- Another trade that seems extremely unlikely is one involving Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson, at least according to Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan. MacLellan told the media, including The Washington Post’s Bailey Johnson, that the team “we haven’t had one discussion about” trading Wilson this summer. Some have speculated that Wilson, a 29-year-old winger with a $5.16MM AAV deal that expires in a year, could be a player Washington dangles in trade talks, but it appears in actuality the team has zero interest in dealing the three-time 20-goal scorer, despite an injury-plagued 2022-23 campaign.
Capitals Rumors
Henrik Borgstrom Signs In Sweden
June 26: Finally official, Borgstrom has signed a two-year deal with HV71, meaning he’ll be an unrestricted free agent by the time any NHL team has another shot at him.
May 3: After seeing action in just one NHL game this season, it seemed like there was a good chance that Capitals center Henrik Borgstrom would be looking to go elsewhere for 2023-24. Rather than wait to see if he’d be tendered by Washington, it appears that Borgstrom has found his next team as SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson reports that the middleman is expected to play for HV71 in Sweden next season.
The 25-year-old returned to North America in 2021-22, signing a two-year deal with Chicago. However, after struggling in 52 contests with them, the Blackhawks opted to buy out the final year of that deal, making him an unrestricted free agent. Borgstrom quickly signed with the Capitals, hoping to push for a spot at the bottom of their roster.
That didn’t exactly happen. Instead, Borgstrom cleared waivers before the start of the season and spent almost the entire year with AHL Hershey. He wasn’t overly productive with them either, picking up eight goals and 13 assists in 55 games, hardly the type of impact he was hoping to have. That resulted in him getting just a single recall at the end of the season, playing in Washington’s penultimate contest where he was limited to just over eight minutes of playing time.
Borgstrom, who has 111 career NHL appearances under his belt, is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer and Washington could have his rights for two more years if they qualify him. At this point, the term of the agreement will likely dictate what the Capitals do. If it’s a multi-year pact, he’ll be an NHL free agent by the time it expires, meaning there’s little point in qualifying him. But if it’s a one-year agreement, it would make some sense to tender that offer just in case he has a breakout year that would get him back on the NHL radar.
Offensive Freedom Could Reestablish Trust Between Kuznetsov And Capitals
- There has been some speculation that Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov might welcome a change of scenery. However, Russian player agent Alexei Dementiev told RB Sport in Russia that Kuznetsov’s discontent has been around a lack of offensive freedom. It’s worth noting that Dementiev is not Kuznetsov’s agent (that would be Newport’s Craig Oster) but he suggested that if new coach Spencer Carbery is willing to give the 31-year-old some more room to try to create offensively, the relationship between him and the team could be repaired. Kuznetsov is coming off a 55-point season but is only a year removed from a 78-point campaign. Getting him back in form would certainly go a long way toward trying to get Washington back into the postseason picture.
Washington Capitals Trying To Move Up From Eighth Overall
The 2023 NHL Draft is quickly approaching, and trade talk is set to increase daily until the event begins Wednesday night. Per The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta, at least four teams are actively engaged in trade talks involving first-round picks in this year’s draft – starting with the Washington Capitals and their eighth overall pick.
Washington will at least attempt to move up in the draft, Pagnotta said, although it seems unlikely any team among the seven slated to pick before them would be willing to trade down unless it’s for an exorbitant price. It’s no secret the Capitals have their focus zeroed in on selecting Matvei Michkov, and with interest in the Russian winger heating up, it seems less and less likely he’d be available to them at the eighth overall selection. The only plausible scenarios for Washington would involve Montreal’s fifth overall pick or Arizona’s sixth overall pick – the top four teams in the draft likely have their hearts set on particular selections already, and Montreal’s or Arizona’s interest level in Michkov remains unclear.
Washington Capitals Expected To Hire Mitch Love
The Washington Capitals are set to add back-to-back AHL Coach of the Year Mitch Love to their coaching staff as an assistant, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek reports.
It’s the first notable coaching move made by the Caps since naming Spencer Carbery their next head coach last month. The team parted ways with Peter Laviolette (now with the New York Rangers) immediately after the season’s end in April, but it’s unclear which assistants from last year they have or have not retained.
Love joins Washington after two seasons behind the bench of Calgary’s AHL affiliate (the Stockton Heat in 2021-22 and the Calgary Wranglers in 2022-23), guiding the team to two first-place finishes in the Pacific Division. His departure from the Flames organization is far from surprising – he was a top candidate for the team’s head coaching role, but he was passed over for former Heat head coach and Flames assistant Ryan Huska.
With Washington needing to retool on the fly to stay competitive during the end of Alex Ovechkin’s career, their coaching moves support a progressive philosophy and make it clear their organizational focus is getting what they can out of their young players, especially without a particularly high-end prospect pool. Love has certainly done that in the minors, helping a strong handful of Flames prospects find the right development track.
Hershey Bears Win 2023 Calder Cup
Many on the East Coast woke up this morning to the news that the AHL’s Hershey Bears emerged victorious as the champions of the 2023 Calder Cup, outlasting the expansion Coachella Valley Firebirds on the road in a Game 7 overtime win. The Washington Capitals affiliate captured their league-record 12th championship thanks to the efforts of alternate captain and AHL veteran Mike Vecchione, who did get one game with the Caps in 2021-22.
It was a strong postseason for a few of Capitals prospects – namely 2019 first-round pick Connor McMichael, who led the team with six goals in 20 games. It was the team’s depth that carried them through the many tribulations a postseason brings, though, with seven players recording 10 or more points. 27-year-old Hunter Shepard, who excelled in his first full AHL campaign after signing with Hershey in 2020, won MVP honors after posting a 2.27 goals-against average, .914 save percentage, three shutouts, and a 14-6-0 record in 20 playoff games.
Washington Capitals Interested In Matvei Michkov At Eighth Overall
Earlier today, we relayed a report from TSN’s Bob McKenzie that prized but risky Russian 2023 NHL Draft prospect Matvei Michkov has multiple interviews scheduled with NHL teams after arriving in Nashville for next week’s big day. In terms of which teams are expected to meet with him, mark the Washington Capitals down as an absolute.
Per The Hockey News’ Sammi Silber, relaying a report from Russian outlet Match.TV, the Capitals are quite high on potentially the best Russian prospect since Alex Ovechkin and are aiming to select him eighth overall – if he falls there. Michkov’s exceptional skill and potential obviously make him an attractive candidate for any team, but it’s still unclear how teams will weigh the political factors at play that could impede his ability to come to play in the NHL. As part of Silber’s report, it’s noted that Michkov was instructed not to meet with NHL representatives while still in Russia, explaining last week’s reported dodging of interviews on his part.
The Capitals seem willing to take the risk, considering their history of success in getting KHL talents to terminate their deals and sign with Washington.
Free Agent Focus: Washington Capitals
Free agency is less than a month 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 have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Washington Capitals.
Key Restricted Free Agents
D Martin Fehervary – Besides missing some time due to an injury in December of this season, Fehervary still had a decent year with the Capitals. Primarily focused on the defensive side of the puck, Fehervary scored six goals and 10 assists in 67 games for Washington this season.
He repeated his physical campaign from last year, blocking 128 shots and throwing 217 hits from the back end. Even though the Capitals are likely to re-tool their team this upcoming offseason, Fehervary still factors into Washington’s blue-line top six.
Fehervary is likely to factor more into the penalty-kill during the 2023-24 season, after already averaging 20 minutes a night with the Capitals this past year. For a player that does not accrue very many penalty minutes himself, Fehervary is turning himself into a stable defensive defenseman for Washington.
Other RFAs: F Kody Clark, F Henrik Borgstrom, F Riley Sutter, D Gabriel Carlsson
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
F Conor Sheary – During the 2020-21 offseason, Sheary surprisingly was unable to find a guaranteed contract. It wasn’t until December 2020 that the Capitals were one of the only teams to give Sheary another shot at NHL minutes. Sheary rewarded them in kind and was able to sign a two-year, $3MM contract extension with Washington before his first season with the team was even finished.
For the last two years, Sheary has become one of the better depth scorers in the NHL, scoring 43 points during the 2021-22 campaign, and following that up with 37 points this season. Seemingly destined for the third line on most competitive teams, Sheary could become a sneaky buy-low candidate this summer.
Throughout his career, Sheary has always been a plus forward when it comes to puck possession and has always shown flashes of being a 20-goal scorer. He is in a good position to secure a multi-year deal this offseason, but his playing time over the next few years will likely finish below 15 minutes a game.
F Connor Brown – Acquired last summer from the Ottawa Senators for a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, Brown was set to factor into Washington’s top-six forward group. Unfortunately, due to an ACL injury early on in the season, Brown was only able to play four games.
In the past, both with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Senators, Brown has shown the ability to score 20 goals a season, doing so during the 2016-17 and 2020-21 seasons. However, he has been wholly unable to play a complete season since his time with the Maple Leafs.
Benefiting tremendously from playing on the same line as Connor McDavid during his time in the OHL for the Erie Otters, Brown has not been the difference maker that he was expected to be. Fortunately for the Capitals, who are, when healthy, one of the better offensive teams, should have the talent around Brown to aid in his success if they wish to give him another shot.
Other UFAs: F Craig Smith, D Matt Irwin, F Carl Hagelin, F Garrett Pilon, F Mike Vecchione, D Dylan McIlrath, D Bobby Nardella, G Zachary Fucale, G Hunter Shepard
Projected Cap Space
Given recent reporting, the Capitals’ cap space is more than likely to expand before the beginning of the 2023-24 offseason. As of right now, Washington only has around $7.3MM to work with, quite a low number for a team in need of big changes.
Long-time Capital forward Evgeny Kuznetsov and his $7.8MM cap hit are likely to be moved this summer, as well as forward Anthony Mantha along with the one-year, $5.7MM remaining on his deal.
Being a bona fide 2C in the NHL, Kuznetsov will surely be easier to move for Washington, but both players will likely find their exit in some form or another this offseason. Given that Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, and John Carlson are all in the back half of 30 years old, Washington will have quite the task ahead to get younger this summer.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Latest on Anthony Mantha
Although there was a subtle expectation that he would eventually be put on the trading block, Sammi Silber of The Hockey News reports that Washington Capitals’ forward Anthony Mantha has officially been put on the trade block. Mantha will be entering the final year of a 4-year, $22.8MM contract extension that he signed with the Detroit Red Wings after the start of the 2020-21 NHL season.
In Mantha’s case, it will be particularly hard to gauge the potential trade value he might bring to the market this offseason. On one end, he has shown flashes in the past of being a potential 30-goal scorer at the professional level but has also shown flashes of being a pure salary dump.
This season, playing on a struggling Washington team, Mantha played in 67 games, scoring 11 goals and 16 assists. It was a far cry from the 49-goal and 96-point pace he carried in Detroit between 2017-19.
Simply to hypothesize, there are actually a few teams that may benefit from the style of game that Mantha would ultimately bring to a team. Although not maximizing his full offensive potential up to this point, Mantha has excelled throughout his career in terms of possession. His career average of 57.0 is by no means at the top of the NHL but would generally be regarded as a solid number for most players.
Capitals Notes: Draft Rights, Fehervary, Dowd, Sandin
Many NHL-drafted but unsigned players are set to become free agents today if they don’t sign within the next four hours. Today, The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir confirmed two Capitals prospects will hit the open market: Czech defenseman Martin Has and Canadian defender Dru Krebs.
Krebs, the brother of Buffalo Sabres forward Peyton Krebs, was selected in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Draft. While he had a strong year in 2020-21 in limited action due to COVID, the 2021-22 campaign was nightmarish for him, finishing with just 19 points in 66 games with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers and a staggering -58 rating. He rebounded nicely this season, but the 20-year-old’s flaws displayed after his draft year likely signal an NHL future isn’t in the cards.
Has, 22, was a member of Washington’s 2019 draft class. The fifth-round pick played unsigned in the Capitals organization this year, registering 12 points in 50 games as a member of the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays.
- Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan told reporters today that the team hasn’t begun speaking to pending restricted free agent defenseman Martin Fehervary about an extension yet, but “expects discussions to pick up soon.” Fehervary, Washington’s second-round pick in 2018, is coming off his entry-level deal. In his sophomore season with the Caps, the 23-year-old consistently played a top-four role and posted 16 points in 67 games.
- MacLellan also said center Nic Dowd underwent core surgery recently, aiming to fix an ailment that was bugging him near the end of the season. Dowd is expected to recover in time for training camp in September. The 33-year-old bottom-six center has two seasons remaining at a cap hit of $1.3MM and is coming off a career-high 13 goals.
- Lastly, in more positive news for Washington, MacLellan revealed the injury Swedish defenseman Rasmus Sandin sustained near the end of this year’s Men’s World Championship isn’t serious and carries no long-term concern. Sandin was electric for Washington after coming over from Toronto near the end of the season, posting 15 points in 19 games and averaging nearly 23 minutes per game. The 23-year-old former first-round pick will look to step into a consistent top-four role with the Caps next season, potentially alongside John Carlson.