The Capitals have not discussed possible contract extensions with pending unrestricted free agents John Carlson and Lars Eller, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (video link). Carlson is poised to collect a big raise as he’s on a team-friendly deal with a cap hit just shy of $4MM and was voted the top potential blueliner to hit the market in a poll on PHR earlier this week (and the vote wasn’t particularly close). He has collected at least 37 points in each of the last four seasons while averaging 23:31 per night and point-producing blueliners that can play top pairing minutes are always in high demand and short supply in free agency.
As for Eller, he is carrying a $3.5MM cap charge this season although it’s worth noting he’s collecting $4.75MM in salary. While he has yet to progress into the top-six center that he was projected to become, he is still more than a serviceable third line pivot for Washington and should command a fair amount of interest in free agency if he makes it there. While his game-to-game performance can be inconsistent at times, his production has been the opposite as he has ranged between 25 and 30 points in each of the last six years.
After coming off of a disappointing postseason last year, it’s not too surprising that extension talks with these two haven’t started. If this season doesn’t go well, it’s possible that GM Brian MacLellan could look to take the team in a different direction, something that would be harder to do if these two were already under contract by then.
However, the salary cap is also likely playing a role into this decision. The Caps currently have just shy of $59MM committed to just 13 players for next season per CapFriendly and signing Carlson and Eller to long-term extensions would eat up a significant chunk of the flexibility that they could potentially have next summer.
The two pending UFAs aren’t the only free agents of note that Washington will have to deal with either. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer and winger Tom Wilson highlight their list of restricted free agents while Jay Beagle headlines several other unrestricted free agents.
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