Who's Hot, Who's Not

Hot

-          Joel Ward: The Caps are five games into the season and the team leader in goals is none other than Joel Ward. We are finally seeing the player we signed from Nashville two years ago. He leads the team with three goals and has five points total. Adam Oates has given him some power play time and he has already proven to be successful with one power play goal. His forward line with Mike Ribeiro and Jason Chimera has seen great offensive results early in the season.

-          Mike Ribeiro: This Caps newcomer leads the team in points through five games with one goal and five assists. Even though the Capitals have only one win he continually makes things happen in the offensive zone with his line mates Chimera and Ward. He has been very productive on the power play, logging four of his six points on the extra man. It is safe to say the Capitals have finally found their second line center.

Not

-          John Carlson: The Capitals defense has had their share of problems to start the season and Carlson has been the cause for a lot of them. For starters, he has been on the ice for 13 of the 19 goals against this season. Carlson seems to be experiencing some positioning problems with the new system. He is second among defenseman with ice time, so we need him to start playing like the American hero we all know. The time to earn that six year, $23.8 million contract is now!!!!