One thing that seems to be a constant in the NHL is that the Washington Capitals will only go as far as Alexander Ovechkin will take them. Last year pretty much sums that up as well as any of the Great Eight’s (ironic) eight seasons in Washington.

After a slow start by club and star, a late March push by both put the Capitals in contention for a division title and Ovechkin in the MVP race. The subsequent playoff failure coincided with Ovechkin’s disappearance leaving many to speculate that a Stanley Cup may not be in the cards for the Russian sniper.

The reunion of Ovechkin and center Nicklas Backstrom certainly seemed to spark the offense in the nation’s capital. With the arrival of Mikhail Grabovski, coach Adam Oates is certainly hoping for some more inspiration. The Caps let Mike Ribeiro walk in free agency and needed to do something this summer to get a second line center in place. Grabovksi left Toronto under some pretty bad circumstances, but can be a huge offensive threat for Washington.

The Capitals appear to be putting a lot of faith in the highway to Hershey (I almost went there) with a steady flow of prospects poised to fill out the roster. Troy Brouwer, Martin Erat, Marcus Johansson, Joel Ward, Brooks Laich and Mathieu Perreault comprise the veteran portion of the offense. If the Caps could convince top prospects Yevgeni Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky to cross the ocean and join the NHL, the offense would immediately become more dangerous. Instead, Tom Wilson is at the top of the heap as the next player of note expected to move up to the NHL level.

On defense the Capitals have a steady set of NHL veterans with Mike Green, John Carlson, Karl Alzner and John Erskine. Jack Hillen, Steven Olesky and Tomas Kundratek will be competing for the final two roster spots. With Green seemingly recovered from his string of injuries, the blueline should be a position of strength in Washington.

Between the pipes Braden Holtby has taken over the starting spot and made it his own. Michal Neuvirth is a capable backup, but let’s not forget that he was given the first crack at the starting gig in D.C. Holtby has proven to be more consistent over the long term and at times performs at an elite level. If he can continue to improve his game, he’s only 23, the Capitals can be competitive for a long time.

Prediction: Fourth. The Capitals could finish anywhere between second and sixth in this division depending on how often a certain Russian winger shows up for dinner. The Caps are too top heavy in the talent department, but that talent is really, REALLY good.