After the Washington Capitals announced that Nicklas Backstrom underwent successful hip resurfacing surgery last month, several questions arose. Many of those questions focused on the long-term future of Backstrom’s career, but there is one question that the Capitals must address this summer: who is going to fill the 2C role on Washington’s roster while Backstrom tries to work his way back? Bumping Lars Eller up to the second line for an extended period of time seems like an unsustainable long-term solution, and the Caps’ overall depth at center is not great. Connor McMichael seems like the most likely option for an internal center solution, and GM Brian MacLellan said last week that the organization would like to focus on filling the gap from within.
Options for Capitals’ Second-Line Center
