What if the Capitals lost game 3 to Columbus: Best Case

The Washington Capitals won the 2018 Stanley Cup – but they almost didn't even make it out of the first week of the playoffs. In the first round, the Caps faced a 2-0 series deficit to the Blue Jackets. The game went to overtime, where the Blue Jackets were a inch away from beating the Caps and making it a 3-0 series lead. Instead, that Columbus shot clanged off the post, the game went on to double overtime, and Lars Eller scored the goal that kept the Caps in the series. You know what happened next. But what if that Columbus shot had been an inch more accurate? What might have followed? Here’s a best-case scenario of what might have happened.

2018 off-season :

With the Capitals now out after getting swept, the rest of the playoffs are obviously different. The Lightning win the Stanley Cup, which means their dynasty starts one year earlier.

Meanwhile, this is one too many playoff disappointments in a row in Washington, so the Caps blow things up. Evegeny Kuznetsov is the first one out the door, when he is traded to Vegas in exchange for Tomas Tatar, a 2019 second-round draft pick and Nick Suzuki. The next move is to change the goaltending. Instead of letting Philipp Grubauer go, Washington sends Braden Holtby and Ilya Samsonov to the Rangers for Igor Shesterkin, Neal Pionk and a fourth round pick. Even though Caps fans are ready to move on from their goalies, fans are outraged at dealing both their current and future goalie for a guy who’s still in the KHL, but Holtby’s looking for big money on his new deal and there’s no point in paying that for a rebuilding team.

But the big move comes later in the offseason, when the Caps trade Nicklas Backstrom to the Minnesota Wild for Krill Kaprizov, Matt Dumba and a 2019 first round pick (lottery protected). Now the Wild can say they've had two Nick Backstroms on their team. That may seem like a lot, but remember Kaprizov hadn't played in the NHL yet and there were rumors that he wasn't going to come to play in North America.

To finish the offseason moves, Matt Niskanen is traded to Arizona for Dylan Strome and a 5th round pick. They let John Carlson walk in free agency because they don't want to pay him. But because they still want fan favorites, as well as a good locker room guy to help with the rebuild they bring back T.J. Oshie – and also Jay Beagle(YAY).

Barry Trotz and Brian MacLellan are fired. They are replaced by Steve Yzerman, who leaves Tampa as he does in the original timeline but this time comes to Washington to be the new GM. Then he hired Spencer Carbery for his first head coaching job.

The 2018 draft mostly stays the same, besides the Caps now taking Isac Lundeström instead of Alexander Alexeyev.

2018-2019 Season

For the 2019 season the Capitals lines will be

Ovechkin Eller Wilson

Vrana Strome Oshie

Burakovsky Boyd Connolly

Stephenson Beagle Walker

Dumba Orlov

Djoos Siegenthaler

Orpik Kempny

Grubauer

Copley

The 2019 Caps aren't that good. Being a young team, you’d expect that. At the trade deadline they move Lars Eller to the Devils in exchange for a second and third round pick in 2020. They also traded Brett Connolly to the Blackhawks in exchange for a 5th round pick and a 6th round pick in 2021. Washington finishes with a record of 32-41-10 for a total of 74 points. That is good enough to finish second to last in the division, The Stanley Cup is still won by the Blues but major changes are coming.

2019 off-season

For starters the Capitals are dealt the 6th pick in the draft lottery. The Wild’s first round pick was 12 which means the Capitals will get next year's pick instead.

The Capitals don't think Dumba and Orlov are a good fit so they decide to trade Orlov for the 25th pick from Nashville. Washington selects Moritz Seider and Connor McMichael with their first round picks. In the second round the Caps decide that they don't want the picks and instead package the two seconds and Michael Kempny to the Red Wings for Mike Green and Dennis Cholowski.

Now we get to major free agency changes. The Capitals don’t sign Richard Panik, because he doesn’t make much sense for a rebuilding team. But because Washington has cut payroll and avoided big contracts, it now has the money to re-sign Burakovsky, Vrana, Grubauer, and Siegenthaler. They won't trade for Brendan Dillon and will instead get another first for taking on Patrick Marleau and his contract from Toronto. With all of these moves the team will be looking to improve. The sad thing is Brooks Orpik retires. Wait did I say sad – I meant happy, because his contract was awful and they now have more cap space. Washington tries to use that space to sign guys like Artemi Panarin and Matt Duchane but they refuse.

2019-2020 Season

The lines are

Ovechkin Suzuki Kaprizov

Vrana Strome Burakovsky

Wilson Stephenson Oshie

Boyd Beagle Marleau

Dumba. Seider

Green Siegenthaler

Djoos Bowey

Grubauer

Shesterkin

The Caps this year are decent. They aren't the best team but they aren't the worst team. Yes the season still gets cut short due to Corona and that unfortunately cost them a playoff spot. They play in this play-in round against the Rangers and Holtby has an amazing series to eliminate the Caps and send them home. This now leads to a major shift in playoffs and draft picks. First let's get this out of the way the Stanley Cup is won by the Lightning.

Now let's get to the draft lottery. If you remember that year the #1 pick went to one of the teams eliminated in the play-in round. This simulation we have the Caps,Oilers,Panthers, Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Canucks, Jets, and the Predators.. The draft lottery winner is the.... Edmonton Oilers. Let the riots begin!

2020 Offseason

As the dominant conversation is the criticism that the draft lottery is rigged, the Caps are busy on draft night. They will still trade up to select Hendrix Lapierre, but this time they use the Wild's first round pick and a third round pick. They then decide to trade the 10th pick, Lundeström and a second to the Jets in exchange for Patrick Laine and a fourth round pick.

In free agency the Caps re-sign Green, Laine, Kaprizov, Beagle, Boyd and Djoos. In free agency they still sign Zdeno Chara and Conor Sheary. You may be wondering why Sheary? It's simple – because he is a former Penguin. But the big news or worry is Ovechkin. He wants to win a Cup and says he will sign a five-year deal but makes it clear he wants to win. They decide to make an outright desperate move when they trade Strome, a first (2022) and a third(2021) to the Wild for the return of fan favorite Nick Backstrom. This deal is made because the Wild realize that they need to rebuild a roster that can't get out of the second round.

2020-2021 Season

Here are the lines for the season

Ovechkin Backstrom Kaprizov

Vrana Suzuki Laine

Oshie Stephenson Wilson

Boyd Beagle Burakovsky

Dumba Seider

Green Siegenthaler

Djoos Chara

Shesterkin

Grubauer

Before the season starts, the Caps trade Bowey to the Ducks in exchange for Daniel Sprong. So now Sprong and Sheary battle it out to stay in that fourth line right wing slot. While that is going on, Shesterkin takes the reins from Grubauer in goal. But we actually see a major shift here. In real life the Caps stupidly trade Jakub Vrana a first, second and Richard Panik for Anthony Mantha. But this isn't that reality, so instead they trade Sheary to the Blues for a 5th round pick. Mantha also isn't traded because the Red Wings need him.

The Caps finish second in the East and face off against the Bruins. They finish with the same record that they had in real life

2020-2021 Postseason

Caps vs Bruins Round 1

This is the series of the young Capitals vs the older Bruins. David Pasternak vs Alex Ovechkin. Game 1 shows what this series will bring. The speed of the Caps is just too much for the Bruins as the Caps jump out to a 2-0 with goals from Ovechkin and Green. But the Bruins struck back to tie the game with goals from Pasternak and Taylor Hall. The game goes to overtime where we quickly see the back and forth chances for both teams. That is, until Jakub Vrana draws a penalty to give the Caps a 5 on 4. On the power play Backstrom calls his own number and scores the GWG to give the Caps the 1-0 series lead. Spoiler alert: Games 2,3 and 4 are more of the same. The Caps sweep the Bruins because they are just too fast.

Caps vs Penguins Round 2

This is the biggest series in the second round. While you may think the Caps have no chance, you are wrong. Game 1 is a dominant Penguins win. Game 2 turns out to be a dominant Capitals win.

Game 3 will be known as fight night. At Capital One Arena the game has a total of 430 minutes in penalties with 20 fights. In the first minute Tom Wilson and Jason Zucker fight, which then leads to Matt Dumba and Kris Letang dropping the gloves. Zdeno Chara also wants to fight, but he is so big that no one takes the bait. It is much easier to fight Jay Beagle. The game will go to seven overtimes (fans who have a job the next day aren’t so happy). You can see players eating protein bars and whatever else they had in the clubhouse to try and stay up. Then Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin decide to fight. Then at the end of the seventh overtime, Evgeni Malkin decides to cross-check Kaprizov for not fighting. The refs call a 5-minute major penalty and a game misconduct. This is when Ovechkin fakes a shot and then passes it back to Mike Green to score the game-winning goal.

The Penguins can't recover after that and the Caps win in 5.

Caps vs Lightning Round 3

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Good news it is! The Caps finally made it out of the second round. The bad... They were too busy celebrating and got swept by Tampa. WHOMP WHOMP. But this will only motivate the Caps to make big moves, especially with the expansion draft looming.

2021-2022 Offseason

The protection list for the Capitals is as followed

Ovechkin

Backstrom

Kaprizov

Suzuki

Laine

Vrana

Burakovsky

Dumba

Seider

Pionk

Shesterkin

The Kraken selected Daniel Sprong. With that over, we now head to the draft.

I haven't talked about cap space that much. Until now. The Caps have some cap room but need more to re-sign Seider and Backstrom, among others. So they make a bold move. They trade a package of Matt Dumba, a 2021 first round pick, a 2021 second round pick and a 2021 fourth to the Bruins in exchange for Charlie McAvoy. It's clear to everyone that the Caps are going all in. The rest of the draft goes the same.

In free agency the Caps re-signed Seider, Backstrom and Grubauer, and add some random cup chasers in Joe Thornton and Corey Perry. And because Ovi asks nicely, Washington brings back Alex Semin from the KHL.

2021-2022 NHL Season

Here are the lines

Ovechkin. Backstrom. Kaprizov

Burakovsky Suzuki Laine

Oshie Stephenson Vrana

Semin Beagle Wilson

McAvoy Seider

Pionk Siegenthaler

Green Johanson

Shesterkin

Grubauer

The team started off hot, winning 20 of its first 30 games. Everything is clicking for them. The chemistry is unreal and Ovechkin is scoring goals left and right. But the one struggling piece is Johanson. Wait, that can't be right! Marcus Johanson should be good. Whoops, looks like I'm just as confused as the Caps as it's actually Lucus Johanson who is playing defense. The Caps feel like they can do better so they trade him and a second round pick at the trade deadline for Mark Giordano. The arena is packed every night as the Capitals win the presidents trophy with a record of 64-12-6.

2021-2022 Playoffs

Round 1: Caps vs Penguins

The Capitals show last season’s series win wasn’t a fluke and get revenge for years past as they will crush the Penguins in every game of the series. Tom Wilson also decides to flip off the fans after scoring the GWG in Game 4 in Pittsburgh.

Round 2: Caps vs Hurricanes

The Hurricanes get here by beating the Leafs in seven with the help of some emergency goalie named David Ayers. What a good story! But it won't last long. The Capitals will sweep again because the Hurricanes are too injured in net.

Round 3: Caps vs Lightning

It will be the exact opposite of what happened last year. The Caps will sweep the Lightning ending their dynasty. I'm not kidding, this Capitals team is legit.

Stanley Cup Final: Caps vs Avalanche

Game 1 will go to the Avalanche because Nathan Mackinnon is just that good. But Game 2 is a Capitals win with Igor Shesterkin making what Capitals fans will know as "THE SAVE".

Games 3,4 and 5 are the greatest Stanley Cup finals games in NHL history, Quality chance after quality change, goal after goal, and even save after save the action will not stop. Each game even has its own historic moment.

Game 3 see's Nick Backstrom get the most points in Stanley Cup finals game history with 6 assists. A Caps fan even throws an apple on the Ice that says "Do you like apples".

Game 4 is a goalkeeper's dream. While Avalanche goalie Darcy Kuemper makes 57 saves, Shesterkin has 70. This game went to overtime where Corey Perry trips Mackinnon to give the Avalanche a power play. Then during an Avalanche onslaught Giordano clears the puck over the glass leading to a 5 on 3 power play for 1;09. This is when Shesterkin stands on his head and stops every shot. Then an extremely tired Cale Makar made a bad pass that gets stolen by Suzuki and Semin who has a 2-on-1. Suzuki fakes the shot and passes it over to Semin who hits both posts but doesn't score. Then Mikko Rantanen at the end of the power play shoots from the point and J.T Compher deflects it past Shesterkin to even the series at 2 games apiece.

Game 5 has the most goals in a Stanley Cup Finals game. Ovechkin, Burakovsky and Laine have hat tricks to help the Caps win 9-7 and are one game away from winning the Stanley Cup,

Game 6 is a dominant Avalanche victory. Mostly because Kuemper makes every save in a shutout win.

Game 7 is another overtime game. This time Mike "GAME OVER" Green takes a slap shot from the point and the puck somehow finds its way in to win the Stanley Cup.

Ovechkin wins the Conn Smythe and everyone is happy for him (besides Penguins fans).

This is the best case scenario if they had lost to the Blue Jackets. Who is ready for the worst case? You’ll have to check back later for that one.