Well, here we are: days away from a scenario that sounds too unbelievable to be real. Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals will take the ice in a Stanley Cup Final game, and that game - and potentially three more - will be hosted by Las freakin' Vegas.

This year's playoff finale, while completely unexpected, sets up to be a memorable one.

In one corner, a misfit team of destiny, hell-bent on proving droves of naysayers wrong. In the other, a veteran roster that has finally reached the mountaintop in a year when expectations were lower than in years past.

Here are three things those veteran Capitals need to do to thwart the Golden Knights and win their first Stanley Cup.

Split in Vegas

With the luxury of home-ice advantage in the hands of the Golden Knights, it's imperative the Capitals win at least one of the first two games at T-Mobile Arena.

Of course, Washington would love to win both, as it did in Tampa Bay, but Vegas was 29-10-2 at home in its inaugural campaign and has followed that up with a 6-1 playoff record in Sin City, so the Caps winning on the road is much easier said than done.

The good news for the Capitals is they're 8-2 on the road in the postseason and are scoring 3.6 goals per game in those contests. That trend will need to continue if they hope to hit the jackpot in Vegas.

Exploit Vegas' roster for what it is

The mighty Golden Knights were simply too good for the playoff-tested Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks, and took care of the league's second-best team, the Winnipeg Jets, in a tidy five-game series. So how can their roster still leave so much to be desired?

The top-line trio of William Karlsson, Reilly Smith, and Jonathan Marchessault has been one of the best in hockey since the season started, and is the driving force behind Vegas reaching this point. But how much of an advantage do they have over the Capitals' top unit?

It's a fairly even fight, so if the Caps' top line can neutralize the Golden Knights', the focus shifts to the depth of both teams, in which Washington should hold a considerable advantage.

With Nicklas Backstrom (fully healthy or not) and the surprising Lars Eller anchoring lines two and three, Washington wins the battle down the middle of the ice and needs to utilize its advantage. The Caps have done just that through three rounds, as forwards outside the top line have combined for 74 points.

For Vegas, numbers quite clearly don't tell the entire story. The Golden Knights reached this point by playing in a relentless up-tempo style and making the most of their offensive opportunities. It remains to be seen whether they can maintain such efficiency under the NHL's brightest lights.

Win the goaltending battle

Remember when Philipp Grubauer started the playoffs between the pipes for the Capitals? That now feels like forever ago.

Since taking over the crease in a rescue effort, Braden Holtby has effectively erased what was an uncharacteristically poor season, posting a .924 save percentage across 17 starts, and cementing a berth in the Stanley Cup Final with back-to-back shutouts over the Lightning with his team on the brink of elimination.

Holtby will need to continue that stellar play, as his competition on the other end of the ice, a familiar adversary in Marc-Andre Fleury, has been lights out since the playoffs kicked off. An overwhelming favorite to capture the Conn Smythe, Fleury has gone 12-3 with an absurd .947 save percentage despite Vegas surrendering nearly 34 shots per game.

Above all else, the Capitals, who lead the postseason with 66 goals, need to find a way to knock Fleury off his game the way the Kings, Sharks, and Jets failed to do, and hope Holtby can out-duel him along the way. At this point, it seems a near-impossible task, but if they can find an answer, they just might be Stanley Cup champions.

(Stats Courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)
(Photos Courtesy: Getty Images)

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Vegas Golden Knights general manager George McPhee should be an awfully proud man.

Not only is McPhee primed to win GM of the year - and go down in history - for being the architect of the best expansion team in any sport, but he's also largely responsible for constructing the roster that will take the visitors' side of the rink at T-Mobile Arena on Monday night.

McPhee was GM of the Washington Capitals from 1997-98 until the 2013-14 campaign. He built a perennial regular-season juggernaut in D.C., but postseason failures, missing the playoffs in his final year, and the horrendous Filip Forsberg-for-Martin Erat trade ultimately led to his demise.

However, he acquired the majority of the Capitals team in place today, mostly through the draft.

McPhee's ability to hit on first-round picks is uncanny. While nearly any GM can make a good selection in the top five, he's made shrewd picks in the latter half of the first round, which is what makes or breaks an organization.

As an encore, McPhee's found legitimate NHLers beyond the first round too. In the salary-cap era, having cheap, homegrown players to surround your core is crucial for building a winning team.

Current Capitals GM Brian MacLellan deserves a large amount of credit, too. While McPhee was in charge, MacLellan was his right-hand man, serving as a pro scout, then director of player personnel, then as assistant GM for seven seasons before taking the reins when the team didn't renew McPhee's contract.

The two combined to build a perennial powerhouse in Washington. McPhee appears well on his way to doing so again in Vegas, and now the former coworkers will meet in the Stanley Cup Final.

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A town in Virginia is hoping to temporarily change its name to celebrate the Washington Capitals advancing to the Stanley Cup final for the first time in 20 years.

Lovettsville mayor Bob Zoldos announced earlier this month he would seek town council's approval to rename the town "Capitalsville" if Washington secured a Stanley Cup berth, according to Patrick Szabo of Loudoun Now. If approved, the new name will remain in effect throughout the Capitals' series against the Vegas Golden Knights and for at least a week afterward if they win the trophy.

The Capitals like the idea, too. Zoldos said team officials are "very excited" about it and that the franchise will have final say in the name. He also wants to host a viewing party with Capitals staff and a small parade if the team wins the Cup.

"That would be just unbelievable," Zoldos said.

- With h/t to Sporting News

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With the Stanley Cup Final now on the horizon, theScore's Josh Gold-Smith put together the third installment of the NHL Playoff Power Rankings. (Rankings 5-16 are unchanged from the previous edition.)

1. Vegas Golden Knights

Honestly, what else can we say about the best story in the NHL at this point?

Doubters keep expecting them to regress, but the expansion darlings continue to prove they belong among the NHL's elite clubs this spring, and they've been the most impressive team in these playoffs.

The Golden Knights made quick work of a deep, talented Winnipeg Jets squad, dispatching them in five games, and Vegas is now 12-3 in this postseason.

They've opened as the favorites in the Stanley Cup Final, and have a legitimate shot to win as long as Marc-Andre Fleury stays red-hot and the top line of Jonathan Marchessault, William Karlsson, and Reilly Smith continues to do serious damage.

2. Washington Capitals

The second-best story of the playoffs has undoubtedly been the Capitals exorcising their postseason demons, with Alex Ovechkin reaching the championship round for the first time in his 13-year NHL career.

Washington reeled off consecutive shutouts of the Tampa Bay Lightning as they forced Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final and then won that in convincing fashion Wednesday night.

Ovechkin looked like a man on a mission as he scored the opening goal of Game 7 a mere 62 seconds in.

The Capitals are getting what they need out of their captain, as well as from Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and goaltender Braden Holtby, but they've also gotten all-important secondary scoring from the likes of Andre Burakovsky, Devante Smith-Pelly, Brett Connolly, and Lars Eller.

3. Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning had the Capitals on the ropes, taking a 3-2 series lead in the conference final before losing Games 6 and 7.

Tampa Bay's offense evaporated in those final two contests, and while the Capitals' goaltending and defense certainly deserve credit for that, the Lightning's most dynamic scorers didn't produce when they needed to most.

They should certainly hold their heads high after a solid season, but the Lightning had the Capitals where they wanted them and couldn't finish the job.

Don't blame Andrei Vasilevskiy, though. The Tampa Bay netminder - who won't turn 24 until late July - was stellar in the series, posting a .932 save percentage over the final five games. The Lightning's core should remain largely intact, so they should be one of the league's best teams once again next season.

4. Winnipeg Jets

The Jets had visions of the Cup dancing in their heads after a terrific regular season, and they looked to be on course to fulfilling that as their playoff run progressed. Then they ran into the upstart Golden Knights.

That series was closer than it appeared, but Winnipeg had no answer for Vegas' relentlessness.

Mark Scheifele tallied three times in the series but was held off the scoresheet in Games 4 and 5, managing only a single shot on goal in the latter, and Connor Hellebuyck wasn't terrible but was simply outplayed by Fleury.

Patrik Laine was neutralized, too, but the Jets will be back, and the futures of both the franchise and its brightest young star remain bright.

The rest

• 5. Nashville Predators
• 6. Pittsburgh Penguins
• 7. Boston Bruins
• 8. San Jose Sharks
• 9. Toronto Maple Leafs
• 10. Colorado Avalanche
• 11. Columbus Blue Jackets
• 12. Philadelphia Flyers
• 13. New Jersey Devils
• 14. Minnesota Wild
• 15. Anaheim Ducks
• 16. Los Angeles Kings

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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The San Jose Sharks took a gargantuan risk when they inked forward Evander Kane to a seven-year contract extension worth a reported $49 million on Thursday.

There's no denying Kane is a quality player. He's a rugged, physical winger with annual 30-goal potential. Power forwards like him are rare, but that doesn't mean paying him $7 million per year through his age-33 season is a good decision.

Kane hasn't performed at a $7-million level yet in his career. In nine NHL seasons, he's averaged 26 goals and 51 points (calculated over an 82-game average). That's OK, but he's also missed an average of 14 games per year.

His lack of durability should've been a red flag for the Sharks. Players that have an intensely physical style and dish out roughly 150 hits per year, as Kane does, often don't age well.

Not every skater who plays with an edge is set for a shorter prime. Alex Ovechkin is one of the game's most physical forwards, but he rarely gets injured. Some can handle the added toll on the body, while others break down.

Even if Kane avoids further injury pitfalls and doesn't decline quicker, paying a winger top dollar isn't always a smart idea. Unless of course it's a franchise player, and that label doesn't apply to Kane.

Here's a look at every winger in the NHL with a cap hit of $7 million-plus for the 2018-19 season:

Every player on the list had much more success than Kane prior to signing long-term contracts, and now some of those signings (Perry, Parise, Ryan) haven't quite panned out as their teams had hoped.

With a $7-million cap hit, Kane is now paid more than fellow wingers Johnny Gaudreau ($6.75M), David Pastrnak ($6.6M), Brad Marchand ($6.125M), and Filip Forsberg ($6M). All those players signed long-term contracts within the past couple years, were coming off a season better than Kane has ever had, and with the exception of Marchand, were all younger when they signed.

Unless a winger is putting up near point-per-game numbers, a team's $7 million-plus is probably better spent on a center or defenseman - positions that have a greater impact on the 200-foot game.

This contract could go south because of Kane's individual performance, and worse, it might handcuff the Sharks moving forward.

With Kane's $7 million on the books, the Sharks only have $7.43 million left in cap space. Buying out Paul Martin would save them another $2.85 million. But that's still not a lot considering Tomas Hertl and Chris Tierney are restricted free agents and will need new contracts. Also, San Jose surely wants to bring back Joe Thornton on a one-year deal.

Assuming Hertl and Tierney require a combined $7 million to sign (that's being very conservative, and it could easily be more), the Sharks would be left with a little over $3 million to bring Thornton back, and not much money for anything else.

Looking beyond this summer, both Logan Couture and Joe Pavelski are scheduled to be UFAs after next season. They each currently carry cap hits of $6 million. Couture will likely require a raise, while Pavelski could come back for around the same price, or even slightly less if he has a poor year.

Had the Sharks not locked up Kane, they could've taken a serious run at John Tavares this offseason. San Jose checks off all the boxes to attract a top free agent:

• No. 1 center vacancy
• Enough cap room to outbid other teams
• A roster ready to win now
• Minimal media attention
• Beautiful California weather

Now the Sharks are going all in this year before their core of Couture (29 years old), Pavelski (33), Brent Burns (33), and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (31) start to decline, and doing that while expecting Kane to play better than he has previously in his career.

Including the playoffs, Kane scored 13 goals in 26 games with the Sharks in 2017-18. It's an extremely small sample size, but that's a 41-goal pace over an 82-game season, providing optimism he can flourish on a playoff-caliber team.

However, the Sharks are banking on Kane being that type of player for full seasons to make this contract justifiable - a risk they certainly didn't need to take.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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The San Jose Sharks have signed forward Evander Kane to a seven-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday. As per club policy, the terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TSN's Pierre LeBrun is reporting that the agreement is worth $49 million with the following breakdown:

The contract equates to an average annual value of $7 million.

The deal also comes with a modified no-trade clause, with Kane having the ability to choose three teams he's willing to be dealt to, according to LeBrun.

Kane, who will turn 27 in August, had 29 goals and 54 points this past season. Of those totals, nine and 14, respectively, came with the Sharks after he was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres at the trade deadline.

"At only 26 years old, Evander has established himself as one of hockey's true power forwards and an impact player," GM Doug Wilson said. "We think his abilities mesh perfectly with our group of skilled, young players and veteran leaders. It's extremely heartening to have Evander join a trend of elite players who have chosen to remain in San Jose. It speaks volumes as to how players view this organization and further illustrates the continued commitment to our fans by our owner Hasso Plattner."

In his first taste of playoff hockey this season, Kane performed admirably, potting four goals in nine games as the Sharks were bounced in the second round by the Vegas Golden Knights.

He was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

As part of the trade that sent Kane to the Bay Area, the Sabres will receive San Jose's first-round pick in 2019. The selection is lottery protected, meaning if the Sharks were to miss the playoffs next season, they'd have the option to keep the pick. In this scenario, Buffalo would receive the Sharks' 2020 first-rounder instead, per Cap Friendly.

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Although just two teams remain in the hunt for the Stanley Cup, it's still a wide-open race for the Conn Smythe Trophy. Here are the top five leading candidates:

5. Jonathan Marchessault

The Golden Knights' top line of Marchessault, William Karlsson, and Reilly Smith have been nearly unstoppable this postseason. Marchessault has been the most dangerous of the three, leading the team in goals, points, shots, and is second in assists.

4. Braden Holtby

What a whirlwind of a season it's been for Holtby. By now, many forget it was Philipp Grubauer - not Holtby - who was between the pipes for the Capitals in their first two playoff games against the Blue Jackets after the former Vezina Trophy winner endured a turbulent season. That's all in the past, though, as Holtby has played fantastic when it's mattered most.

3. Evgeny Kuznetsov

Given that Kuznetsov leads all players in postseason points, there's an argument to be made that he should be higher on this list. He's seemingly brought his speed and creativity every single night. He's gone toe-to-toe with some of the game's best centers in the past two rounds, but yet, he's the one left standing.

2. Alex Ovechkin

Ovechkin is in rarefied air, as he sits second in both goals and hits this postseason. Armed with arguably the best shot of all time, plus a 235-pound frame, Ovechkin has simply been a nightmare for the opposition during a grueling playoff run. He's the heart and soul of the team. If he goes, they go. Right now, he's firing on all cylinders.

1. Marc-Andre Fleury

Fleury has held the top spot on these power rankings since the get-go, and with good reason. He's been absolutely lights out since the beginning of the postseason without any blips on the radar. If the Golden Knights are to win yet another round and hoist the Stanley Cup, Fleury's play in goal will be a massive reason why.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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In the weeks leading up to the 2018 NHL Draft, theScore NHL prospect writer Hannah Stuart breaks down 10 of the most notable draft-eligible players. The tenth and final edition focuses on Joe Veleno.

Drafted first overall by the Saint John Sea Dogs in 2015, Joe Veleno was the first QMJHL player to follow in the footsteps of the likes of John Tavares and Connor McDavid and be granted exceptional status, playing major-junior hockey at age 15. At No. 8, he’s also the highest-ranked center among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.

While he's a consensus first-round pick who should become an NHL regular, exactly where Veleno belongs within that first round has been a subject of much debate this season. In fact, he's been under a microscope for his entire QMJHL career thanks to his exceptional status, which has likely contributed to both his ranking and the debate surrounding it.

Year in review

Fresh off a 40-point season, a President’s Cup win, and a Memorial Cup appearance with the Sea Dogs in 2016-17, Veleno started off this season by being named captain of the team. It was an honor he retained until he was traded to the Drummondville Voltigeurs in December, when the Sea Dogs sat second from the bottom in the QMJHL. He improved his offensive production significantly in 2017-18, finishing the campaign with 79 points, including 22 goals, in 64 games.

At the international level, Veleno captained the gold medal-winning Team Canada at last year’s Ivan Hlinka tournament, where he had two goals and five assists in five games. He also represented Canada at this year’s Under-18 World Championship, which he finished with three points in four games. And while he wasn't invited to Canada’s World Junior Championship selection camp last December, don’t be surprised if you see his name on the list this year.

Areas of strength

One bit of praise often repeated about Veleno is that he already approaches the game in a professional way. That’s pretty subjective, but it’s easy to see why. Veleno plays a dependable 200-foot game, and is able to take on high-pressure roles. His hockey sense and vision are incredible, and those attributes - along with his high-level passing skills - make him an excellent playmaker.

His offensive production improved noticeably after his trade, increasing from (a still very good) 31 points in 31 games with the Sea Dogs to 48 points in 33 games with the Voltigeurs. Veleno is a great skater with excellent speed and acceleration. His agility and edgework are high-end, and he uses his skating ability to open up opportunities for himself and his teammates. He’s not afraid to get into board battles, and works hard and smart in his own end.

Areas of improvement

Veleno’s offensive production was once a concern, but some of that was due to critique based on his exceptional status (which is fair). He took a step forward this season, but could stand to add strength and put more power behind his shot to become a more consistent goal-scorer. As a playmaker, his first instinct is usually to pass, but his hockey sense allows him to pinpoint when he needs to shoot. Putting a little more oomph behind the shot and getting quicker on the release should improve his goal-scoring numbers.

He occasionally tries to do too much himself, which could be partly attributed to pressure from his exceptional status. Improving his consistency in the little decision-making moments - whether choosing a better position, making a pass a bit sooner rather than handling the puck too long, or doing these things while using his skating ability to its full potential - should allow him to really put it all together and improve his overall game.

Scouting report

"A jack-of-all-trades player with a nice tool belt. Great edgework, acceleration, vision, and puck-protection skills. Blazing fast in a straight line. The 18-year-old is already a consummate worker in the defensive end and is a very safe selection as he has a pro-level approach. One of the best power-play distributors in the CHL." - Cam Robinson, DobberProspects.com

"There is so much to like about Joe Veleno. He's a hard-nosed workhorse that makes the players around him better. The fleet-footed center is unselfish and will primarily look to make a play at top speed; however, when the chance arises to put it in the pot himself, he will capitalize. He sees the ice well and is rarely caught out of position. His defensive game is refined and he actively pursues puck control. Transitioning to offence is natural, smooth, and quick. All in all, a well-rounded two-way forward that skates well and can be the catalyst a team needs to turn a game in its favor. If he can find the consistency in refusing to let himself get taken out of plays, especially if he doesn't start them, he will thrive and exceed expectations" - Curtis Joe, EliteProspects.com

Did You Know?

• Voltigeurs head coach Dominique Ducharme also coached Veleno during the Canada-Russia series last fall, and it was there he decided he wanted to add Veleno to his roster in Drummondville.

• Veleno scored 1.23 points per game this season, with 0.84 primary points per game.

• Some scouts feel Veleno could be an NHL regular sooner than many of his peers, due to his two-way play and his professional attitude.

Other entries in this series:

• Rasmus Dahlin
• Andrei Svechnikov
• Filip Zadina
• Quinn Hughes
• Adam Boqvist
• Brady Tkachuk
• Evan Bouchard
• Oliver Wahlstrom
• Noah Dobson

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)

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