Camp Could Prove Beneficial for Newest Caps

When the NHL hit the pause button on the 2019-20 season on March 12, the league was less than three weeks beyond its Feb. 24 trade deadline. Players who changed teams at or ahead of that deadline hadn't had much time to acclimate to their new teammates or surroundings before they were urged into quarantine.

Now that Phase 3 of the league's plan for a midsummer "return to play" is underway and two dozen clubs have reconvened in pursuit of the Stanley Cup, those players who changed addresses in February can resume the process of integration with their new teammates. Not only that, they'll also have the benefit of a training camp during which they can get a better grasp on their team's culture and its systems.

It's never been easy for players to pick up their lives - and often, their families - and make a midseason move to another city where they are expected to show up quickly, hit the ice running and make immediate positive contributions to their new organization. After all, that new organization surrendered assets to bring them on board.

Players who've joined new teams since the outset of the 2019-20 season now have the benefit of a training camp as those 24 teams get ready to vie for the hallowed and prestigious Stanley Cup.

Late in the 2018-19 season, the Caps added winger Carl Hagelin and defenseman Nick Jensen ahead of the deadline. Both players came in and made positive contributions down the stretch and into the playoffs, but they had to pick everything up on the fly. This season, the Caps added defenseman Brenden Dillon from San Jose on Feb. 18, and they obtained veteran scoring winger Ilya Kovalchuk from Montreal on Feb. 23.

Both Dillon and Kovalchuk have fit in well in Washington and both made positive contributions before the pause, but now they'll be able to have some hands-on interaction and instruction for their new coaching staffs.

"I think system-wise, it is going to help them a lot now they actually have some time," says Hagelin. "We're not playing games for another two or three weeks, and I think that's valuable time for them to get to used the system more and maybe watch some more video with the coaches when you get traded here.

"It's hard. You get to watch one video then you've got to play a game right away, so I think it's definitely good. I think it's a reset for everyone. You know we're excited to have those two guys on our team here going into the playoffs."

Hockey is hockey, and NHL players know what they're supposed to do when they take the ice. But every organization has different ways of going about its business both on and off the ice, and these weeks before high-intensity and extremely important games get underway next month provide teams and coaches with the opportunity to combine video with on-ice drills to aid new players in picking up the system, any unique terminology and the coaching staff's desired style of play.

"For sure that the more time you have in a situation, [the better off you'll be]," says Dillon. "This is my second time going through a trade, and that the first one was early on in my career. "I think it was more about going to a team to kind of just even establish myself more as a player.

"Coming into this [situation,] just being a piece to a puzzle and being part of a team that that's had so much success that's first place in the in the Metro, I'm kind of just learning - to be honest - a truly different system. The more I've gotten to understand it and see it and have these last couple months to really look forward to the next opportunity which I think we're all excited about, it is going to pay huge dividends. For me in my game, my body feels good, I feel great on the ice and I think it's only going to get better over these next couple of weeks before we head to Toronto."

By the time the trade deadline rolls around in a given NHL season, only a quarter of the campaign remains. Typically, practice days are few and far between by that stage of the season as teams tend to lean more toward rest and away from practice during the stretch run and with the playoffs looming. Many late-season practice sessions are optional as coaches want their players resting up for what they hope will be a long haul ahead, so full team practices can be scarce late in the season and into the playoffs.

Both Dillon and Kovalchuk are veteran players who have prior experience at changing teams in the middle of a season, which often makes for a smoother transition.

"I think both the players felt a lot more comfortable when they left [for the pause]," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "It's about understanding exactly what was expected. There's a lot of evaluation that goes on with our players postgame. They understand exactly where they're at. They understand how the coach feels about them, and they understand how to properly evaluate their own game. So I think they had a really good feel for that.

"In Ilya's situation, he's a guy who's played on a number of different teams. Obviously, he fit in really well, especially with our larger number of Russian players on our team but also with the other guys. I thought he was excellent. He has already shown leadership in our locker room. He has a presence about him and the way that he's been able to have success in this league for a number of years.

"For him, it was important for me to talk to him and text with him and do different things that way, but I wanted to make sure that he understood that this was a time that he was going to really embrace spending time with his family because we were looking forward to a period where we're going to be back and we're going to be spending every day together on working through things. He and I have already had communication the last two days over things. Now that we know the end game, we can start pushing for more towards things systems-wise than maybe three months ago. It's always about connecting and getting a relationship with these players."

Jensen believes that having a training camp with the Caps last fall gave him a fuller picture of the organization, and he believes that this camp - as different as it is from a typical training camp - could benefit the newest Capitals as well.

"It definitely gave me the opportunity to sit back for a second and get the whole view of everything and how it works," says Jensen. "And I definitely think they'll be able to get a little similar situation, probably not the exact same, but pretty similar and I think it can be an advantage to be able to do that. But a guy like Brenden Dillon, he's a good player. He didn't have any trouble getting thrown into the mix when he got here in February, and I don't think he'll have a problem with adjusting going forward, especially now that we're jumping right into playoffs. I don't think he'll have a problem with that."

Once Dillon and Kovalchuk were both in Washington, the Caps played seven more games before the pause. Five of those seven contests were played on the road over two separate road trips. There were a couple team of dinners along the way, including one in Buffalo the night before the Caps played what would turn out to be their final game of the 2019-20 season on March 9 against the Sabres. That sustained time on the road and those dinners helped the two newest Caps to integrate themselves into the mix.

"I think off the ice it's the easiest thing to [connect] with the team," says Kovalchuk. "I don't know why, but it's so easy for me to get know the guys and hang out. We spent I think the last 10 days before the break on the road, and that helps to grow a little chemistry.

"Now we're going to spend hopefully two and a half, three months in bubble cities or like Toronto or somewhere else, and it'll be nice. But it's easy, and especially with all those Russians here. [Alex Ovechkin] is the captain, and he brings all that energy and he wants to guys hang out together and be as a family. It's a key to the success, and I think he's doing the right thing."