What's Held The Washington Capitals Back From Asserting Dominance In The NHL's Eastern Conference?

The Washington Capitals had arguably the best off-season of any NHL team, but their middling start to the regular season has raised some intriguing questions about their roster. What's been ailing the Caps, and what do they need to fix to take the next step?Coming out of the gate the Capitals looked great, posting a 3-1-0 record to start the year. But they crashed back to earth, losing three of the next five all in regulation time – including the nadir, which was a 5-2 loss to the lowly Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 20. Why has Washington wobbled rather than asserted themselves as one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference?One explanation for that dip is that veteran center Pierre-Luc Dubois missed all five of those games. Dubois was held off the scoresheet in his return against the Buffalo Sabres, but his presence helped the Capitals get back on track with a 4-3 overtime win.Related storiesHowever, Dubois' absence really did highlight legitimate questions regarding the team's depth at the position. Jenner has been playing on the wing, but Dubois, Dylan Strome, Ilya Protas and Justin Sourdif aren't the type of horses that other Metro teams have down the middle. That's not to say those four pivots aren't valuable – but compare them to what the New Jersey Devils have in Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, or what the Pittsburgh Penguins have in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and you can see what might be preventing Washington from taking that next step to be a true powerhouse in the East.The Capitals do have considerable depth on the wing, and their defense corps has been strengthened with the evolution of youngster Cole Hutson and veteran Jakob Chychrun. But their goaltending tandem of Logan Thompson and Charlie Lindgren has been average at best, and Thompson is currently out of action due to an injury, so Washington’s depth between the pipes will get a major test. The Caps do have $2.3 million in salary cap space, so GM Chris Patrick has the flexibility to make at least one notable addition at some point. But it feels like Washington is going to need some more time to shake off being a helter-skelter team and become more consistently competitive.With star goalie Connor Hellebuyck traded to the Devils after a long holdout, they are likely to be one of the teams battling the Capitals for a playoff spot in the Metro. By the time those games arrive, Washington needs to have a firmer identity – and let's face it, they need more consistent efforts out of all their players. Nobody is going to hand them a post-season berth, and as we saw last year, it didn't take many standings points to push Washington out of the playoff picture.The task ahead of the Capitals is clear – they have to clamp down on their defense, which currently ranks 19th in the league at an average of 3.22 goals-against per game. But as we're seeing with other teams around the NHL, having a more dominant offense can make up for defensive deficiencies. This all means Washington has to be better all-around. And time is going to tell how quickly they develop together and get on a better path, night-in and night-out.For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free.