Trotz: World Cup should benefit Capitals' stars

The Washington Capitals could have a leg up on much of their competition when the 2016-17 season kicks off in October - thanks to their experience in September.

Eight Capitals players and head coach Barry Trotz will take part in the World Cup next month, and as Trotz sees it, the tournament can only benefit his club.

"You're going to have your top players playing at the highest level against the best players, basically, in the world in the next couple of weeks, so that's only a positive," Trotz said, according to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com. "There's so many great players that greatness pushes greatness and that will be really good for our leaders and our core group that are at the World Cup of Hockey. Then, as they come back, if you go right to the finals and you have to go to a three-game final, you're going to have players that will be starting the (NHL) season and they already have 10 games under their belt, and they're your top players.

"So, we're going to have to manage that a little bit, but, at the same time, the standard is high, they're ready to go and, if you get the competitive people going against each other, I think it will be some fun hockey."

T.J. Oshie, John Carlson, and Matt Niskanen will represent the Americans; Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Dmitry Orlov will dress for Russia; Nicklas Backstrom will play for Sweden; and goaltender Braden Holtby will be between the pipes for Canada, while Trotz serves as an assistant coach for the host nation.

The Capitals were ousted in the conference finals by the Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins last season after capturing the Presidents' Trophy during the regular season.