Which D.C. team will be the next to win a championship? The WTOP Sports staff discusses.
WASHINGTON — With the Caps in the middle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, 11 wins from a title, the answer to the question of which D.C. team is closest to a championship may seem obvious. But the other four major professional sports teams have also each made the playoffs within the past two seasons. So we put the question to members of the WTOP Sports staff: Who’s next?
We make the case for each team.
(AP Photos)
AP Photos
Washington Capitals
The Capitals won a franchise-record 56 games this past season and are as balanced as they have ever been before. For the first time in club history, the Presidents’-Trophy-winning Capitals were the only team to finish the regular season ranked in the Top-5 in goals for (2nd), goals against (2nd), power play (5th) and penalty kill (2nd).
They began the week tied with Penguins at a game apiece in their second-round series, with many pundits predicting that the winner of this matchup will ultimately win the Stanley Cup (as was case when the eventual-champion Penguins beat the Capitals in seven games in 2009).
Even if the Capitals fall short this spring, this is far from a one-hit wonder. The Caps will have a very similar look next season with only three players eligible for unrestricted free agency — veteran Jason Chimera, who turns 37 this month, as well as mid-season acquisitions Mike Richards and Mike Weber.
Alex Ovechkin is coming off his seventh career 50-goal season and became the first player in more than 30 years to lead the NHL in goal-scoring four straight years. The franchise leader remains one of the game’s biggest offensive weapons and shows little sign of slowing down. His primary line-mate over the years, all-star Nicklas Backstrom, is still only 28.
Both Ovechkin and Backstrom are signed through the 2020-21 season, while NHL sophomores Evgeny Kuznetsov and Andre Burakovsky provide the team with key pieces they can continue to build around.
Braden Holtby, 26, matched the NHL single-season record with 48 wins this season and may just be entering his prime. The Vezina Trophy favorite as the NHL’s top goaltender is under contract for four more years.
The Caps are built to win now, and for the next few years.
–Ben Raby
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Washington Nationals
In an era when the importance of pitching has never been more evident, the Washington Nationals have five starters that they can feel confident about on a daily basis. When Joe Ross is at the back end of your rotation, Dusty Baker must feel confident pretty much every day.
That doesn’t even include Lucas Giolito, the Nats’ 2012 first-round draft pick, who tops Major League Baseball’s prospect list as he waits his turn at Double-A Harrisburg.
Speaking about the last guy in the rotation first, Ross has pitched like a top-line starter since the 2016 season began. Through four innings in Saturday’s 6-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, Ross had owned the longest active scoreless streak among NL starters, 19.2 in total. The 22-year-old Ross now sports a 0.79 ERA with a 3-0 record, and luckily the blisters that have briefly plagued him early this season have healed.
Max Scherzer leads the staff, and has been a rock since signing with the club in January 2015 for seven years/$210 million. Scherzer’s a three-time All-Star, an AL Cy Young Award winner, and threw two no-hitters for Washington last year.
We all know that Stephen Strasburg has filthy stuff and is in a contract year, with the innings limit a long-but-not-forgotten restriction of the past. Gio Gonzalez and Tanner Roark are steady veterans who both have the ability to rack up double-digit K’s while stifling opposing offenses.
The Nationals currently have the lowest team ERA in Major League Baseball after sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. But don’t forget about the offense, especially since the Nats employ arguably the best hitter in the game at the moment, Bryce Harper, who is under contract in D.C. through 2018.
–Chris Cichon
(AP Photo/Nick Wass)
AP Photo/Nick Wass
Washington Redskins
Just a year ago, the notion that the Redskins were D.C.’s closest team to championship glory would be met with a chorus of laughter. Now that the Wizards have surprisingly fallen out of the NBA playoff picture, United can’t seem to string together wins, and the Caps and Nats each have postseason demons they have yet to exorcise, it’s not a stretch to say the reigning NFC East champs can go from worst to first in the local championship race like they did in their division.
The recipe for winning a Super Bowl has been in place for years in the NFL: a savvy personnel department, a top notch coaching staff, and a great quarterback (or at least a hot one). The Redskins finally have all three. General manager Scot McCloughan has quickly lived up to his reputation of evaluating elite talent, finding six key contributors in the 2015 NFL Draft and greasing the skids for Kirk Cousins to become the starting QB. Head Coach Jay Gruden has fast become one of the league’s most respected coaches and his staff turned water into wine by leading a one dimensional, injury-riddled squad to the playoffs last season. And we all like how Cousins caught fire down the stretch to carry the ‘Skins to their second division title in four years and gave us the best catchphrase in town.
In addition to those three bedrocks, the Redskins currently enjoy the most stability in a flat-out bad NFC East that figures to stay down for the foreseeable future. The NFL’s salary cap keeps going up, which means more money for extravagant spending owner Dan Snyder to dedicate to keeping (and attracting) free agents. That gives hope to Redskins Nation that their squad — already fairly close to taking the next step toward being a legit title contender — will finally start making the playoffs on annual basis, and thus create more opportunities to catch fire and advance to the Super Bowl.
–Rob Woodfork
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
AP Photo/Matt Rourke
D.C. United
Before we begin, let’s recognize that the “Washington sports title drought” doesn’t extend to United, who have won four championships since the last time any of the Big Four have earned a title. Regardless of whether you think MLS should be included in the discussion of a Big Five for major American professional sports, their championship legacy is immutable.
How many D.C. professional teams have made the playoffs in each of the past two seasons? Only two — the Caps and D.C. United. And while the Caps may be right in the throes of a playoff run, their best players are some of their oldest. Not the case with the Red and Black.
In fact, their best player may well be their most important — goalkeeper Bill Hamid. He’s not only arguably the best in MLS, having made the Best XI in his last healthy season, but perhaps the future in net for the U.S. Men’s National Team. And this team has learned to win on the fly with a bunch of new pieces all while Hamid’s been on the shelf with an injury.
After two losses and three draws in their first five contests, United has outscored opponents 8-2 over its last four games, including blowout wins over Vancouver and New England. The 21-year-old Argentinian Luciano Acosta has provided a big spark, leading the team in assists, while Costa Rican Alvaro Saborio (acquired mid-2015) shares the team lead in goals. Newcomer Lamar Neagle has slotted in nicely for Chris Pontius and veteran Ghanaian Patrick Nyarko has made his presence felt in his first year since coming over from Chicago.
As always, Dave Kasper and company have shrewdly compiled a collection of players without a true superstar who can all contribute. As they find their groove and get Hamid back at the back, watch out. He could be the difference-maker in a playoff run.
–Noah Frank
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Washington Wizards
Do not make vacation plans next spring. Plan on purchasing red, white and blue shorts for next June’s championship parade. Or at the very latest, a parade in 2018, when those shorts will still be in fashion. Yes, the Washington Wizards are that close to winning an NBA Championship.
This year’s playoff miss? Merely a bend in the road, rather than the end of the road, for this young nucleus. Coach Randy Wittman has to be credited for building a new culture and playoff contender, but he wasn’t the guy to take this team to the next level.
It happens often in the NBA when a Rick Carlisle (2004 Pistons), KC Jones (70’s Bullets) or Avery Johnson (2008 Mavericks) outlives their usefulness and the next guy gets it done. Scott Brooks is a proven winner, an sharper tactician and a better communicator than his predecessor and that will help this team reach not only the conference finals for the first time since 1979 but win a title for the first time since 1978. Has it really been that long?
The Wizards’ title run begins with point guard John Wall. The Former No. 1 draft pick remains the catalyst on both ends of the floor and Brooks will get to the All-Star and make him more vigilant defensively and a better game manager offensively. Sometimes a different voice spurs a player from very good to great. Bradley Beal should shake the injury bug after being handcuffed the last few years and flourish. No longer hampered by not getting along with his coach, Marcin Gortat will show us why this team is paying him $12 million a season. Otto Porter, Markieff Morris and Kelly Oubre will benefit from a new leader as well.
The big boost comes this summer in the form of free agent fish. We all know that the big fish is Kevin Durant, and if the Montrose Christian product elects to return to D.C., this team will be mentioned in the same breath as the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even if they don’t land Durant, there are more than a few productive pieces out there that can contribute to the Wall/Beal-guided nucleus.
The road to the title is a little easier as the “Washington” means the District and not the state. The Eastern Conference is far more manageable than the West, with just two teams winning over 50 regular season games this year. Even though LeBron James and whichever coach he wants at the moment resides in Cleveland (for now), the Cavaliers are getting older. Toronto? The Raptors are a couple of free agent defections away from being .500, and don’t think that won’t happen with Canadian taxes and weather coming into play. A retooled and refocused Wizards team, plus the right coach, doesn’t have that much to leapfrog in order to be playing for a title next June. And it will be against a Western Conference team battered from three rough rounds. Sometimes luck, and where you live, make just enough of a difference.
So buy your lawn chairs for the parade. Update your wardrobe so your Wizards T-shirt fits. And by all means get some sunscreen. Because it will be sunny and hot on the day this team holds its NBA Championship parade. I’ve even purchased red, white and blue colored lenses for my glasses. In fact, I’m wearing them now.
–Dave Preston
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
