With Orpik out, Bowey steps in
Defenseman getting chance with veteran sidelined by surgery
WASHINGTON — It was during those weeks that Madison Bowey wasn’t playing, when he stepped onto the ice early before practice and stepped off it late, after everyone else had already shed their equipment in the dressing room, that Bowey started to put the pieces of his still-young NHL career together. He’d been drafted by the Washington Capitals as a defenseman with offensive upside, a smooth skater with a 6-foot-2 frame made for the physical NHLgrind.
But throughout an uneven rookie campaign, Bowey lost that identity, eventually pushed out of the lineup as the Capitals made their Stanley Cup push. An injury in training camp had him outside of the top six defensemen to start this season, but it allowed Bowey to work on his game and recommit to the skills that got him to the NHLinthefirst place, most notably his skating.
Asveteran BrooksOrpikhasbeenon long-term injured reserve, Bowey has strung together arguably the best 11game stretch of his career. He’d made a case for more playing time even before Washington announced on Tuesday that Orpik will miss another four to six weeks after arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. Bowey’s opportunity to establish himself for the Capitals has been extended.
“Over that stretch of my sitting out, I think I realized that if I want to play in this league for a long time and be a key factor and a key contributor to a team, it’s playing my game,” Bowey said. “It takes time, it’s confidence, it’s getting used to everything. The biggest thing for me is my confidence this year. Last year, I really wanted to not make a mistake and really wanted to focus on playing strong defensively, and I think sometimes, when your mindset is like that, it can kind of get you into some trouble.
“Now I’m just free-spirited. I’m making sure I come to the rink ready and I’m focused and I’m prepared. I have confidence in myself and in my game because I know the coaching staff does. I think that’s why I’m definitely feeling much better this year than I did last year.”
Bowey signed a two-year, $2 million extension this summer, but the future The Capitals’ Nicklas Backstrom, right, celebrates his winning goal with teammate Madison Bowey during a game against the Flames last month. for nearly every young defenseman in theorganizationisunclear. TheCapitals have their top four of John Carlson, Dmitry Orlov, Matt Niskanen and Michal Kempny all locked up through at least the 2020-21 season, and including Bowey, Washington has drafted five defensemeninthe first or second round over the past five years. The Capitals’ two most-recent first-round draft picks are blueliners Lucas Johansen in 2016 and Alex Alexeyev in 2018.
Before the season, general manager Brian MacLellan acknowledged that he might eventually trade defense prospects for forward prospects, and the logjam has created competition within the organization. Bowey just had to worry about working his way up the NHL depth chart going into this season with the Capitals returning their top six blueliners from their playoff run.
“It was a tough spot for him to come into,” coach Todd Reirden said last week. “We think a lot of his potential and his play moving forward, but unless he was able to take one of their jobs, he wasprobably going to end up starting as the seventh guy. Hehad a couple injuries and got banged up early in preseason and never really got going. But it allowed him to find his game.”
Reirden emphasized to Bowey that he should find a way to show off his skating every time he’s on the ice. In Bowey’s last two seasons playing for his Canadian major junior team, the Kelowna Rockets, he’d tallied 60 points, but as he’d played in 51 games last season as a rookie, he became tentative.
In the past five games, Bowey has tallied three assists, more aggressive in joining the offensive attack as he’s still in pursuit of his first NHL goal. He’s going to have a lot more opportunity to get it in the coming weeks.
“I think Madison is scratching the surface,” Cashman said. “He’s nowhere near what his finished product is going to be. I think he’s been around a long time in this organization, but he’s not that old for an NHL defenseman’s standards. He’s done a great job of continuing to build his game, and we’re just getting a glimpse of what he’s ultimately going to be.”