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Capitals Still Trying To Add Top-Six Forward

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The Washington Capitals were one of the quieter teams this offseason after their worst season in over 15 years. They did add Max Pacioretty in free agency, but he’s projected to miss the first couple of months of 2023-24 as he recovers from his second consecutive Achilles tendon injury. Aside from that, their forward group, which boasted just two 20-goal scorers last season, essentially remains unchanged. While injuries took a significant toll on the team’s performance, a number of important scorers, such as Evgeny Kuznetsov, Anthony Mantha and T.J. Oshie, had down seasons.

With captain Alex Ovechkin still in the fold and chasing the NHL’s all-time goal-scoring record, general manager Brian MacLellan has made it clear on numerous occasions that he doesn’t plan to let the team slip out of competitiveness while Ovechkin is still active. Speaking with reporters virtually today, MacLellan said he’s still making calls in pursuit of a top-six forward before training camps open next month. Those calls are likely being made in conjunction with trying to find a home for Kuznetsov, who the Capitals confirmed last month has requested a trade.

Adding Pacioretty on a one-year, $4MM bonus-laden deal should add a fair amount of goals if he stays healthy. After all, Pacioretty was on pace for 40 goals with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021-22, but various injuries limited him to 39 games played that season. Given his quite extensive recent struggles to stay in the lineup, though, it’s unfair to pin much, if any, responsibility on Pacioretty to help elevate the Capitals back to the postseason. With the aging Nicklas Bäckström’s health in question, too, it quickly becomes clear why MacLellan feels a sense of urgency to add an impact player to the team’s top-six group. Given Bäckström likely shouldn’t be relied upon for second-line minutes at this stage in his career, a Kuznetsov replacement down the middle should be top of mind for MacLellan.

That being said, top-six centers don’t grow on trees. It’ll be quite a challenge for MacLellan to mine one via trade this late in the offseason after most of the dust has settled.

One has to wonder if MacLellan has been in conversation with the Calgary Flames regarding Elias Lindholm if he opts not to sign an extension with his current team. A Kuznetsov/Lindholm swap (including other assets heading to Calgary) with extensions attached to both sides could line up well with both teams’ missions to stay competitive throughout some roster turmoil. The 28-year-old Lindholm has 146 points in 162 games over his last two seasons with the Flames and would be a remarkable defensive upgrade, as well as in the faceoff circle, over Kuznetsov. The latter’s 44% career win percentage in the dot pales in comparison to Lindholm’s 53% win rate.

There’s also the matter of Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele, who finishes out the trio of top-six centers you’ll hear thrown around on the trade market at this stage. The same circumstances would likely need to apply here as a Lindholm trade with extensions in hand for Kuznetsov and Scheifele with their new teams. While Scheifele wouldn’t aid much of Washington’s defensive woes down the middle with Kuznetsov, he would add a much more significant secondary goal-scoring punch to Ovechkin. He’s coming off a career-best 42-goal season and has scored 30 goals on two other occasions. He has a $6.125MM cap hit this season before his contract expires in 2024, but could block a trade to Washington if he so chooses if he includes the Capitals on his ten-team no-trade list.

Any trade speculation involving a top-six forward for the rest of the offseason will include Kuznetsov, Lindholm and Scheifele until proven otherwise. For Washington, needing to make a move like this to stay competitive is some unfortunate timing. They have pieces with intriguing long-term potential, like Connor McMichael, but their solid drafting in recent seasons just hasn’t caught up to them yet. If they want an impact player now to help bridge the gap between Ovechkin and the next Washington core, as well as keep them in the playoff race during the short term, it’ll need to come via trade.

Washington Capitals Sign Tom Wilson To Seven-Year Extension

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The Washington Capitals have re-signed winger Tom Wilson to a seven-year, $45.5MM extension, per a team announcement. The contract will kick in for the 2024-25 campaign and run through 2030-31, carrying a $6.5MM cap hit.

CapFriendly reports the full breakdown of Wilson’s deal, which carries a 15-team no-trade clause until 2027-28 and a ten-team no-trade clause for the remainder:

2024-25: $4MM salary, $5MM signing bonus
2025-26: $4.5MM salary, $3MM signing bonus
2026-27: $3.625MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2027-28: $4.3MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2028-29: $4.275MM salary, $2MM signing bonus
2029-30: $900K salary, $4.5MM signing bonus
2030-31: $900K salary, $4.5MM signing bonus

Signing a long-term deal puts Wilson in line to become one of the longest-tenured players in Washington’s history. Drafted 16th overall in 2012, the 29-year-old already has ten full seasons with Washington under his belt, a tenure that includes the franchise’s only Stanley Cup win in 2018.

It was after lifting the Stanley Cup that Wilson transformed into the player we know him as today, though. Since their victory, he’s become a fixture in the team’s top six, often playing the opposite wing on Alex Ovechkin’s line. He’s scored 98 goals in 289 games since 2018-19, the third-most of any Capital during that time behind Ovechkin and T.J. Oshie. Now routinely averaging top-six minutes at over 17 minutes a game, Wilson is giving the Capitals his best blend of goal-scoring while dialing his trademark physicality down to an acceptable level in his prime. In fact, he’s recorded under 100 penalty minutes for four straight seasons after finishing over the century mark six times to begin his career.

Last season was a tough one for Wilson, though, as it was for many of his teammates, with Washington missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014. His offensive pace was in line with what we’ve come to expect, but he played in just 33 games thanks to a knee injury that cost him the first half of the season. Still, he managed 13 goals and nine assists for 22 points after his return.

Wilson was entering the final season of a six-year, $31MM contract signed after Washington’s Cup win in 2018 – one that was heavily criticized at the time. It was viewed as a risky bet on Wilson’s potential rather than what he’d displayed up until that point. Although they were fair points then, Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan was quickly proven right – Wilson’s scored at least 20 goals in every season in which he’s been fully healthy since the deal kicked in. His new long-term extension will keep him in a Capitals jersey until age 37 and could very well be the last deal he ever signs.

That being said, Wilson’s style of play does not lend itself to longevity. Expecting him to be able to perform at his cap hit by the end of this contract is illogical, to say the least. There’s a strong chance his $6.5MM cap hit ends up on LTIR before the deal runs out. As CapFriendly notes, the lower salary with high signing bonuses in the final seasons of the deal also makes Wilson’s contract much harder to buy out should Washington need to go that route.

For now, CapFriendly projects Washington with $15.65MM in cap space for 2024-25, assuming an Upper Limit of 2024-25. They’ll have eight roster spots to fill with that money, though, a tough ask. It’s a rather tough financial position for a team teetering on the edge of competitiveness in Ovechkin’s twilight years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Washington Capitals Hire Kirk Muller, Kenny McCudden

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The Washington Capitals have added two experienced names to first-year head coach Spencer Carbery’s staff: former Calgary Flames assistant coach Kirk Muller and longtime Columbus Blue Jackets assistant Kenny McCudden.

Muller, 57, played in over 1,300 games during his NHL career and was a star two-way center for both the Montreal Canadiens and New Jersey Devils. He won the Stanley Cup with the Canadiens in 1993 and began his coaching career in Montreal in 2006. He spent a half-decade on the Canadiens’ bench as an assistant before trying his hand at head coaching with the Milwaukee Admirals in the AHL.

Muller lasted only 17 games with the Admirals before being promoted to NHL head coach with the Carolina Hurricanes, replacing Paul Maurice mid-season. While Muller didn’t quite succeed in Carolina, he returned to being an assistant coach and did quite well in that role. He coached two seasons with the St. Louis Blues before returning to Montreal, where he helped the Canadiens through a re-tooling process.

After he was fired from the Canadiens alongside Claude Julien, Muller moved to the Calgary Flames, where he joined the staff of Darryl Sutter. Sutter won the Jack Adams award for coach of the year in 2021-22 and led the Flames to an impressive regular season.

Although Sutter was fired earlier this summer and Muller departed as well, Muller’s work in both Calgary and Montreal lends to the impression that he is a capable, experienced assistant coach.

For a relatively inexperienced head coach like Carbery, who hasn’t yet run the bench of an NHL team, adding such an experienced name like Muller is an easy choice to understand. Same with McCudden, who was a longtime skills coach before joining Columbus alongside John Tortorella.

At Tortorella’s side, McCudden contributed to the most successful and winningest era of hockey in Blue Jackets history, including their famous 2019 upset of the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team coming off of a historically good regular season.

The Capitals are looking to make a push for one more Stanley Cup during what remains of Alex Ovechkin’s career, and have selected Carbery as the man to lead them there. Now, Carbery has added two high-level assistant coaches to help him begin what he likely hopes will be a long career as an NHL head coach.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Capitals Confirm Evgeny Kuznetsov’s Earlier Trade Request

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In recent months, there has been speculation that Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov had asked for a change of scenery.  Yesterday, in an article on their team site from Mike Vogel, they confirmed that the middleman did indeed request to be traded.

The 31-year-old had one of his best offensive seasons in 2021-22, picking up 24 goals and 54 assists in 79 games.  However, Kuznetsov wasn’t able to build on that last season as his goal total was cut in half while he still managed 43 helpers.  A report out of Russia last month suggested that the relationship with the team wasn’t past the point of no return but that he was seeking more offensive freedom; it’s possible that new head coach Spencer Carbery could give him that freedom.

In his piece, Vogel notes that Washington typically tries to accommodate trade requests and that GM Brian MacLellan was looking to make a move that would make his top-six group a little younger in the process.  Clearly, that didn’t come to fruition with Kuznetsov still being a member of the Capitals.

The struggles last season certainly didn’t help his trade value and neither does his contract.  Kuznetsov still has two years left on his contract, one that carries an AAV of $7.8MM.  As we’ve seen in recent weeks, moving expensive contracts has been difficult enough on its own let alone extracting full value.  Look no further than Nashville’s trade of Ryan Johansen to Colorado, one that saw them hold back $4MM per season for two years for what amounted to no return.  For a Washington team that still intends to compete next season, that type of move isn’t exactly palatable considering Kuznetsov is still their most reliable middleman (with Dylan Strome and Nicklas Backstrom also in the mix).

MacLellan acknowledged that he took an “aggressive” approach when it came to trying to find a trade fit for Kuznetsov but he hasn’t had success in terms of finding a swap that both sides are happy with.  He added that some players they were pursuing haven’t been moved yet so speculatively, Kuznetsov could be a part of one of those swaps.  Otherwise, he’ll at least need to start next season with Washington where a strong start in Carbery’s new system could help boost his value to the point where his value goes up and a trade can be reached if he still wants to be moved at that time.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Washington Capitals Sign Andrew Cristall

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2023 second-round pick Andrew Cristall is the first member of the Washington Capitals’ draft class to sign his entry-level contract with the team. Per an announcement from the Capitals, his three-year deal holds an average annual value of $810K at the NHL level and $82.5K in the AHL. Per PuckPedia, the deal carries a $905K cap hit, and the exact breakdown is as follows:

Year 1: $775K NHL salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K games played bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
Year 2: $800K NHL salary, $95K signing bonus, $55K games played bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
Year 3: $855K NHL salary, $95K signing bonus, $82.5K AHL salary

The Capitals selected the 18-year-old 40th overall one week ago today, well below where public scouts had pegged the skilled forward to land in the draft. Listed as the fifth-ranked North American left wing and the 15th-ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, Cristall was one of the highest-scoring players in the entire WHL this season, but his size, skating, and below-average defensive play knocked him out of the top 32 picks.

It’s worth noting some public boards had Cristall ranked inside the top 10 – a true testament to the ultimate upside Washington has in Cristall. Standing at 5-foot-10 and weighing 175 pounds, Cristall was a dominant force with the Kelowna Rockets last season, leading the team in goals (39), assists (56), and points (95). Among the entire WHL, Cristall’s 1.76 points-per-game rate ranked third among qualified players – trailing only first-overall pick Connor Bedard and Dallas Stars top prospect Logan Stankoven.

It also wasn’t a late rise for Cristall, who set Kelowna franchise records in 2021-22 for goals by a 16-year-old with 28, and he equaled the franchise record for points by a 16-year-old with 69. Throughout his WHL career to date, spanning 129 games with the Kelowna Rockets, Cristall has amassed an impressive 169 points.

Kelowna is where he’ll spend the 2023-24 season, as he still has quite a bit of work to do to round out his game before he’s ready for any NHL time. If he can continue to develop his skating, however, he has a high likelihood of remaining a top-six fixture for quite a while in the nation’s capital. He’s ineligible for AHL time until his age 20 season, so his contract can slide for two years if he’s not a full-time NHLer by 2025-26.

Washington Capitals Sign Chase Priskie

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The Washington Capitals have signed one of their 2016 draft picks, albeit four seasons after his pro career began. Defenseman Chase Priskie is heading to the nation’s capital on a one-year, two-way contract worth $775K in the NHL and $350K in the minors, the Capitals announced today.

Washington selected Priskie, 27, with the 177th overall pick in 2016. After playing four seasons at Quinnipiac University, though, he didn’t sign with the team in the summer of 2019, and his exclusive draft rights lapsed. He instead landed a two-year entry-level contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, and he’s since spent time in the Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres, and Anaheim Ducks organizations.

Last season, he split his time between the San Diego Gulls and Rochester Americans in the AHL thanks to a midseason trade of his NHL contract, tallying 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 58 games. 13 of those points came in just 16 games with the Gulls after the Ducks acquired him from Buffalo in exchange for defenseman Austin Strand on March 3. Standing at 6 feet and weighing 185 pounds, Priskie achieved AHL career-highs in goals and games played during the 2022-23 season.

During his collegiate tenure with Quinnipiac, he accumulated 116 points and 154 games and served as team captain for his last two seasons. He was recognized as a Hobey Baker Award finalist and was named to the ECAC First All-Star Team in 2018-19.

His only NHL experience came in a brief four-game stint with the Florida Panthers in 2021-22, although he was held off the scoresheet.

After the Caps acquired Joel Edmundson from Montreal, their defensive depth chart got a little deeper. With roster spots (and ice time) needed for younger players like Martin Fehervary, Rasmus Sandin, and Alexander Alexeyev, there’s little hope for Priskie to see much of any NHL ice this year. He will, however, join a formidable right-side defense in AHL Hershey that includes minor-league mainstay Dylan McIlrath and 2021 second-round pick Vincent Iorio, both of whom played large roles in helping Hershey capture this year’s Calder Cup.

Washington Capitals Sign Martin Fehérváry To Three-Year Extension

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The Washington Capitals have announced they have re-signed RFA defenseman Martin Fehérváry to a three-year, $2.675MM AAV contract.

This contract’s term means that Fehérváry will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights when this deal expires, and he’ll be one year away from UFA eligibility at that point. One of Washington’s most promising young defenseman, Fehérváry has been a top-four blueliner for the Capitals in each of his first two NHL campaigns.

Set to turn 24 in October, Fehérváry played in 67 games this past season and averaged 20 minutes of ice time per night, including a minute and a half on the penalty kill. He’s a well-respected defense-first defenseman who has brought size and stability to the Capitals’ blueline. As a left-shot defenseman with more of a defensive bent, Fehérváry fits very well next to Washington’s best blueliner: John Carlson.

Washington is undoubtedly optimistic about what Fehérváry’s future holds, and it’s possible that they considered signing him to a long-term extension rather than this bridge contract.

But with the Capitals looking to maximize their competitive chances in the final years of Alex Ovechkin’s legendary career, opting for a bridge deal to keep Fehérváry’s cap hit relatively low for the next few seasons allows them to allocate more dollars elsewhere.

Should Fehérváry continue to grow and become a top-pairing all-around defenseman, this bridge deal will ultimately put the Capitals in a position to pay Fehérváry a major contract in just three year’s time, rather than in eight years had they elected a maximum-term long-term extension.

By making that choice they’ve saved valuable cap dollars for the next three seasons, and now they’ll hope on this contract Fehérváry can be part of a Capitals Stanley Cup-winning team.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Riley Sutter

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The Washington Capitals have re-signed forward prospect Riley Sutter to a one-year, two-way contract carrying a $775k AAV and a $90k AHL salary.

Sutter was a restricted free agent without any arbitration rights, meaning the overwhelming likelihood was always that he’d be back with the organization that drafted him 93rd overall in 2018, and now today’s announcement confirms it.

The versatile 23-year-old forward is coming off a fourth consecutive season playing with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, and this one was his most productive yet. He set a career-high with 12 points in 69 games, and he even had a big moment in the playoffs scoring the overtime winner in Game Three of the Calder Cup Finals. That goal secured a crucial win that helped turn the tide of the series and eventually lead to a Calder Cup Championship for Hershey.

Sutter is a six-foot-four, 204-pound winger who plays a hard-nosed physical game and serves as a bottom-six defensive forward for Hershey head coach Todd Nelson. Seeing as the offensive production he managed in the WHL has almost completely evaporated at the pro level, it’s not easy to imagine Sutter as a contender for an NHL call-up anytime soon.

But with his extension, he’ll get another year in Hershey and another season to develop his game and potentially make a push for an even greater role in the Bears’ lineup.

Washington Capitals Sign Alex Limoges

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The Washington Capitals have put in work signing players to add to their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, for their next season where they’ll look to defend their Calder Cup Championship. Alongside an extension for Dylan McIlrath and the additions of Matthew Phillips and Pierrick Dube comes a signing of Alex Limoges from the Winnipeg Jets’ affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.

Per PuckPedia, the deal is a one-year, two-way contract carrying a $775k AAV and a $235k AHL salary. Seeing as Hershey already has their first-line center locked in with Michael Sgarbossa, Limoges figures to slot in either as the team’s second or third-line center, depending on the fate of 2020 first-rounder Hendrix Lapierre.

Limoges, 25, hasn’t yet played in the NHL but has been an extremely strong AHL scorer ever since he turned pro out of Penn State. The Virginia native scored 20 goals and 54 points for the Moose this past season, leading the team in scoring.

He only managed one goal and no assists in five playoff games and did not earn any NHL games or a qualifying offer, but his play was improved compared to last season and he firmly established himself as a top-six player in the AHL.

Now he’ll bring his services closer to home and play for the defending Calder Cup champion, with the hope of finally earning a call-up to make his NHL debut.

Washington Capitals Sign Matthew Phillips, Dylan McIlrath

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The depth signings continue today with the Washington Capitals, who have announced contracts for both Matthew Phillips and Dylan McIlrath. Phillips will sign a one-year, $775K, one-way contract, while McIlrath will sign a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract.

Given that it is a one-way contract, it’s a reasonable expectation that Phillips will start the year with the Capitals, for good reason. Over the past two years, he has been one of the best forwards in the AHL, scoring 67 goals and 77 assists in only 131 games played for the Flames’ AHL affiliates, also earning a First Team All-Star nod last year. Unfortunately for Phillips, over those two years, he hasn’t gotten a serious look at the NHL level, only appearing in three games for the Flames.

In now what will be his third season in the Capitals organization, McIlrath brings a hard-hitting defenseman to the blue line. He’s not much in the way of points, evidenced by his 23 points in 134 games for the Hershey Bears, but McIlrath is an intimidating force nonetheless. One of the AHL’s most elite brawlers, McIlrath has racked up 201 PIMs in his two years with the Bears.

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