Chandler Stephenson

Washington Capitals Returning Nearly Identical Roster

September 18, 2018 at 6:40 pm CDT | by Zach Leach 2 Comments

The biggest news out of Washington Capitals’ training camp is that there isn’t any news. As the defending Stanley Cup champs face the Boston Bruins in the second meeting of the two teams already this preseason, there simply isn’t much to watch for in terms of camp battles and roster spots. GM Brian MacLellan and the Caps front office succeeded in keeping their championship roster together as well as any Cup winner in recent memory and are prepared to go for another title in 2018-19.

Of the 25 players who took the ice in the postseason for the Capitals, 21 return this season. The glaring absence is obviously backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who was traded away to the Colorado Avalanche early this off-season. Another name who Washington fans were upset to see go was career Capital Jay Beagle, who signed with the Vancouver Canucks after ten seasons in D.C. Outside of that duo, the other two players who saw playoff action for the Cup winners were defenseman Jakub Jerabek, who played in two postseason games, and forward Alex Chiasson, who saw less than nine minutes of ice time in the playoffs. The team also lost regular season contributors Taylor Chorney, Tyler Graovac, and Anthony Peluso.

When any team can return 21 players to a roster limited to just 23, the result of few departures is few opportunities in camp. Rather than sign or acquire a backup of similar pedigree to Grubauer to backup starter Braden Holtby, the team seems content to let veteran minor leaguer Pheonix Copley try his hand at the job. With only youngsters Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek, neither of whom have made an NHL appearance, also under contract, there really is not much of a competition to replace Grubauer. On the blue line, the top-four will line up exactly as they did in the postseason and Christian Djoos will pair with either his postseason partner, veteran Brooks Orpik – who was traded away and then re-signed this summer, or his frequent regular season partner, Madison Bowey. Orpik versus Bowey is one situation that could potentially be defined as a camp battle, although both are guaranteed roster spots. Up front, the top-nine is also locked in as the same group who dominated in the playoffs, leaving only fourth line and an extra skater spot or two up for grabs. The team has shown a commitment to Devante Smith-Pelly and Chandler Stephenson and the pair are almost certainly the energy liners on opening night. The one true position battle is at the final spot, where Travis Boyd and free agent addition Nic Dowd will fight it out to skate on that fourth line. The loser is likely to begin the season as an extra skater beside import winger Sergei Shumakov.

If you’ve been keeping count, that’s the entire roster: almost all familiar names and only one or two spots up for grabs. There won’t be many questions in need of answering out of Capitals camp, but the big question remaining is whether failing to insert some fresh legs or properly replacing Grubauer will come back to bite Washington in their attempt to repeat.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Washington Capitals

August 4, 2018 at 8:54 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2018-19 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Washington Capitals

Current Cap Hit: $78,400,961 (under the $79.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Jakub Vrana (One year remaining, $863K)

With the team trying to make a Stanley Cup run over the past few years and finally capturing one, youth is in rare supply in Washington as the team has made it clear that it prefers to play its veterans rather than risk mistakes from youngsters. The only player who is still on an entry-level deal is Vrana, who has had a turbulent career so far with the Capitals. After spending a couple of years in the AHL, he finally got a full season with Washington this year, but the former first-round pick was never able to secure a full-time role in the team’s top six as he bounced around on different lines all season. He finished the year with 13 goals and 27 points, but put up another three goals and eight points in the playoffs. He has a chance to take on a full-time role on the team’s second line this season and hopes for a breakout season.

Potential Bonuses

Vrana: $600K

Total: $600K

One Year Remaining, Non Entry-Level

F Andre Burakovsky ($3MM, RFA)
F Brett Connolly ($1.5MM, UFA)
D Brooks Orpik ($1MM, UFA)
F Devante Smith-Pelly ($1MM, UFA)
D Christian Djoos ($650K, RFA)
F Nic Dowd ($650K, UFA)
F Chandler Stephenson ($650K, RFA)
F Nathan Walker ($650K, RFA)
G Pheonix Copley ($650K, UFA)

The Capitals have only a few significant free agents for next season as many of their deals are league-minimum contracts, which is necessary considering the amount of money the team has expended in keeping their roster together. Perhaps the biggest name on their free agent list will be Burakovsky, who many thought might have a breakout season with a bigger role last year. However, Burakovsky’s numbers decreased as his season was plagued with injuries. His 12 goals and 25 points in 56 games was the worst since his rookie season. However, he did post six points in 13 playoff games. If he can stay healthy, the 23-year-old could provide the team with more offense.

Due to the Stanley Cup win, the team was able to find a way to bring back several key role players on cheaper deals. The team assumed they would lose Smith-Pelly to free agency, but the 26-year-old opted to return for another playoff run, while long-time Capital Orpik was traded away, waived and opted to return for another year.

Two Years Remaining

F Nicklas Backstrom ($6.7MM, UFA)
G Braden Holtby ($6.1MM, UFA)
D Madison Bowey ($1MM, RFA)
F Travis Boyd ($800K, RFA)

The team does have to worry about Backstrom in two years. The team’s No. 2 center is still posting excellent numbers as he tallied 21 goals and 70 points last season, the fifth straight season he’s reached at least 70 points. However, the team will have a tough decision to eventually make as the veteran will be 32 when he gets awarded a new contract, which can get into a dangerous area when players hit their early 30’s.

Holtby will be another interesting case. After temporarily losing his starting job to Philipp Grubauer for a few weeks near the end of the season due to poor play (2.99 GAA, .907 save percentage), Holtby snapped out of it and posted dominant numbers throughout the playoffs (2.16 GAA, .922 save percentage) showing he still has what it takes to be a top-of-the-line goaltender. While the 28-year-old should still be in his prime in two years, the team also has top goaltending prospect Ilya Samsonov arriving in North America this season. He’ll likely start the season in the AHL, but he will likely be ready to take the reigns once Holtby’s deal expires.

Three Or More Years

F Alex Ovechkin ($9.54MM through 2020-21)
D John Carlson ($8MM through 2025-26)
F Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7.8MM through 2024-25)
F T.J. Oshie ($5.75MM through 2024-25)
D Matt Niskanen ($5.75MM through 2020-21)
F Tom Wilson ($5.17MM through 2023-24)
D Dmitry Orlov ($5.1MM through 2022-23)
F Lars Eller ($3.5MM through 2022-23)
D Michal Kempny ($2.5MM through 2021-22)

The team decided more than a year ago that they were going for it, which worked out perfectly last season. The team has done a fantastic job locking up its core, although many of the pricetags are quite generous, which could come to hurt them. However, now that the team has won the Stanley Cup, the team is going all out to win another as the team has locked up all of their critical free agents this year, signing Carlson as a long-term answer as their top defender as well as locking in Wilson. That gives them a solid core for the next many years. That should give them two or three years to attempt to capture another title. However, eventually this team will be weighed down by these contracts, much like the Chicago Blackhawks, but Washington is focused on the future.

The team may be forced into handing out another long-term extension to Ovechkin in three years, depending on how the 32-year-old fares in three years, but the deal would unlikely be more than he is already being paid.

Buyouts

None

Still To Sign

None

Best Value: Holtby
Worst Value: Wilson

Looking Ahead

The Capitals are quite used to dealing with little to no cap space and will have to do that again for a number of years to come. However, the team has managed to keep not just the core of their team together, but have also managed to bring back multiple role players at bargain prices to keep this team at a Stanley Cup level. With new deals to players like Carlson and Wilson, should challenge for a few more years, but age and those long-term deals will eventually hold the franchise after that. However, the team has already proven that their tactics are worth it after winning it all last season.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Nic Dowd Signs With Washington Capitals

July 1, 2018 at 11:25 am CDT | by Zach Leach 1 Comment

The defending champs add some depth. Versatile bottom-six forward Nic Dowd has signed with the Washington Capitals, according to The Athletic’s Michael Russo. The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan reports that the deal is a one-year deal for $650K.

The Capitals targeted Dowd as the team must find a replacement for fourth-line center Jay Beagle, who signed a four-year, $12MM contract with the Vancouver Canucks. Ironically, Dowd is coming from Vancouver, suggesting the two players could switch places. However, Dowd is more of a fringe player, who has had trouble breaking into the NHL lineup. The hope is to use Dowd at center and keep Chandler Stephenson at the wing, rather than force him to move down to the fourth line.

The 28-year-old started the season with the Los Angeles Kings, but failed to crack their lineup. After playing in just 16 games, he was traded in December to Vancouver where he had more success. In Vancouver, he managed to appear in 40 games with the Canucks last season, but still just saw 10:32 of ATOI over the remainder of the season. He scored three goals with the Canucks and did not have an assist. His best season came with the Kings in 2016-17 season when he tallied six goals and 22 points.

Vegas GM McPhee Has Had A Hand In Building Both Stanley Cup Teams

May 27, 2018 at 10:32 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 1 Comment

While much of the attention to this year’s Stanley Cup will go towards the players, especially Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin and Vegas Golden Knights’ Marc-Andre Fleury, much of the spotlight should be shining on the Golden Knights’ general manager, George McPhee. The GM, who also worked as the general manager from 1997 to 2014 of the Washington Capitals, has had a hand in more than 75 percent of the players that will be on the ice on Monday.

McPhee is already responsible for putting together the Golden Knights roster from Fleury to William Karlsson to Jon Marchessault, to the often criticized deadline moves of acquiring Tomas Tatar and Ryan Reaves, both who have scored critical goals in the postseason. According to NBC Sports Tarik El-Bashir, not only has he had a hand in every player the Golden Knights have on their roster from Day 1, McPhee also is responsible for 13 of the team’s 25 players on their roster who have played in this year’s playoffs.

As the Capitals general manager, McPhee was responsible for drafting Alex Ovechkin (first overall in 2004), Nicklas Backstrom (fourth overall in 2006), Jay Beagle (signed as a free agent in 2008), John Carlson (24th overall in 2008), Braden Holtby (93rd overall in 2008), Dmitry Orlov (55th overall in 2009), Evgeny Kuznetsov (26th overall in 2010), Philipp Grubauer (112th in 2010), Travis Boyd (177th overall in 2011), Tom Wilson (16th overall in 2012), Chandler Stephenson (77th overall, 2012), Christian Djoos (195th in 2012), and Andre Burakovsky (23rd overall, 2013).

McPhee also has a close relationship with Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan. They played junior hockey together, were teammates at Bowling Green and worked together in Washington for 14 years, making this a very strange Stanley Cup Finals.

“It’s kind of a weird experience. We’ve been texting back-and-forth how strange it feels,” said McLellan on facing Vegas GM George McPhee.

Eastern Notes: Backstrom, Burakovsky, Sabres Goaltending, Schneider

May 19, 2018 at 2:08 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

With Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals approaching in a few hours and deadlocked at 2-2, the Washington Capitals will make a few lineup changes, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti. The scribe writes that head coach Barry Trotz said he intends to return center Nicklas Backstrom to his second line to join T.J. Oshie and Chandler Stephenson. Backstrom, who finally returned for Game 4 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, played well in his return after a four-game absence. While he didn’t score any points, he played 18:51 of ice time and won six of nine faceoff attempts.

Gulitti also reported that Trotz said he will switch out Andre Burakovsky with the bigger, more physical Alex Chiasson on the team’s fourth line. Burakovsky has been back for four games after missing time with an injury. However, in those four games, he’s failed to score a point and only has had two shots on goal. In the last two games, he’s played just 7:26 and 8:30, respectively. Chiasson has one assist in three playoff games against the Lightning.

The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington writes that the prevailing belief is that the Buffalo Sabres do not have a No. 1 goalie within their organization, meaning the team will have to find one through free agency or via trade to join Linus Ullmark. Harrington writes its very likely the team has seen the last of Robin Lehner and Chad Johnson, last year’s goalie tandem. The 26-year-old Lehner will be a restricted free agent and is not expected to receive an offer, while Johnson will be unrestricted.
After New Jersey Devils goaltender Cory Schneider listed his New Jersey house on the market recently, there was some speculation that he might be moving on, but NJ.com’s Chris Ryan writes that he’s not going anywhere as he’s just buying another house in the area. A career dominating goaltender, Schneider has struggled the past two years due to poor team defense and injuries. After putting up a 2.82 GAA and a .908 save percentage in the 2016-17 season and a 2.93 GAA and a .907 save percentage in the 2017-18 season, Schneider underwent surgery to repair cartilage in his left hip and is expected to miss training camp and possibly the start of the season. The 32-year-old has four years remaining on his deal at $6MM AAV.

Metropolitan Notes: Capitals Rookies, Oshie, Hunwick, Boychuk

December 10, 2017 at 7:56 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

One of the more thrilling moments for rookies in the NHL is when the team tells them to move out of the hotel and find a place of their own to live. As Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post notes, the Capitals have told three of their four rookies just that as defensemen Madison Bowey and Christian Djoos, as well as center Chandler Stephenson, got the news that they’ll be sticking around for the foreseeable future with the big club.

Interestingly enough, the lone rookie who did not receive that notification is Jakub Vrana who has played in all but one of Washington’s games so far this season and sits fourth overall on the team with eight goals. However, given that the Capitals have very limited cap room and Vrana remains exempt from waivers, perhaps they will look to send him back and forth a bit as the season progresses to free up a bit more space.

Metropolitan Notes: Sprong, Cizikas, Hakstol, Stephenson

December 3, 2017 at 4:56 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg Leave a Comment

Having already scored nine goals in his first 18 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, many wonder why Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Daniel Sprong still remains in the AHL when he could be helping out the Penguins at the NHL level.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette writes calling up Sprong is not in the plans for Pittsburgh’s general manager Jim Rutherford. The GM says that the team has historically not called up players before they thought they were ready, instead opting to allow them to develop. Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel, Brian Dumoulin, Conor Sheary and Tom Kuhnhackl are the recent examples of players who were not rushed to the NHL.

“The important thing is, when you put a young player into this league, is he is as prepared as he can be for all aspects of the game,” Rutherford said. “If he’s not, you risk setting the player way back. That group of five, those guys were ready before they got called up, but we made sure it was at a time where they had their confidence and they could deal with setbacks.”

The team believes that Sprong still has work to do on his play without the puck, according to Rutherford. The team wants to see Sprong improve his defense as well as work on his stick/wall play. Of course, with a four-game winning streak and improved play of late, there may not be much need for him anyway.

The New York Islanders announced earlier today they have placed Casey Cizikas on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, retroactive to Nov. 25, which means he could be activated at any time. Cizikas was injured in a game against the Ottawa Senators. The fourth-line and penalty killing center has four goals and four assists in 23 games for the Islanders. So far, the team hasn’t made any corresponding moves.
Philly.com’s Sam Carchidi tweeted that Philadelphia Flyers general manager Ron Hextall is accompanying the team on their Western Canada trip, which could play an instrumental role on the status of head coach Dave Hakstol. The Flyers have lost 10 straight games. Carchidi adds that if a coaching change is made, a likely choice to take over would be Lehigh Valley Phantoms coach Scott Gordon in the interim.
Isabelle Khurshudyan of The Washigton Post tweets that after suffering an injury in Saturday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Washington Capitals wing Chandler Stephenson is day-to-day. However, the team recalled Travis Boyd this afternoon from the Hershey Bears of the AHL, which suggests that Stephenson might miss some time. Stephenson, a bottom-line center, has two goals and six points in 18 games this season. Boyd has never played in the NHL before. He has three goals and 17 assists in 23 games for the Bears.

Metropolitan Notes: Bailey, Hagelin, Stephenson

November 4, 2017 at 5:36 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 2 Comments

The New York Islanders may have come out of last night’s performance with a loss, but it definitely didn’t feel like one. For one, the team’s offense, particularly the power play, seems to have hit its stride and the team finds itself putting up solid numbers. A lot of that credit goes to their top line of John Tavares and Anders Lee. However, it’s the third man on that line that deserves quite a bit of credit, according to Newsday’s Arthur Staple, who gives much of the line’s success to Josh Bailey.

Bailey has been the key to the team’s offensive firepower, especially on the power play and has helped fix that power play which started the NHL season at a 0-for-20. The scribe points out that while Tavares and Lee have combined for five of the team’s nine goals, all coming since their Oct. 19th game against the New York Rangers, it is Bailey’s passing work that has made the difference. The 28-year-old winger is among NHL leaders with six power play assists since then and has had nine assists in the last four games, giving him 13 assists this season. In fact, since the start of last year (the 2016-17 season), Bailey has racked up 56 assists and only 10 players in the NHL have more than him, including names like Connor McDavid, Erik Karlsson, Patrick Kane and Niklas Backstrom.

Unfortunately, for the Islanders while that’s great to see him taking that next step, its also another cause for concern as he is in the last year of a five-year, $16.5MM deal. He undoubtedly will expect a raise, likely a significant one and suddenly along with Tavares, the team will have their work cut out for them this offseason.

Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post Gazzette writes that Pittsburgh Penguins’ fourth-line wing Carl Hagelin is well aware that his offense needs to step up. The recently scratched wing has struggled this year offensively. While he’s never been an offensive juggernaut, the 29-year-old has struggled with just a goal and an assist in 14 games. Add that to the $4MM the team owes his this year and next year, his struggles even stand out more. Mackey writes that it’s his shooting percentage that has fallen off a cliff since last year. His 4.4 percent shooting percentage is way down from his earlier career averages of 9.4 percent.
Mike Vogel of NHL.com writes that the Washington Capitals’ line of Lars Eller, Tom Wilson and Chandler Stephenson is thriving in the three games that they’ve been paired together. Eller and Wilson have played together quite a while, but it has been the addition of Stephenson, who replaced the injured Brett Connolly that has made the difference in the line. The 23-year-old might finally be breaking into Washington’s lineup after only playing in 13 games combined in the last two years. So far, his one goal and two assists in four games looks solid. In the three games, the Eller-Wilson-Stephenson line has posted three goals and eight points, the most of all the Capitals lines. The success of the back-end line is welcome since the top six lines have struggled recently.

Washington Capitals Recall Stephenson, Place Burakovsky On IR

October 24, 2017 at 4:00 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

4:00pm: Burakovsky has undergone successful surgery on a broken thumb, and will be out six to eight weeks. While that’s obviously not good news for the Capitals, it does mean that they’ll likely swap him onto long-term injured reserve whenever Niskanen returns, giving them some additional cap relief.

8:33am: The Washington Capitals have recalled forward Chandler Stephenson from the AHL, while moving Andre Burakovsky to the injured reserve list. Burakovsky was absent from yesterday’s practice with an upper-body injury, expected to be related to the hand he was seen examining during Washington’s game on Saturday night.

Burakovsky has been a disappointment for the Capitals so far this season, scoring just four points in nine games despite getting looks on the top line and powerplay. The team had hoped that he would take a big step forward in the absence of players like Marcus Johansson, but this injury will have that dream put on hold for at least a week.

Stephenson on the other hand has put up six points in six AHL contests, and looks ready to try and win a full-time spot with the Capitals. The 23-year old (who is actually older than Burakovsky) has just 13 NHL games under his belt, and has yet to register a point.

Injuries like this are bad for the Capitals on two fronts. While they obviously weaken the product on the ice, short term injuries also don’t provide any cap relief for the team. With the Capitals so close already to the cap ceiling, they’ve been going in and out of the long-term injured reserve relief from Matt Niskanen. Niskanen was seen skating on his own this morning, meaning that relief is not there to stay. While they obviously have a plan, it will be a tight race all season to stay under the cap.

Minor Transactions: 10/05/17

October 5, 2017 at 8:55 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee Leave a Comment

We’ll keep track of all the assignments around the league right here, as teams fine tune their rosters.

The Golden Knights assigned Brandon Pirri to the Chicago Wolves after clearing waivers. The 26-year old forward was just signed to a contract yesterday, after failing to earn on in Florida’s training camp. For the Golden Knights, there is no risk to signing a former 20+ goal scorer to see if he can still compete at this level. The team may be weak on offense all year, and could look to Pirri to infuse some scoring touch on the powerplay at some point.
The Boston Bruins sent Emil Johansson back to Providence, and will go with the more veteran Paul Postma as their extra defenseman. Johansson joined the organization last year after his European season was over, and played in six games for the P-Bruins down the stretch. A seventh-round pick, Johansson is highly regarded by the Bruins staff and could get his shot at the NHL at some point this year.
The Calgary Flames made another move, sending Garnet Hathaway to the minor leagues in order to clear room for Jaromir Jagr. Jagr was introduced yesterday at a press conference but likely won’t suit up for the team until he gets a few practices under his belt. The Flames could have used his offense last night as they were shutout by the Edmonton Oilers, in a game where Hathaway played just 11 minutes.
The Washington Capitals have loaned Chandler Stephenson to Hershey after clearing waivers, meaning the 23-year old will have to wait patiently for his next NHL opportunity. Since being drafted in the third round, Stephenson has only been given short chances at a job with the Capitals, playing in 13 games over the past two years. Still looking for his first NHL point, he’ll have to prove it at the AHL level once again.
Grand Rapids will be getting some help, as the Detroit Red Wings have assigned Matt Lorito and Eric Tangradi to the AHL. Tangradi cleared waivers today, and will return to the team he helped take to the Calder Cup championship a year ago. In the playoffs for Grand Rapids, Tangradi scored 19 points in 19 games, and will try to do the same this year. The Griffins have also signed Matt Carey to a professional tryout, and sent Matej Machovsky to the ECHL.
According to Adrian Dater of BSN Denver, the Avalanche have indeed sent Joe Colborne to San Antonio to begin the season. Colborne was among those who cleared waivers today, and will have to work his way up from the minor leagues if he wants to return to the NHL. It’s a far fall for Colborne, who was a 19-goal scorer in the league just two seasons ago with Calgary, but suffered the same fate as many Avalanche players and posted a career-low in points last season. Scoring just eight all year, his $2.5MM salary looks like a dreadful overpay.
The Blue Jackets have assigned defenseman Markus Nutivaara to the AHL (via the Cleveland Monsters website). For the former seventh-round pick appeared in 66 games during his rookie campaign, collecting two goals and five assists. He also made his way into a pair of playoff games, compiling one goal and one assist.

Ben Levine contributed to this post.

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