Did the Capitals underachieve in 2024-25?

During that 8 year period, the Capitals won 3 Presidents Trophies because of very good teams. Yet, they couldn't make it out of the 2nd round of the playoffs, and once out of the 1st round.

It is true that Washington would lose to very good teams, like the beefed-up New York Rangers, the Lightening, and the Penguins, who'd go on to win back-to-back Cups, but that is often only an excuse the losing team uses to rationalize not advancing.

According to C.J. Witt of Stars & Stats, since winning the Cup in 2018, the Caps were outplayed in almost every playoff series. In 2019, they were outplayed by a Carolina team they should have beat.

In 2020, they were out-performed by the Islanders. In 2021, they couldn't compete with the Bruins. In 2022, despite the Panthers doing all they could to hand the series over, Caps lost: Florida would get swept in the next round.

Capitals missed the playoff in 2023. Now, we have the new-look Caps, with new players, like Pierre-Luc Dubois and Jacob Chyckrun, and young players McMichael and Protas.

Also, Ovechkin's contract is coming to an end, Backstrum and Oshie are gone, and Holtby is miles away down the road.

There are those that believe success means winning a championship. Well, it does. But does not winning one mean a team is unsuccessful?

The Caps had an amazing regular season, finishing 1st in the East, and 2nd overall, and Ovechkin set a new record for most NHL goals, a feat that even he would say, could not be done without the help of his teammates. They were part of something special.

Though they beat the Habs in round 1, Montreal seemed like the better squad in several of the 5 games the Caps needed to beat them. The 2nd round with the Canes was even less impressive.

All in all, however, it was, in my opinion, a successful season.