I'm worried about Carlson the most. Maybe he'll turn it on in the playoffs again but he doesn't have enough of a track record to prove to me that he can just flip the switch. If the Capitals get the same level of play that Carlson has shown for most of the season then I really hope his minutes are severely reduced come postseason because right now he is either their 5th or 6th best defenseman. He's not really a shutdown D, he doesn't drive possession, and he's not very good on the PP compared to Shattenkirk. My worry is that Trotz simply won't be able to make the decision to cut Carlson's minutes given the apparent trust he's place in him despite having better options on the roster.
As another note, I'm not really surprised that last night was one of the best defensive efforts this team has put up all season given the pairings and the allocations of the ice time. Niskanen and Orlov did the heavy lifting (23 and 22 minutes TOI) while Alzner was given a very light load (just 16 minutes TOI) despite the Capitals being ahead for most of the game. I'd highly consider just making the 27-74 pairing the third pairing.
My biggest concern is actually Trotz because of situations like the one above. The last two years GMBM failed to complete the rosters at the deadline so he deserved a good chunk of the blame for both of those failures. This year, however, he's given Trotz pretty much everything a coach could ask for as far as an NHL roster is concerned. Trotz needs to ice the best line up with the best possible combinations of players to maximize our chances.
I believe that what the optimal Caps line up looks like is something that will often vary and Trotz seems to prefer taking the guesswork and experimentation out by simply picking the team he wants and sticking with that come hell or high water. It certainly builds consistency and perhaps some confidence for his players but it allows for long stretches where certain elements are performing far below their optimal level.
Right now Carlzner and the second line seem like they could use a shake up. Doesn't look like there is any chance Trotz would be willing do that. Perhaps, as some have pointed out, the 82 game season grinds down Kuzy a bit. But he still has him playing every night when we have 6 games in 9 days at the very end of the season. Same for some of our veteran players.
This Caps team has nothing left to prove in the regular season, yet the coach seems averse to trying a lot of things. It's a great strategy when things are going well but we're going to have to adjust multiple times over the course of a long playoff run and I'm just not sold that Trotz is going to be able to effectively stay ahead of the curve in that environment.
