By Antoine Mathieu, Staff Writer, All Habs Hockey Magazine

QUEBEC CITY, QC. — In today’s article, I’m revealing the final playoff team for my predictions. The team I have chosen is the Washington Capitals!

2014-15 EASTERN CONFERENCE predicted standings

1. Tampa Bay Lightning
2. Columbus Blue Jackets
3. Boston Bruins
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
5. New York Rangers
6. Montreal Canadiens
7. New Jersey Devils
8. Washington Capitals

2013-’14 summary: Washington Capitals

Regular season record of 38 – 30 – 14, 90 points,  9th East, missed the playoffs.

I can honestly say that this was by far the toughest selection I had to make for my predictions. I chose Washington because, while they handed out some ridiculously dumb contracts, they are a better team today than they were last season. They have a competent coaching staff and added top four defensemen which is what they’ve needed for God knows how long.

Washington has been a hard team to get a good read on in recent years. Since firing Bruce Boudreau, they’ve been all over the place and have hired three new coaches since dismissing him. Adam Oates clearly showed this season that he doesn’t have what it takes to be a head coach at the NHL level. The way he threw Jaroslav Halak under the bus, his obsession with handedness when it came to his defensemen and his lack of leadership behind the bench all led to him losing his job.

I think Oates is better suited in an assistant coach role, he’s a great power-play tactician (in his two seasons with Washington, Oates made the Caps’ power play No. 1 in the league.) His replacement, Barry Trotz, will bring much needed stability to a team that has lost his identity in recent years. Some say that the Capitals have been on a downward spiral ever since their unexpected elimination to the hands of the Canadiens in 2010.

Following that rather shocking first round exit, Boudreau decided to change his whole system and make his team play more defensive instead of the ‘run and gun’ style that he was employing. The Capitals missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2007. I think with the changes made behind the bench and in player personnel, the Capitals will earn that final wild card spot.

I’m curious on how flexible Barry Trotz is in his coaching methods. He’s coached some amazing talent offensively (Peter Forsberg, Pavol Demitra, Jason Arnott, J.P. Dumont and Paul Kariya all come to mind) but he’s never coached anyone like Alexander Ovechkin. Does he expect the enigmatic forward to back-check and get himself involved in the defensive aspect of things? Will he let Ovy do as he please and purely focus on scoring goals?

We saw that dealing with the Russian star can be a bit tricky if you want to play a more defensive style. Dale Hunter wasn’t afraid to bench the two time Rocket Richard winner when he felt Ovechkin couldn’t be trusted in a tight game. He even went as far as playing Jay Beagle more minutes (on certain nights) than the 28-year-old during the playoffs. I’m sure Trotz is smart enough to not pull these kind of shenanigans with the face of the franchise but I’m curious on what kind of dynamic the two individuals will have.

As of late, the Predators haven’t been as lucky as the Capitals in term of offensive talent but in their best years (2005-06 and 2006-07), they were one of the top teams in the league in scoring. Trotz has shown the ability to adapt his system depending on the quality of players that he has on the team. There’s a pretty substantial difference between having Patric Hornqvist or Craig Smith as your top forwards and Peter Forsberg or Jason Arnott.

Washington made two big signings this summer: Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik. I think both contracts will turn out to be duds in the end but they’re still a better team with those two than without them. Orpik will bring a physical presence that’s been missing for a while on the Caps’ blue-line. He’s a better option than John Erskine in terms of physicality and should be able to play top four minutes for them next season. Like I mentioned in my Pittsburgh article, I think Orpik will become the next Douglas Murray in a year or two from now. I’m still mind-blown that he was given a five year deal at $5.5 million a year at the age of 33.

Matt Niskanen, on the other hand, should be a good replacement for Mike Green, he’s not as good as the latter in his prime but he’s a better option than the 2014 version of Green. The 28-year-old has suffered a fair share of concussions in recent years which have really hindered his play. I’m curious to see what the Capitals will do with Green this season. With John Carlson and Niskanen, they already have two top four right handed defensemen. Green is set to be a UFA this summer and Washington might not be able to keep him.

The Capitals have had a shaky defense as of late but they have some interesting pieces like John Carlson, Dmitry Orlov, Karl Alzner and Connor Carrick. If there’s one man who’s great at developing defensemen, it’s Trotz. In his tenure with the Predators, he’s helped develop the likes of: Shea Weber, Ryan Suter, Dan Hamhuis, Kimmo Timonen, Roman Josi, Marek Zidlicky, Kevin Klein, Karlis Skrastins, Greg Zanon and Ryan Ellis. He’ll do wonders for their young defenders.

Braden Holtby had a so-so season and George McPhee (former GM) even had to acquire Halak at the deadline last season because he lacked confidence in the 24-year-old. This is a pretty important season for the young net minder, he has to prove that he can be a starter in the NHL. He’s had flashes of brilliance like the 2012 playoffs but that’s not enough. A certain Jim Carey who also played with the Capitals happened to be a flash in the pan. Considering they traded Michal Neuvirth to make room for him, he has to step up his game. A huge part of Washington’s success next season depends on how well Holtby will perform.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Saskatchewan native has a bounce-back season next year. The Capitals were fourth in the league for shots allowed (33.5 shots against a game) and Holtby’s save percentage was still decent: .915. The additions of Orpik and Niskanen will definitely help in allowing fewer shots and so will the coaching changes. The last time one of Trotz’ team finished in the bottom 10 for shots against was in 2006-07.

On a team with Ovechkin on it, scoring might not seem a problem but a good supporting cast always plays a key factor in making the playoffs. The Capitals have some good role players up front with the likes of Joel Ward, Jason Chimera, Troy Brouwer, Brooks Laich, Tom Wilson and Eric Fehr.

I highly doubt that Ward will reproduce his production from this year (49 points and 24 goals). His best season in the AHL was 21 goals and the most goals he’s scored in the OHL was 26. He also had a shooting percentage of 18 which is absurd. Brouwer should be good for 20 something goals and 40 something points while providing some physicality. I think Trotz will quickly become a fan of Brouwer who will become his new Patric Hornqvist.

One of the final needs for the Capitals is to find a center for their second line. They’ve filled that hole in the last two years with the likes of Mike Ribeiro and Mikhail Grabovski but the Caps decided to not re-sign them. They do have some youngsters that could potentially be used in that role: Evgeny Kuznetsov, Marcus Johansson and Andre Burakovsky.

I wouldn’t be surprised that if those prospects don’t pan out in that role that they trade Green and another piece (Johansson?) to acquire that second line center they need. Names like Frans Nielsen or Brayden Schenn are possibilities of players they could target.

Quick facts about Washington:

• 33 is the most goals a player has scored under Barry Trotz, one has to wonder how much Ovechkin’s goal production will be affected by the coaching change. In his entire coaching career, only twice has a Barry Trotz team finished top 10 in goals for in the league. In comparison, since the 2004-05 lockout, the Capitals have finished in the top 10 on four different occasions. Can Trotz adopt an offensive brand of hockey?
• Despite coaching almost 1200 NHL games, Barry Trotz has never made it beyond the second round of the playoffs. Can he lead them to their first ever Stanley Cup in the next decade?
• Throughout most of Trotz’s coaching career, he’s rarely coached a team who’s had an excellent power play. The power-play has been Washington’s bread and butter as of late. How much will Trotz’s impact their power-play?