Caps schedule next 8 games - Oof. It's probably the toughest matchups of any 8-game stretch this year - all good teams.
Toronto, Avs, Vegas, Utah, Avs, NJ, Florida, Tampa Bay. 2 back to backs in there as well.
Guess we see what this team is truly made of in November
This is a VERY good point. We are now 1/6 of the way into the season, and we have a first glimpse of what we have, but we need more information.
We now have the full defense corps in place, so we can get a read on them. MAYBE we've got enough, but we'll see as the season plays out.
I think for better or worse we are going to ride the two goalies we have through the season, so there won't be any changes there.
Re: the forwards: With Protas looking like a fabulous complement on Ovie's opposite side and McMichael's breakout, lines 1, 2, and 4 look set. The ONLY uncertainty looks to be line 3. Mangiapane should be a perfectly fine fixture there, but Lapierre has been the one clear offensive disappointment so far, Sgarbossa is a career AHL'er, and I don't know whether I believe in Milano/Vrana at LW. The nice thing is, with some money to spend at the trade deadline this year, one thing that can reasonably be expected to be available at manageable cost would be upgrades to line 3, if it comes to that.
Of course, injuries are something that can derail a team at any time, and could necessitate additional moves, but that's something that can't be anticipated.
It's way too early to draw any definitive conclusions about this team, but the early indications are quite promising.
