Wilson, Capitals poised for playoff return this season

Tom Wilson and the Washington Capitals are ready to get back to their winning ways after missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the first time since 2013-14.

"There's a lot of winners in that room and when you don't make the playoffs, it's a failure to what we believe in, in our group," the forward said Monday, three days after he signed a seven-year, $45.5 million contract with the Capitals. It has an average annual value of $6.5 million, begins next season and runs through 2030-31.

"We're excited. We're hungry to get back at it and get this moving back in the right direction and show the culture of what it is to be a Cap and that's winning games, that's playing hard, that's making it hard for teams to come into our building. We built that for a long time. You talk to other players around the League, they're like, 'Hey, we knew when we came into D.C. our chances weren't good.' That's what we've got to get back to."

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The Capitals (34-34-9) finished sixth in the Metropolitan Division and were hampered by injuries to top players. That included Wilson, who missed the first 42 games after having surgery to reconstruct a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee May 24, 2022. Center Nicklas Backstrom missed the same number of games after having hip resurfacing surgery June 17, 2022. Defenseman John Carlson missed 36 with a skull fracture and severed temporal artery after being struck in the head with a slap shot Dec. 23.

Washington signed other veterans including forward Max Pacioretty (one year, $2 million contract) and acquired defenseman Joel Edmundson in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens.

But the Capitals are healthier will look to return to the postseason with Spencer Carbery, who was hired as coach May 30 after they mutually parted ways with Peter Laviolette on April 14.

"I think there's an excitement coming into this year that's a little bit different than years past," Wilson said. "There's a new coaching staff, guys are getting healthy; it was kind of a rocky year last year. 'Carb' seems awesome, he's reached out to a lot of the guys. He's hungry, he's motivated, he wants to get this back on track, and I think that's the theme for all of us."

Still, it may not be easy sustaining success for the veteran-laden Capitals, who have gone to the playoffs all but two seasons since 2007-08. Alex Ovechkin, whose 822 goals are second in NHL history behind Wayne Gretzky (894), turns 38 years old Sept. 17. Backstrom is 35, Carlson is 33 and forward T.J. Oshie is 36, but general manager Brian MacLellan is confident in what the Capitals have now and what they have arriving soon.

"It is challenging, but I like the draft we had this year, adding (Ryan) Leonard, (Andrew) Cristall, (Alexander) Suzdalev's coming," MacLellan said. "We got some young guys that are still coming, but our goal is to remain competitive.

"I think it's a tricky balance, but we'll see if we can pull it off. I think it's important for Ovi, for all our veteran guys that we remain competitive, give them a chance to compete. And it's important for our organization to add young players, to develop young players. So far, I think we've done a pretty decent job at it, and we'll see what it's like going forward."