coach of the Year Award. Carbery received his first head coaching job for the Washington Capitals following the 2022-2023 season and has led the team to back-to-back playoff appearances.
The season was both intriguing and disappointing for many Capitals fans at JDS. Dori felt confident that this season is not the peak and that the Capitals are only getting started.
“You can’t let one loss define them, and you can’t also let one season define them,” Dori said. “They’re gonna continue evolving. They’re gonna continue getting better. You can’t take a snapshot in time and create a whole identity from there.”
