Alex Ovechkin one the Rocket one year ago, and was listed in the top 100. No way Nikita Kucherov can be better than him?

I actually think Ovi is the better player. It's actually not easy to make it to the 3rd round.

do you plan on editing your post or are you just going to leave it?

When you have 12 years, yeah, it's super easy. When push comes to shove, when fit hits the shan, Ovi is not the guy I want

Kucherov is a better player than Ovi. Maybe not better than Ovi was 3-4 years ago, but definitely if we're comparing the two now.

Teams that made the third round
ANA
ARI
BUF
BOS
CHI
CAR
DET
DAL
EDM
LA
MTL
NYR
NSH
NJ
OTT
PHI
PIT
SJS
STL
TB
VAN

21/30
70% of teams made it the third round since Ovi came to the NHL, that is pretty embarrassing for the caps considering they had 3 presidents trophies in that span

President Trophy Winners since 2005-2006

Washington Capitals (3)
Vancouver Canucks (2)
Detroit Redwings (2)
Buffalo Sabers (1)
Boston Bruins (1)
New York Rangers (1)
Chicago Blackhawks (1)
San Jose Sharks (1)

All of the winners, other than the Washington Capitals, that have won the President's Trophy, have advanced past the Second Round since 2005-2006

Boston x8 because I'm a Boston fan

I really don't want to sound mean here but i really want you to know that if you played in the NHL you'd understand how hard it is. We're talking about a really high level of hockey, and playing 12 years of NHL hockey doesn't mean you're going to make it to the 3rd round. Once again, i'm not trying to be mean but i really don't know if you understand how hard it is.

But you have 9 playoff seasons, with 3 president's cup, in that run. Statistically, that should nearly guarantee a championship, much less at least a 3rd round bid.

There's no words to describe the Capitals playoff performances better than failure and disappointment.

It must be hard when you have (3) 100+ point seasons... winning Rocket trophy after Rocket trophy

yeah, and it still is.

How about you go play for the Capitals and tell me if it's easy?

Dan Carcilo has had it further than Ovi, as has Max Talbot, Aaron Ashem

yeah, and they were on better teams.

RAIF, clearly the NHL is hard, but they have achieved 3 presidents trophies in the span of 12 years, yet when it matters most, they fold

2010 Flyers are not better than the President Trophy capitals

That's a strawman argument at best. Of course it wouldn't be easy for me. I've never played an organized game of ice hockey in my life. But luckily the Caps haven't signed me, because they've been too busy getting guys like Ovechkin, Kuzy, Oshie, Backstrom, Carlson, Holtby, and other talent. This gave them, unquestionably, the best and deepest roster in the league last year. And they still couldn't get it done.

How is that anything but disappointment and failure? The Caps GM has even admitted himself that they're in a "cup slump without a cup".

in the playoffs they were.

go play 12 years then in the NHL and tell me if it's easy to make it to round 3.

2016 Caps were one of the best, deepest rosters I've seen in recent history. Certainly better than the Pens 09 roster that Talbot won with.

No chance, they had an AHL level goalie in net, two decent defensmen (Kimmo Timonen and Chris Pronger)

RAIF, stop telling us the NHL is hard to play in. We get it. 12 years and no Conference Final, yikes.

If I played twelve years of professional hockey, and had a team that won the President's Cup 3 times in that span and made the playoffs 6 other times, and we still never made it past winning 1 playoff series, I would consider myself and that team a disappointment.

And RAIF, still curious as to how you have two Atlantic Division teams playing in the Cup final in 2023... are you predicting a relocation none of us know about?