From Overlooked to Unstoppable: The Capitals’ Culture of Second Chances
Written by Emily Vasseur, LCPC
Almost everyone knows the story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It’s a story of a young reindeer born with a glowing red nose. He’s different, teased relentlessly, and often made to feel as if he is an outsider. Rudolph's journey begins when he leaves home and encounters other “misfits” like him. Rudolph and his new friends start to realize that they aren’t broken, they were just living in a world where no one took the time to truly understand them. Here, they start to embrace what makes them unique, find belonging, and also redeem themselves through acceptance.
The Island of Misfit Toys is both a magical and a lonely place where broken or unwanted toys end up. I remember watching Rudolph and feeling empathy for the cowboy who rides an ostrich, the train with square wheels, a bird that swims instead of flies, a doll that no one picks, and a Jack-in-the-Box named Charlie. As a child, I felt their sadness and confusion with ending up in this place. They call themselves misfits because they don’t fit the exact mold that the world set out for them. This is how I see the Washington Capitals.
Dylan Strome, a center/forward, played in Arizona and Chicago before finding his home at the Capitals. When Strome was first drafted third overall in 2015, there were so many high expectations: become an elite first-line center and potentially franchise altering among them. Years later, he found himself bouncing between the AHL and NHL, often struggling to stay consistent. One of his coaches, Rick Tocchet, once said, “The talent is there, but it’s about consistency. He needs to bring it every night.” Strome himself, in an article by the Player’s Tribune, once said, “I was sent down to the AHL…three years into my career…I wasn’t there yet. It was impossible not to hear all that noise. I listened to people call me a bust.” Since signing with Washington, he has been anything but.
I’d be remiss if I did not mention the stats when referring to Dylan, who has often reported getting a lot of enjoyment from knowing the numbers from around the league. Prior to his time in Washington, Dylan scored 67 goals and completed 103 assists in his first six NHL seasons. In his first full season with Washington in 2022, he scored 65 points (23 goals, 42 assists). In the next, he scored 67 (27 goals, 40 assists). This means that since arriving in Washington, Dylan Strome has more than doubled his production — scoring 124% more goals per season and 139% more assists per season compared to his first six years in the NHL. In the same article, written by Strome himself, he mentioned never knowing if he would ever “be on a team like this, in a city like this.” Strome signed a one-year contract with Washington, and it did not take long for him to show that he deserved an extension. More so than that, he was a misfit no more. He went from doubt and disposability to belonging and stability in a short time. With some bias, this writer feels that he has one of the highest hockey IQs in the league and has shown how a “misfit” with the right fit can easily become a contender.
Pierre-Luc Dubois was traded to the Washington Capitals in 2024. He’s been moved around from the Columbus Blue Jackets, Winnipeg Jets, and Los Angeles Kings. He’s what I would describe as the misfit toy of unsettled talent. Moving amongst that many teams (while somewhat normal in the NHL) does not allow someone to truly settle and get used to the system. On previous teams, he was once described as inconsistent. That changed in a very short time when he was traded to the Capitals. In an article written by reporter Sammi Silber, Coach Carbery stated, “I was confident that [Dubois] was going to be a good player for us, but you never know. I mean, you hope that he’ll succeed. I was just so impressed with him, the whole package.” Dubois himself said, “This is the most fun I’ve had playing hockey. This group, the enthusiasm, the fun we have, is contagious and it bleeds onto the ice…I couldn’t have asked for more. I couldn’t have asked for better.” Though currently injured, it’s clear that after earning stability with the Capitals, he has flourished.
These are just two examples of how the Washington Capitals appear to have some sort of magic in the ice, not dissimilar from the magic integrated into the Island of Misfit Toys. The island symbolizes second chances, acceptance, and finding a place where one can finally fit in. According to valuable research in Sports Psychology from Naomi Eisenberger, PhD, when players feel a sense of belonging, it helps calm the part of the brain that signals that there is a threat and allows the reward centers to be activated. When a player feels supported in their environment, their amygdala quiets down, their prefrontal cortex is sharpened (much like ice skates), and their decision-making skills improve. The ventral striatum, where our reward center lies, lights up when we feel like we are part of a team. Though no brain scans of current Capitals players were reviewed for this article, I would suspect that their ventral striatum is lit up like Rudolph’s nose.
Other notable players that seem to have the Island of Misfit Toys effect would be players like Evgeny Kuznetsov, T.J. Oshie, Jakub Vrana, and Braden Holtby. Kuznetsov was often viewed as inconsistent, immature, and potentially a risky prospect. He’s now quickly associated with his performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2018. T.J. Oshie, while always a fan favorite, was reported to have finally reached his full potential when he was traded to the Capitals and grew into the emotional heartbeat of the team. Vrana, seen as potentially underdeveloped, grew speed and agility with the Caps. Holtby’s Vezina Trophy-worthy winning save is renowned league-wide.
As a therapist who specializes in trauma, I’ve done extensive research and studied how our brain copes with change and stress. Our nervous system plays a key role in how we regulate, connect with others, and perform - whether on the ice or in our everyday life. It manages whether we're bracing for impact (like a check) or learning what it feels like to belong. Whether it was Dylan Strome, Pierre-Luc Dubois, T.J. Oshie, or some of the other players mentioned, the Washington Capitals have a pattern of finding players who are underperforming and giving them a second chance at belonging within the organization, much like the Island of Misfit Toys gave Rudolph.
Don’t believe in magic? Perhaps what we are seeing can be credited to supportive coaching enabling players to build psychological safety. It may be due to the team culture, in which their reportedly strong family-like atmosphere enhances the players’ decision-making skills and social reward activation. Or it may be that these athletes have built strong and supportive roots within their community in the DMV area, thus supporting their athletic confidence in line with Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory. All these themes will be explored in further articles.
Special shoutouts to articles from Sammi Silber, DC Backcheck, Player’s Tribune, and the Washington Post for their direct quotes from the players.
References
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. New York: W.H. Freeman.
Eisenberger, N. I., & Lieberman, M. D. (2004). Why rejection hurts: A common neural alarm system for physical and social pain. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 8(7), 294–300.
Sammi Silber. “Dubois Opens Up About What’s Made Capitals The ‘Perfect Fit’.” DC Backcheck, May 24, 2025.
Stars and Sticks. “Dylan Strome Did Not Need Kane and DeBrincat to Contribute With the Capitals.” StarsAndSticks.com, May 4, 2023.
Strome, D. (2025, April 22). For Washington. The Players’ Tribune.
