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Jakub Vrana

Morning Notes: Three Stars, Sabourin, Gusev

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The NHL has released their Three Stars for last week and at the top of the heap is the reigning Calder Trophy winner. Elias Pettersson had nine points in four games for the Vancouver Canucks—one of which he was held scoreless entirely—and now sits sixth in the entire league in scoring. The 21-year old is a huge part of the turnaround in Vancouver that has the Canucks sitting in third place in the Western Conference with a 9-3-2 record.

Second and third went to Jakub Vrana and Mike Smith respectively, an impressive resurgence for the 37-year old goaltender especially. Smith struggled last season with the Calgary Flames but has found new life with their rival Edmonton Oilers, posting a .931 save percentage through his first nine games. The Oilers are one of the only teams ahead of the Canucks in the west, thanks in large part to the goaltending tandem that has been excellent so far.

  • There is more good news for Scott Sabourin, who has been released from hospital and is now back in Ottawa recuperating. The 27-year old appears to have avoided major injury after a scary collision with Boston Bruins’ forward David Backes on Saturday night that left him unconscious for several minutes on the ice.
  • Nikita Gusev is expected to return to the lineup for the New Jersey Devils when they take on the Winnipeg Jets tonight, but is still someone to keep an eye on as the season progresses. Gusev was made a healthy scratch the last three games by head coach John Hynes, but will now get a chance to play thanks to an injury to Jesper Bratt. Bratt will not be traveling with the team to Winnipeg according to team reporter Amanda Stein, but could join them later on their Western Canada road trip.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Washington Capitals

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. 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 2019-20 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: $82,864,294 (over the $81.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

G Ilya Samsonov (two years, $925K)
F Jonas Siegenthaler (one year, $714K)

Potential Bonuses

Samsonov: $550K
Siegenthaler: $83K

The one failing of the Washington Capitals and their dominance of their run over the years has been their inability, lately, to develop young talent that can step in. Again there are few players on entry-level contracts who can help ease the Capitals’ salary cap. However, the team believes that they might be close to bringing in their top prospect in Samsonov. The talented Russian goaltender finally arrived in North America last season and had mixed results in his first year in the AHL. However, Samsonov is likely to get a long look in training camp this season and even if he doesn’t make the team, he’s due to make his NHL debut at some point this season. After all, the Capitals must figure out quickly whether they have their future No. 1 netminder.

Siegenthaler finally looks ready to step into a permanent role on the Capitals’ blueline. The 22-year-old showed promise last year in 26 regular season games and even saw some playoff action with four games last season. The defensive defenseman is a perfect addition to a defense that is still dealing with injuries.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Nicklas Backstrom ($6.7MM, UFA)
G Braden Holtby ($6.1MM, UFA)
D Radko Gudas ($2.35MM, UFA)
D Christian Djoos ($1.25MM, RFA)
F Chandler Stephenson ($1.05MM, RFA)
F Travis Boyd ($800K, RFA)
F Brendan Leipsic ($700K, RFA)

Washington will have a big decision to make next offseason as they have two of their core pieces who will become unrestricted free agents and with serious cap issue for several years coming, the team will almost assuredly have to make a tough decision and are likely to lose at least one of them for nothing next summer. Neither is likely to be traded considering the team is strong enough to compete for a Stanley Cup, but the team just can’t afford both. The most likely scenario is the team finds a way to retain Backstrom, but will be forced to let Holtby go, considering that top goaltenders have been cashing in and the Capitals likely won’t have the money to keep him around. Of course much could change, but considering that Washington does have a top goaltending prospect who is almost ready for the NHL, losing Holtby might be an easier blow to take than losing Backstrom.

The remaining group will have to prove their worth. The most interesting player could be Gudas, who is considered a likeable locker room guy, but the Capitals will have to wait and see how well the veteran blueliner fits in with their defense and what the cost of retaining him in the future will be.

Two Years Remaining

F Alex Ovechkin ($9.54MM, UFA)
F Jakub Vrana ($3.35MM, RFA)

While it’s hard to imagine a Capitals team without their star in Ovechkin seems highly unlikely, Washington will have to see whether they can convince their star to re-sign. He’ll be 36 years old by the time he signs his next contract, which means he has quite a few options and while re-signing with Washington is the most likely possibility, the veteran has a number of options which could include returning to Russia to finish his career. Signing with Washington also could hinge on how the Capitals will look in two years. If the team looks like an aging team that has little real chance at winning a title, Ovechkin could also look elsewhere in the NHL for a last chance for a Stanley Cup. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger suggested a while back that Ovechkin might be a good fit with Vegas in a couple of years, suggesting that his relationship with George McPhee could be enough to bring him over there.

The team needs Vrana to continue his development. A player who struggled and was a big question mark at this time a season ago, Vrana answered a lot of questions last year with a 24-goal, 47-point season. If he can continue that success and be a consistent top-six player, the team will likely have hand him a long-term deal in two years.

Three Years Remaining

D Michal Kempny ($2.5MM, UFA)
G Pheonix Copley ($1.1MM, UFA)
F Nic Dowd ($750K, UFA)

The team lacks many major contracts here, but if Kempny continues to prove to be a solid defensive presence on Washington’s blueline, the team may have to hand out a significant contract. While the defender will be out for the start of the season and remains an unknown after a season-ending hamstring injury, he has proven to be quite reliable since the Capitals acquired him back at the trade deadline in 2018. Copley, who posted solid numbers as a full-time back-up goalie, likely will hold down his job, but will be challenged by Samsonov, who the team hopes will be their goalie of the future.

Four Or More Years Remaining

D John Carlson ($8MM through 2025-26)
F Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7.8MM through 2024-25)
F T.J. Oshie ($5.75MM through 2024-25)
F Tom Wilson ($5.17MM through 2023-24)
D Dmitry Orlov ($5.1MM through 2022-23)
F Lars Eller ($3.5MM through 2022-23)
F Carl Hagelin ($2.75MM through 2022-23)
F Richard Panik ($2.75MM through 2022-23)
D Nick Jensen ($2.5MM through 2022-23)
F Garnet Hathaway ($1.5MM through 2022-23)

The bulk of the team’s contracts are here with plenty of money being dedicated to the team between the next four to seven years. Many of these players will likely not be worth the money they are paying for them by that time and much will depend on whether Washington can supplement the team with young, cheap talent. However, the core of the team comes down to Carlson, Kuznetsov, Oshie and Wilson, all of which are currently key to the team’s status as threats to capture another Stanley Cup in the next few years. Carlson, who hits 30 at midseason, put up another phenomenal numbers last year, scoring 13 goals and a career-high 70 points. Kuznetsov had a slight down year, but could be a candidate for a big bounce-back season. Oshie continues to put up solid numbers, 25 goals last season, but will turn 33 during the season and will be 39 before his contract expires, which could go bad quickly. Wilson’s contract doesn’t look nearly as bad, especially after posting career highs in goals (22) and points (40).

Orlov saw his goal-scoring numbers drop, but he still has been a key figure on the team’s defense. Although he saw his ATOI drop by a minute in a half, the team still believes that Orlov is a top-pairing defender. The team hopes that Jensen might provide the same value at a much cheaper price. Jensen, acquired from Detroit and immediately extended for four years, gives Washington even more depth on the team’s blueline. He only averaged 17 minutes in his 20 games with Washington, but he could return to the 20 minutes he was averaging when he was with the Red Wings.

Washington has started to put more effort into bringing in cheaper players, who they think can contribute to the team long-term such as Hagelin and Panik, who were both locked up as the team believes both can contribute as middle-six players for a number of years.

Buyouts

None

Retained Salary Transactions

None

Still To Sign

None

Best Value: Wilson
Worst Value: Oshie

Looking Ahead

The Capitals are a team that have made it clear years ago that they were going for it. They succeeded finally, winning a Stanley Cup after the 2017-18 season. However, they looked just as formidable last year, despite a first-round exit in a grueling seven-game series against the Carolina Hurricanes. However, expectations continue to be high that this veteran laden club can continue to be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. With a number of their players already in their 30’s, the question will end up being how long can they keep this up? The team is capped out and will be for years to come, so they could lose quite a bit of talent over the next few years and with one of the weakest group of prospects in the league, the team will have to be quite clever with the cap to keep the team relevant.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Washington Capitals Sign Jakub Vrana

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The Washington Capitals have signed Jakub Vrana to a bridge deal, inking the young forward for two years. The deal will carry an average annual value of $3.35MM. GM Brian MacLellan released a short statement:

Jakub is a highly skilled player with a tremendous upside and is a big part of our future. We are pleased with his development the past two seasons and are looking forward for him to continue to develop and reach his full potential with our organization.

Vrana, 23, was the most important RFA the Capitals had this summer, and one that should be a key part of their team for years to come. After giving them just a taste of his offensive ability in 2017-18 by scoring 13 goals and 27 points in the regular season, the following year came as a breakout for the Czech forward. Scoring 24 goals Vrana finished third on the team behind only Alex Ovechkin (51 goals) and T.J. Oshie (25) and locked himself into the second-line left wing spot. Picked 13th overall in the 2014 draft, it’s obvious he has an even higher ceiling than what he has shown and should only get better throughout this two-year bridge deal.

A short-term contract like this was necessary for the Capitals as they try to navigate a tricky salary cap situation. After signing Vrana they sit just $935K under the cap ceiling with two restricted free agents left to sign in Chandler Stephenson and Christian Djoos, meaning they simply couldn’t have gone longer with his bridge deal. Buying out any of his unrestricted free agent years for instance would have meant a huge cap increase, something that Vrana likely wasn’t too keen on either.

Though he’ll still be a restricted free agent at the end of this contract, Vrana will be under team control for just two more seasons meaning his next contract will be quite the raise if he continues on this development path. With Braden Holtby and Nicklas Backstrom both unrestricted free agents next summer, the Capitals needed this two-year term to give them some cost certainty. It’s going to be tight if the team wants to re-sign both veteran players, but with another cap increase (however small) coming next summer the possibility still exists.

Today is about Vrana though, and securing a solid contract that at worst puts him in a great spot for arbitration hearings in 2021. An increased role in 2019-20 isn’t out of the question, and more powerplay time could easily result in a career-high in points.

Snapshots: Duchene, Donskoi, Vrana, Engelland, McElhinney, Berglund

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While speculation has center Matt Duchene likely signing a long-term deal with the Nashville Predators, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes that the Montreal Canadiens aren’t out of the running yet. While Nashville may still be the favorite to land the star center, Friedman writes that one of his sources says that it’s not locked in and Montreal still is in the race.

Duchene, who grew up a fan of the Canadiens, would be a big addition for the Canadiens if they can land him. Duchene would likely become their top center in hopes of vaulting Montreal back into a playoff spot.

  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that while things are still in the works, he believes that the Colorado Avalanche and an unidentified team are the finalists to sign unrestricted free agent forward Joonas Donskoi. The 27-year-old scored 14 goals and 37 points last season and could provide the team with a solid middle-six option for the Avalanche. While LeBrun notes that he doesn’t know who the other team is, he believes that Buffalo and Edmonton are not in the running anymore.
  • The Washington Capitals managed to trade off one of their key restricted free agents in Andre Burakovsky Friday in hopes of saving some cap room, but even being free of that contract, the money is tight in Washington. In fact, Washington general manager Brian MacLellan said that because the NHL salary cap was lower than expected ($81.5MM), the team will likely be forced to sign restricted free agent Jakub Vrana to a short-term deal, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulliti. Washington had initially planned to lock up Vrana to a long-term deal when the team had expected the cap to be set at $83MM, but with the number being lower than expected, the MacLellan doesn’t believe the team has the money to sign him long-term.
  • Vegas Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee confirmed that the team is close to signing veteran unrestricted free agent defenseman Deryk Engelland, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal’s David Schoen. The 37-year-old had a down season last year, but the veteran who actually played in Vegas in the ECHL before the Golden Knights came about, has been a community leader there. He is likely expected to take a bottom-six role next season and could find himself more in a 6th/7th role on defense.
  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Montreal Canadiens are among three teams that are interested in signing veteran goaltender Curtis McElhinney. The 36-year-old had a great season in Carolina after the Hurricanes claimed him off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the beginning of the year. He finished the season with a 2.58 GAA and a .912 save percentage in 33 appearances. LeBrun also adds that it doesn’t look like Toronto is one of the other two teams.
  • Former NHL player Patrik Berglund, who walked out on the Buffalo Sabres in the middle of last season, is exploring a return the the NHL and has several teams interested, according to Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland. Berglund, who was packaged to Buffalo in the Ryan O’Reilly trade last offseason, didn’t like it in Buffalo and finally requested that his contract to be terminated after playing just 23 games in a reduced role. The 31-year-old scored 17 goals in the 2017-18 season, but scored just twice before walking away this year.

Metropolitan Notes: Available Draft Picks, Hayes, Orpik, Burakovsky

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With the NHL Entry Draft fast approaching later this week, there are plenty of teams looking to make trades or even better, looking to move up in the draft, especially in the first round. The trick is finding a team who would be willing to move their first-round selection.

The Athletic’s Craig Custance (subscription required) looks at the entire first round and identifies team that might be open to trading their first-round pick and it doesn’t take long to notice that there are plenty of Metropolitan Division teams on his list of teams. The New York Rangers, already picking at the No. 2 position, also have the 20th pick in the draft, acquired from Winnipeg for Kevin Hayes, and might be willing to move that to further hasten their rebuild. In fact, it’s already been rumored to be sent back to Winnipeg as part of a package to acquire Jacob Trouba. The Philadelphia Flyers could be a team that might be willing to move the 11th overall pick as they are also looking to make changes to get them back into the playoff discussion.

Custance adds that you can’t count out either Pittsburgh (#21) or Carolina (#28) as well. The Penguins might be more open to moving the pick as they want to get one more chance at the title before the Sidney Crosby era ends, while Carolina wants to continue with the success they had last year and wants to continually build its core.

  • NHL.com’s Bill Meltzer writes that the Philadelphia Flyers are still working on a new contract for Hayes, according to general manager Chuck Fletcher. The team traded a fifth-round pick to acquire Hayes’ rights recently in hopes they could begin negotiating early and convince him to sign before other teams could be allowed to speak to him. “We’ve had some very good, constructive dialogue with Kevin. We’re continuing to work with his representation. We’ll see how things play out, but so far it’s been a positive process,” Fletcher said.
  • NBC Sports’ J.J. Regan writes that when the Washington Capitals acquired Radko Gudas from Philadelphia for Matt Niskanen, it likely ended the team’s relationship with veteran Brooks Orpik as well. The Capitals already had six defensemen under contract and restricted free agent Christian Djoos would make seven once they re-sign him. That would make Orpik the team’s eighth defenseman and with plenty of cap issues, it would be highly unlikely the team would consider bringing him back. Orpik said he would decide later this offseason whether he would retire or come back for one more year, but if he does want to come back, it’s likely going to be with another team.
  • NBC Sports’ James O’Brien also adds that with the signing of Carl Hagelin to a new four-year extension, that leaves little money left for the rest of their roster. The team already has committed $72.26MM committed to 17 players, leaving them with approximately $10.7MM in cap space to fill out their roster, assuming the salary cap will be set at $83MM this year, which is not a certainty. The team still has a number of key unsigned players, included unrestricted free agent Brett Connolly and restricted free agents Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky. O’Brien wonders whether the Hagelin deal could mean the team considers moving Burakovsky’s rights. The Capitals and Burakovsky have had issues with each other at times, but the 24-year-old might be worth something as he still has quite a bit of talent left in him.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Carl Hagelin To Four-Year Extension

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The Washington Capitals have re-signed one of their top unrestricted free agents as the team announced that it has inked forward Carl Hagelin to a four-year, $11MM extension. The deal will give him a $2.75MM AAV.

According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the contract is as follows:

2019-20: $2.5MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2020-21: $2.7MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2021-22: $2MM salary, $1MM signing bonus
2022-23: $1.8MM salary

“We are pleased to have signed Carl to a new four year contract,” said Washington general manager Brian MacLellan. “Carl is a versatile player who can play on any line and is an excellent penalty killer. He is a proven winner and provides great leadership to our team.” Hagelin came over to Washington at the trade deadline when the team acquired the speedy forward in exchange for a 2019 third-round pick to give the team some added depth for a playoff run. While they were eventually eliminated in the first round of the playoffs to the Carolina Hurricanes, the team was real happy with his production as he scored three goals and 11 points in 20 regular season games and proved to be a good fit in the team’s middle-six as the veteran is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion when he was with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The trade to Washington seemed to renewed the 30-year-old forward as he struggled with Pittsburgh to start the season, then was traded to Los Angeles in November for Tanner Pearson, but did little to impress them. He finished the season with a combined five goals and 19 points between the three teams. However, in Washington, he fared much better and also played a big role on the Capitals’ penalty kill, averaging 2:21 per game on that unit, first on the team.

One issue was whether the Capitals would have the cap space available to sign Hagelin as the team was very tight against the cap. However, after Saturday’s trade that sent defenseman Matt Niskanen to Philadelphia for Radko Gudas, Washington freed up $3.4MM in cap space, which allowed the team to lock up Hagelin. That won’t be it for changes with Washington as the Capitals still must find some money to lock up restricted free agents Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky. It also suggests the team is likely to allow forward Brett Connolly, who is an unrestricted free agent, to walk away.

Snapshots: Trouba, Zucker, Vrana

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The Winnipeg Jets suffered an early defeat in the Stanley Cup playoffs after lazily struggling through the last part of the regular season. Something seemed off for months as the team lost their grip on the Central Division, and failed to crack 100 points despite being 34-16-2 at the beginning of February. That may lead to some changes this offseason as the team decides how they can better compete, and Jacob Trouba’s name has come up in trade talks once again. Both Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Sun and Murat Ates of The Athletic (subscription required) examined the Trouba situation and the potential outcomes.

Most prevalent in both pieces is a trade of the right-handed defenseman, given his unwillingness to sign a long-term contract to this point. Trouba was previously unhappy with his role on the team, playing behind Tyler Myers and Dustin Byfuglien or asked to hit the ice on his unnatural left side. This year much of that changed and Trouba became the premiere offensive weapon on the Jets’ blue line, recording 50 points in 82 games. Unfortunately he is now without a contract and just a single year away from unrestricted free agency. If the Jets don’t trade Trouba, he could elect salary arbitration again in order to secure himself a one-year deal.

  • It’s hard to talk trade these days without mentioning the Minnesota Wild, who are expected to be active this summer in their pursuit of a return to the playoffs in 2020. Wild GM Paul Fenton has already torn apart the previous core of the team by trading the likes of Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter and Mikael Granlund, but has more work to do in order to get his team back to the promised land. Michael Russo of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that Jason Zucker is being dangled once again in trade talks, as he was at the deadline when he was almost sent to the Calgary Flames. Russo examines potential trade fits for the Wild including Phil Kessel, Tyler Johnson and William Nylander, though it is not clear who Fenton is targeting at this moment.
  • While writing about the upcoming cap crunch facing the Washington Capitals, Chris Kuc of The Athletic (subscription required) notes that the team is exploring a two-year bridge deal with restricted free agent Jakub Vrana. The two sides, Washington and agent J.P. Barry have also discussed a “slightly longer” deal for Vrana, and conducted initial talks on another client, Carl Hagelin. The Capitals are in a tough cap situation heading into next season, and much of it will depend on what number they can get Vrana at. That’s why a bridge deal makes sense, though Vrana is coming off a 24-goal season and will be looking for a healthy raise regardless.

Eastern Notes: Chabot, Vrana, Maenalanen, Maatta

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The Ottawa Senators may have benefited long-term from trading off its expected big-name free agents at the trade deadline, but the franchise must still answer to its fans. With a number of young players on their roster, the team must prove to their fan base that it has no intention of just trading away all of their players once their contracts come up. There are rumblings that suggest the Senators are ready to commit to one such player, as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes in his “31 Thoughts” column that the Senators are going to attempt to lock up defensive cornerstone Thomas Chabot to a long-term extension. Chabot, who broke out with a big season in his sophomore year with 14 goals and 55 points in 70 games, would be the ideal signing for the organization to prove to its fans that they intend to compete in the future.

Friedman also writes that owner Eugene Melnyk has been humbled by his lack of success in finding a President of Hockey Operations with top candidates showing no interest to the point of refusing to even meet with the team. The hope is that Melnyk will now find a way to please the fans by rewarding one of their young players. Chabot is the most likely fit as he will be eligible for an extension on July 1 as he is entering the final year of his entry-level contract. Perhaps the move will also turn around the team’s presidential search.

  • NBC Sports Brian McNally writes that while the team was thrilled that 23-year-old Jakub Vrana put up 24 goals and finally broke out as a consistent top-six winger, the team now has to pay for him. Vrana, who becomes a restricted free agent this summer, could look to sign a long-term deal as a young piece to a veteran team or opt to sign a bridge deal that could take him towards unrestricted free agency in a few years. Of course, Vrana struggled in the playoffs which could count against him, as he didn’t register a point during the team’s seven-game series to the Carolina Hurricanes. We’ll have some decisions to make,” general manager Brian MacLellan said. “We’ll find out which direction we’re going on Vrana with a term deal or a bridge deal. Some of it is money decisions. Some of it’s we need to make a couple changes.”
  • The Carolina Hurricanes are ready for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals with the Boston Bruins and while there will be no lineup changes, News & Observer’s Luke DeCock writes that the team still hopes that forward Saku Maenalanen, who has been out since Apr. 28 after having surgery on his hand, could return to the team soon as he practiced with the team Saturday in a non-contact jersey. The surgery was expected him to miss 10 to 14 days, which has already passed. While he’s tallied just one assist throughout the playoffs, the 6-foot-4 winger had given the team a physical element that it needed. The team hopes he might return later in this series
  • Jonathan Bombulie of TribLive writes that while it will be Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford job to move out some defensemen, figuring out which defensemen to move could be more challenging that most might think. Looking at Olli Maatta, who is coming off a poor season, the scribe writes that while he struggled when on the ice with bottom-line centers like Derick Brassard, but was more even-keel when Evgeni Malkin was on the ice, while he was solid when playing with Sidney Crosby, suggesting that the problem may not totally fall on the team’s defense.

Washington Capitals Not Likely To Bring Back Devante Smith-Pelly

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Although the Washington Capitals have their affairs in order with most of their impact players after an early-round exit in the playoffs this year, the franchise still has a number of smaller contracts that it will have to deal with in the coming months. The contracts of restricted free agents Jakub Vrana and Andre Burakovsky and unrestricted free agents Carl Hagelin and Brett Connolly need to be dealt with, among others.

One contract the Capitals aren’t likely to deal with this summer is unrestricted free agent Devante Smith-Pelly, who likely will not be returning to Washington next season, according to NBC Sports J.J. Regan. While there was speculation that the team might consider bringing back one of the team’s key players in their Stanley Cup Championship run last season under the right conditions, Regan notes that changed after comments from general manager Brian MacLellan. “Internally we had a couple of issues we had to work through,” MacLellan said of Smith-Pelly, which was not exactly a vote of confidence.

Many have claimed that those “issues” stemmed from conditioning issues and they are likely the reason that the Capitals intend to move on from Smith-Pelly. The big winger struggled this season after scoring seven playoff goals last spring, including several timely ones. Even though Smith-Pelly had more lucrative offers last summer, he opted to sign a one-year, $1MM deal to remain with the Capitals. However, the season didn’t go as planned as he tallied just eight points in 54 games before the team placed him on waivers, sending him to the AHL. He was recalled after T.J. Oshie was injured in the playoffs, but played sparingly. Regan asked Smith-Pelly about his conditioning, which he flatly denied, but did admit he was forced to change his off-season workout plans due to the shortened break:

The summer was different for a lot of guys. I mean, very short. Guys are hurt going into the summer so obviously you don’t have the same routine as you’ve had in years past to get ready. I guess that just affected me more than some other guys. You try to get your footing and stuff happens.

With the team right up against the salary cap and key decisions to make about Burakovsky, Vrana, Hagelin, and Connolly, as well as defensive veteran Brooks Orpik, the team does need several cheap contracts on the book, but it looks like they might be ready to look elsewhere for that talent.

IIHF Notes: Russia, Sweden, Czech Republic

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If your team has already been eliminated from the NHL playoffs or failed to get there in the first place, the upcoming IIHF World Championship is the last bit of high level hockey for the season. The 2019 tournament is shaping up to be a good one with some of the best talent on the planet facing off, and the Russian contingent has to be one of the favorites heading in.

Today, Russia announced their leadership group for the tournament by naming Ilya Kovalchuk team captain. Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Plotnikov have been named alternates, an impressive group with plenty of international experience. Kovalchuk served as an alternate at last year’s Olympic Games, but he’ll take over the top role given Pavel Datsyuk’s absence from the tournament.

  • Sweden continues to add firepower to their group, and have added William Nylander, Mattias Ekholm and Marcus Pettersson in addition to Elias Lindholm who was recently confirmed. Nylander was a huge part of the 2017 gold medal for Sweden, recording 14 points in 10 games—twice that of any of his teammates. The Toronto Maple Leafs forward had an extremely disappointing season but will try to get things turned around on the international stage where he has excelled in the past.
  • The Czech Republic announced today that Filip Hronek, Jakub Vrana and Dmitrij Jaskin will join their group, an interesting sight given the status of the latter two. Players rarely attend the tournament without an NHL contract in hand, and Vrana and Jaskin are both set to be restricted free agents this summer. Perhaps that means some decisions have already been made on the pair, as Vrana is expected to be signed quickly by the Capitals while Jaskin may not receive a qualifying offer. Either way, we’ll have to wait and see if they actually take part in the tournament that starts on May 10th.

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