George McPhee sits in his office. He is getting ready to be introduced as the first general manager of the Vegas Golden Knights. He has a year to figure out a strategy for the Expansion draft. He knows it's a long shot, but he hopes to build a team as successful as he did in Washington with the Capitals. His one mistake was trying to trade Forsberg, and that still eats at him to this day.
Here is the link to part 1 even though I know everyone already it (https://www.bermanssportsblog.com/post/what-if-filip-forsberg-part-1)
Also here is the link to part 2 (https://www.bermanssportsblog.com/post/what-if-filip-forsberg-part-2)
Welcome back to this what-if. We left off at the end of the 2016 offseason where the Caps made an all-in trade and built a juggernaut. Before we continue, here are the lines in case you forgot:
Ovi Backstrom Oshie
D Sedin H Sedin Forsberg
Burakovsky Kuzy Wilson
Winnick Beagle Connolly
Carlson Niskanen
Orlov Mcnabb
Orpik Schmidt
Holtby
Grubauer
2016-2017 Season
As I said before, no one can stop the Caps. The additions of Daniel and Henrik Sedin make the offense one of the deadliest in NHL history. Plus, as the season continues, the Caps don’t make a giant mistake in trading for Kevin Shattenkirk (congrats on a great career, by the way). In real life, the Caps traded a first-round pick, Zach Sanford, and Brad Malone to the Blues in exchange for Shattenkirk and Pheonix Copley. The problem was that it was so late in the season that it messed up team chemistry, as it moved John Carlson down to the second power-play unit. Sometimes, it’s better to stick with what you have than to be greedy and trade assets to solve a problem that doesn’t really exist. In this world, because the Caps are so good, they decided not to mess with said chemistry and did nothing at the deadline while Shattenkirk was traded to the Penguins. The Caps finish with a record of 58-17-7 for 123 points and another Presidents’ trophy.
In the first round, they face the Toronto Maple Leafs. While this series takes six games in real life, it takes four here. The Maple Leafs have the personnel to stop one of the Caps’ big scoring lines, but not both. This also means Ovi doesn’t get injured in game five from a dirty knee-on-knee hit from Nazem Kadri because there is no game five.
In the second round, the Caps face the Penguins. Caps fans are nervous because weird things seem to happen when the two teams meet and usually those bad bounces don’t break Washington’s way. Game one play right into that as the Caps blow a 2-0 lead and lost 3-2. In the locker room, while the rest of the team is down, sad, and upset, Ovi and the Sedin twins get up in front of everyone and give a speech that ends with the line, "We aren’t gonna lose this time, not again." In games two, three, and five, the Caps dominate the Penguins. The Penguins do steal game four, but that was because the Caps lost Tom Wilson after the Penguins complained that he hit too hard. In game six, the Caps take the lead 1-0 thanks to a Forsberg breakaway, but the Penguins tie it up. It ultimately goes to overtime, and then, while both sides are in the middle of a line change, Forsberg steals the puck and passes it to Ovi, who then passes it to Kuznetsov, who scores the breakaway goal. The Caps eliminate the Penguins and finally slay their dragons.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Caps dismantle the Senators because Ottawa is fatigued and isn’t at 100%, and the Caps have too much speed and toughness for the Senators to even steal a game. This means the Caps go on to the Stanley Cup Finals.
They face the Predators in the Stanley Cup Finals. The Predators have been fine without Forsberg because Pekka Rinne spends the whole postseason in god mode and carries them to the finals. The Caps take the first two games because they have home ice and their offense is just that good. But when the series shifts to "Smashville," everything changes. The atmosphere inside the arena fuels the Predators to dominate games three and four by a combined score of 9-3. Caps fans everywhere are extremely worried. But then they remember they have home ice and calm themselves. In game five, the Caps get some sweet revenge with Forsberg and Alex Ovechkin each scoring hat tricks to win 6-0. In game six, the Predators are pouring on the shots and even manage to get a goal… until the official loses sight of the puck and waves it off (sorry Predator fans, can’t change that in this what if). Then in the third period, with one minute left, Daniel Sedin feeds his brother Henrik to score the game-winning goal. Add an empty-netter from Tom Wilson and the Caps win game six 2-0 to win the Stanley Cup. Alex Ovechkin wins the Conn Smythe.
Now that they've won the Stanley Cup, I will summarize the rest of this what-if to avoid making this 17 pages long. The Caps also win the Stanley Cup in 2018 because this team is too unstoppable. The Sedin twins retire with two Stanley Cups and are finally known as champions. George McPhee builds the Golden Knights into contenders immediately, but they still lose to the Caps in the Finals. Ovechkin gets an extra Stanley Cup in this timeline, which means he and Sidney Crosby are tied in their number of cups. The Caps eventually fall off because they must start paying Forsberg and Kuznetsov, among others.
In short, the Caps could have built a dynasty with Forbsberg if it hadn't been for McPhee and his dumb trade. What do you mean I sound bitter?
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