In parting ways with Troy Brouwer and Joel Ward and acquiring T.J. Oshie and Justin Williams in the offseason, the Washington Capitals did more than dramatically alter the look and feel of their forward corps. They also became, in hockey parlance, significantly less “heavy.”
Oshie has scored a career-high 26 goals this season, and he is 24 pounds lighter than Brouwer, whom Washington traded to St. Louis for Oshie. The Capitals also signed Williams, a stabilizing, experienced leader who weighs 40 pounds less than Ward, the power forward who left Washington in free agency.
The result has been overwhelmingly favorable: The Capitals clinched the Presidents’ Trophy with the best record in the NHL before any other Eastern Conference team secured a playoff berth and have a balanced lineup with five 20-goal scorers — Oshie and Williams included — other than Alex Ovechkin.