How has the Capitals retool worked so well?

Did anybody ever think the Washington Capitals would be this good, this late into the 2024-25 season?

I sure didn’t.

The Capitals currently own the league's second best point total on February 28, 2025 and are the best team in the Eastern Conference.

This begs the question, how has this Capitals 'retool’ worked so well?

The 2023-24 season for Washington was a microcosm of their success post Stanley Cup victory in 2018.

The veterans Alex Ovechkin, 38, T.J. Oshie, 37, and John Carlson, 34, did just enough to keep the Caps out of the basement by making the playoffs but ultimately got swept by the rival New York Rangers.

Washington was tied up in cap space and seemed to do whatever it took just to get Ovi the NHL’s goal scoring record.

That wasn’t necessarily the case. GM Brian MacLellan started off the offseason off by swapping Darcy Kuemper’s bad contract for another terrible contract in Pierre-Luc Dubois, but it worked.

The Caps would go on to add winger Andrew Mangiapane, defenseman Jakob Chychrun and goaltender Logan Thompson via trade or free agency.

Washington has seemed like a place where careers go to die, but that has changed drastically this season with the recent acquisitions that were made.

Dubois has 14 goals and 35 assists for 49 points in 58 games played. For a guy who has been knocked for lack of hustle and defense, being a +21 is pretty darn good.

Chychrun has been great on the backend and is definitely a key piece offensively ranking third among defensemen in goals with 17.

Goaltender Logan Thompson has a 2.28 goals against average and a .919 save percentage, which are both currently top six in the league. The tandem between him and Charlie Lindgren have been tremendous for the Caps.

Washington has also gotten tons of contributions from its young guys like Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael and defenseman Rasmus Sandin.

Protas is having himself a career year, second on the team in points with 50 behind Dylan Strome who has 59. Protas also has a plus minus of +32 which is third in the NHL.

McMichael has built off a good season a year ago with 21 goals through 59 games on the second line with Dubois and Tom Wilson.

Not to mention you have an all-time great in Alex Ovechkin who is in his 39 year old season with 30 goals sitting just 12 away from Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal scoring record.

Head coach Spencer Carbery has just done an outstanding job behind the bench and is pushing all the right buttons for this team to click so well.

The phrase ‘retool’ is supposed to mean improving a flawed roster without committing to a long and painful rebuild.

The Capitals were at risk of completely falling off. Instead, they brought in players who made them better right away and look at where they’re at.

This has just been a remarkable season and all the credit goes to the front office/coaching staff.

Only time will tell how deep of a run this team can make as we enter the back stretch of the season. I give the Caps full props on getting this thing right in such a quick timetable.

Austin Moran is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acm6506@psu.edu.