Just a day after the opening of free agency in July, forward Dylan Strome signed with the Capitals in a move that stunned some fans in Washington, wondering if the 25-year old would be able to fill in during Nicklas Backstrom’s absence.
On Tuesday, Strome was able to show what he is capable of as he received a huge promotion, getting the first crack at trying to fill the spot left by Backstrom on the first power-play unit.
But Backstrom’s shoes aren’t easy to fill: he is the all-time franchise leader in power play assists (330) and is second all-time only to captain Alex Ovechkin in overall power-play points (410).
But this is what the power-play groups look like on Tuesday, per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti.
First unit: Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, TJ Oshie, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Dylan Strome
Second unit: Dmitry Orlov, Erik Gustafsson, Connor Brown, Anthony Mantha, Marcus Johansson
Strome lined up down low where Evgeny Kuznetsov normally goes when Backstrom is healthy and playing. After the session, Strome explained how he has experience playing there in the past.
“I played mostly down low like in front of the net (in Chicago),” Strome said after practice. “Little bit on the bumper. For the second half of the year, I was mostly net front and on the goal line there.”
The Capitals are obviously looking to improve on special teams with their power-play dropping six whole percentage points from 24.8-percent effectiveness in 2020-21 to just 18.8-percent in 2021-22. Strome’s promotion on the first unit could be the best solution this upcoming season.
“Today was the first day with the power play,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “[Strome] is a big guy, left-hand shot, good around the net, has a good shot, can make plays, big body. It was day one, we’re looking at him in that position right now.”
In four season with the Chicago Blackhawks, Strome put up 43 points on the power-play, behind only Patrick Kane (106) and Alex DeBrincat (86) in team leaders over that timespan.
