Eastern Notes: Shattenkirk’s Struggles, Shalunov

While the Washington Capitals have received nothing but praise from the press since they made their trade deadline deal to acquire veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, his presence during the playoffs so far have been far from impressive. The veteran defenseman, who was picked up from the playoff-bound St. Louis Blues for a host of picks and players, including their 2017 first-round pick, has struggled in the playoffs with no goals and three assists in eight games this season. He also has a minus-seven rating in that span. Yesterday, he lost a race to 40-year-old Matt Cullen, which allowed the veteran to score a short-handed goal against the Capitals. Later, he took a delay of game penalty to allow Phil Kessel to score in the third period.

Coach Barry Trotz was also disappointed in the 28-year-old blueliner’s performance as he called him out this morning. “That’s not good enough for what we need in that third pairing right now. Minus-7 is hard to recover from,” Trotz said. Shattenkirk and defensive partner Brooks Orpik have struggled together as that third defensive line. In the first series against the Maple Leafs, the two allowed five goals in the series, the most of all the defensive pairings.

These mistakes have been costly enough with the Capitals now down two games and having to travel to Pittsburgh for the next two, but it also may not help him in the offseason when he is an unrestricted free agent, according to Adam Gretz of NBC Sports. While he will undoubtedly will receive a raise from his $2.592MM contract that ends this year, a good playoff performance or a long playoff run by Washington could have improved his value in the free-agency market. However, his struggles will likely not help him if things continue to stay the course.

So, if things don’t continue to improve, could Washington let Shattenkirk walk in free agency? Only time will tell.

• Chicago Blackhawks prospect Maxim Shalunov will not be coming to the NHL any time soon as the 24-year-old wing will sign a three-year contract with Sibir Novosbibitsk of the KHL, according to his agent Shumi Babayev yesterday, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic. That means the Blackhawks’ couldn’t bring Shalunov over to the U.S. before the 2020-21 season. He will, however, remain a Blackhawk as long as he stays on their resevered list. The fourth-round pick from the 2011  NHL draft is coming off a season in which he scored 19 goals for Sibir Novosbibitsk this past year. Babayev warned that Shalunov would cut off negotiations with the NHL a few weeks ago after the NHL announced that it would not restructure its season around the 2018 Olympic Games.