Dylan Strome had a career year with the Washington Capitals last season. His 67 points (27g, 40a) led a team that limped into the 2024 postseason with the worst goal differential (minus-37) of any playoff team in the salary cap era.

After being swept in the first round by the New York Rangers, Washington’s front office made a clear effort to update and improve their roster this summer. Strome, slotted again to be a major piece of the team’s offensive core, is thrilled to be getting quality reinforcements as the Capitals look to take a step past just qualifying for another postseason.

“Lots of good guys coming in, I think seven new guys, so that’s a third of your roster that plays every night basically,” Strome told TSN. “I’m excited. Carbs will have us ready to go at the start of the season and I’m excited to get back to Washington and get to work with the new guys. I know a lot of guys are motivated and want to build on last year and hopefully turn that goal differential around a little bit.”

The Capitals added Pierre-Luc Dubois, Andrew Mangiapane, Logan Thompson, Jakob Chychrun, Matt Roy, Brandon Duhaime, and Taylor Raddysh over the offseason. All seven players are expected to have roles on the Opening Night roster. Strome has connections with several new guys, as he was a teammate of Dubois, Chychrun, and Raddysh in the NHL or with Team Canada.

Strome is closest with Chychrun as they both broke into the league during the same 2016-17 campaign with the Arizona Coyotes. Chychrun brought up his past with Strome during his first media availability as a member of the Capitals. The 27-year-old center echoed some of those same sentiments on Monday.

“Yeah, [reuniting with Chychrun] is great,” Strome said. “We actuallyl lived together at Max Domi’s house in my first year in Arizona before I got traded. A lot of fun to live with him. He was a great guy, great teammate, and a very good hockey player. So, I’m excited to have him on our backend and moving pucks up to us forwards.”

While the additions make the roster younger and improve the Capitals’ chances for the playoffs, they also take pressure off the team’s captain, Alex Ovechkin, to produce offensively. Ovechkin led Washington in goal-scoring again during his age-38 season, potting 31 goals after a very slow start.

Ovechkin is closing in on hockey history, just 41 goals shy of tying Wayne Gretzky for the all-time, goal-scoring record. Strome, The Great 8’s center for a large part of the 2023-24 season, has had a front-row seat to the historic chase and would love to be the guy to pass the puck to Ovechkin if he can capture The Great One’s record.

“Of course,” Strome said. “I mean, who doesn’t right? I think it was pretty cool tying on the Gordie Howe assist, 801. But unfortunately, it was sandwiched between 800, which was obviously a huge milestone, and 802 which was the record breaker.

“Obviously, everyone thinks about it. Everyone knows what’s coming and we’re excited to be a part of it.”

The acquisition of Dubois makes it likely that Strome doesn’t start the season with Ovechkin but Strome is still positioned to be a top-six forward next year.

Head coach Spencer Carbery will now be able to slot Strome better overall and take some responsibility off his plate which may make him even more of an effective offensive weapon. With five natural centers starting the season in Washington, Strome’s positional flexibility could also be a huge asset to the team.