Free agency is now less than two weeks away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Capitals.
Key Restricted Free Agents
D Alexander Alexeyev – The good news for Alexeyev is that he was a full-time NHL roster player this season. The bad news is that he only played in eight games during the regular season plus three more with AHL Hershey on a conditioning stint. Granted, he did play a regular role in the playoffs with Martin Fehervary out of the lineup but this is hardly the most compelling case heading into an arbitration-eligible summer. The 25-year-old does have 80 career NHL regular season games under his belt and has been a serviceable third-pairing player in a lot of those. His qualifying offer checks in just under $919K and it wouldn’t be shocking to see a one-year deal come in around that cost, giving him one last chance to make a case for more regular playing time. Alternatively, they could non-tender him and give Alexeyev a chance to catch on elsewhere.
F Hendrix Lapierre – Lapierre was a regular for the first three months of the season but was limited to just eight assists in 27 games before being sent to the Bears in late December where he stayed the rest of the way. He fared well in that stint, averaging a point per game in 32 outings. That said, he did get into 51 games with the Capitals in 2023-24 so he’s not one of those players who’s likely to take less than his $874K qualifying offer to get a one-way salary; he should be able to land a small raise. But given his usage last season, both sides will likely want a one-year pact which should come in around the $1MM mark.
Other RFAs: F Pierrick Dube, G Mitchell Gibson, D Tobias Geisser (signed in Switzerland), F Henrik Rybinski
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Anthony Beauvillier – Once viewed as a projected top-six winger, Beauvillier’s stock fell considerably in 2023-24 to the point where he accepted a one-year, $1.25MM deal with Pittsburgh in the hopes of rebuilding some value. He fared well with the Penguins and was flipped to Washington at the trade deadline where he was quiet down the stretch. However, the 28-year-old then put up six points in 10 playoff games which will help his cause heading to the open market this time out. It’s unlikely that he gets back to the $4.15MM price tag that he had from 2021-22 through 2023-24 considering that he only had 25 points this season but doubling his contract from last summer should be doable for Beauvillier.
D Ethan Bear – The decision to sign a two-year deal with Washington worth just over $2MM per season worked well for Bear from a financial perspective but not so much from a playing perspective as he ultimately played just 24 games for the Capitals and spent all of this season in Hershey. Still, Bear has 275 career NHL appearances under his belt and is a right-shot player, the side that’s always in demand. He’s a safe bet to get an NHL deal somewhere but his market might be good enough to push his price point around the $1MM mark.
F Lars Eller – The 36-year-old managed to get to double-digit goals this season for the fourth straight year and the 11th time in the last 12 seasons. However, he is starting to slow down and might be better deployed primarily as a fourth liner who can move up when injuries arise. There’s still a market for that type of player but it’ll be at a lower cost than the $
F Andrew Mangiapane – Most of GM Chris Patrick’s moves from last summer panned out well but Mangiapane’s acquisition was an exception as it didn’t yield the bounce-back they were hoping for. Instead of rebounding and surpassing the 40 points he had the year before, his production dropped to a career-low 28 points. While he has a 35-goal season under his belt from back in 2021-22, it’s also the only time he has even reached 20 in a single year. Given his recent struggles, a shorter-term deal is likely and after making $5.8MM per year on his most recent contract, he’s unlikely to come close to that amount. Something in the $3MM range per season is where his next contract might land.
F Taylor Raddysh – After being non-tendered by Chicago last summer, Raddysh took a low-cost one-year, $1MM contract early in free agency. He did pretty well despite a limited role, notching 27 points while averaging a little more than 12 minutes a night of playing time. Given the playing time, it’s unlikely that he’s going to be able to command a substantial raise but he could get a multi-year deal closer to $2MM per season than $1MM per year. That would be a solid outcome for someone who was released just one year ago.
Other UFAs: F Nicklas Backstrom (signed in Sweden), F Alex Limoges, F Luke Philp, D Chase Priskie, F Michael Sgarbossa (signed in Switzerland), G Hunter Shepard, F Riley Sutter
Projected Cap Space
The Capitals enter the summer with $9.375MM in cap space with only a pair of low-cost restricted free agents to sign so Patrick is in a spot where he can add to his roster. Whether they do that with a significant addition up front or spread things out to fill a few spots and leave some in-season wiggle room remains to be seen but either way, they’re likely to be bringing in some pieces over the coming weeks.
Photos courtesy of Geoff Burke (Beauvillier) and Nick Turchiaro (Mangiapane)-Imagn Images. Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.