- Also done for the night is Washington Capitals forward Connor Brown, who suffered a lower-body injury, said the team. Brown was the recipient of a big hit from Vancouver Canucks defenseman Noah Juulsen. According to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Brown immediately grabbed at his right knee before leaving the ice without putting any weight on it. For the Capitals, who are carrying 14 forwards and have roughly $2MM remaining in LTIR space they can utilize, managing their roster should Brown miss any bit of time won’t be the challenge it has been for other teams this season, but that of course doesn’t account for the talent Brown himself brings to the lineup. Through three-plus games this season, Brown had yet to register a point, but did have 39 points over 64 games last season with the Ottawa Senators.
Capitals Rumors
Sonny Milano Signs With Washington Capitals
10/16/22: The Capitals have now officially announced the deal. Per the announcement, it’s a one-year, $750k deal, and it was confirmed that Milano will be hitting waivers today for the purpose of assigning him to AHL Hershey.
10/15/22: The Washington Capitals are expected to sign Sonny Milano, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The deal will be a one-year, one-way $750K contract but Friedman notes that Milano will be starting in the AHL. That would require him to clear waivers, meaning there’s at least a chance that another team could claim him for their NHL roster right away.
Milano, 26, failed to earn an NHL contract the summer or with his professional tryout this fall. That was with the Calgary Flames, where he struggled to fit into the team’s system or provide much offensive spark.
That’s the key with Milano, who has always been exceptionally skilled but has struggled to play a consistent role in the NHL. The 16th overall pick in 2014, he has 197 games under his belt, 66 of them coming last season with the Anaheim Ducks. That was easily his best season, finding early chemistry with Trevor Zegras and racking up 14 goals and 34 points.
Notably though, that included just five points in his final 27 games, the kind of inconsistency that has plagued him his whole career.
Perhaps the Capitals will be able to coax that out of him, though there appears to be no guarantee of playing time if he’s starting in the minor leagues. Washington has lost some serious forward depth in recent days, with Axel Jonsson Fjallby and Brett Leason both claimed on waivers.
Those two combined for 59 games for the Capitals last season, moving up and down when needed.
Extension Talks Are Believed To Have Started With Peter Laviolette
There are currently four NHL head coaches in the final seasons of their contracts. Avoiding the ‘lame duck’ situation is something teams try to do and on that note, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reported on the latest TSN Insider Trading segment that extension discussions are believed to be underway between the Capitals and bench boss Peter Laviolette. The 57-year-old is in his third season behind the bench in Washington with the team playing to a .636 points percentage in his 140 games at the helm. With GM Brian MacLellan admitting to LeBrun in a piece for The Athletic (subscription link) that a rebuild is basically off the table with their commitment to their veteran core, it makes sense that they’d want to keep Laviolette, whose reputation is that he’s a win-now coach, in the fold.
Carl Hagelin, Kody Clark Undergo Surgery
It’s tough news for veteran forward Carl Hagelin, as the Washington Capitals announced today that he underwent arthroscopic surgery to address a chronic left hip injury. Hagelin is out indefinitely, after missing a chunk of last season with an eye injury.
That’s not all, though, as the Capitals also announced surgery for Kody Clark to address a chronic condition with his left quad tendon. The prospect will miss six to eight months following the procedure.
Hagelin, 34, has made a career out of his skating ability, bursting up and down the ice with ease to put pressure on opposing players. That speed, defensive awareness, and versatility has made him an outstanding role player for great teams, and helped take the Pittsburgh Penguins to two Stanley Cup championships.
While some players struggle to reach the postseason at all, Hagelin has played 141 playoff games in his career and was rewarded nicely for that experience with a four-year, $11MM contract in 2019. That deal will expire after this season, meaning a serious hip issue might be spelling the end for the Swedish speedster.
Clark, meanwhile, is just starting on his professional journey. The 22-year-old winger was the 47th overall pick in 2018 and played his first full season for the Hershey Bears last year. In 63 games he managed to score eight goals and 19 points while racking up 53 penalty minutes. Losing key development time like this is never a good sign for a prospect’s long-term outlook.
Ducks Claim Brett Leason Off Waivers
While Anaheim lost a player on waivers today, they also picked one up as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed winger Brett Leason off waivers from Washington.
The 23-year-old split last season between the Capitals and their AHL affiliate in Hershey. With Washington, Leason played in 36 games, recording three goals and three assists while averaging just under nine minutes a night. He was a bit more productive with the Bears, however, tallying six goals and seven helpers in 31 contests down there. His career-best in points in the minors is only 20 despite finishing up his junior career with a dominant performance in 2018-19 that saw him put up 89 points in 55 games with WHL Prince Albert, helping to make him a second-round pick in his final year of draft eligibility.
This was Leason’s first year of being waiver-eligible and he came up just short of making Washington’s opening roster and will now try to earn himself a spot in Anaheim’s lineup over the coming days. He’s beginning the first season of a two-year, one-way contract that carries a cap hit of $775K.
Jets Claim Axel Jonsson Fjallby Off Waivers
Winnipeg’s bottom six forward group has undergone some changes over the offseason and one more change has been made as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed winger Axel Jonsson Fjallby off waivers from Washington.
It’s the second season in a row that the 24-year-old has been claimed off waivers as Buffalo scooped him up a season ago only to waive him less than a week later with a visa issue playing a role in that. Washington reclaimed Jonsson Fjallby at that time and sent him to the minors where he had a productive season with Hershey, notching 16 goals and 18 assists in 44 games. However, he also got his first taste of NHL action, picking up two goals and two assists in 23 games while logging over 11 minutes a night with the Caps.
Jonsson Fjallby is in the final season of a two-year, two-way deal that pays the league minimum at the NHL level and will need to have much more of a regular role in Winnipeg for him to play enough games to avoid being eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency next summer. He’ll take the place of Jansen Harkins on the roster for the Jets after Harkins cleared waivers earlier today.
Training Camp Cuts: 10/10/22
A very happy Thanksgiving to all of our readers who are celebrating! Today marks the deadline for NHL clubs to become cap compliant and submit their opening night rosters. More specifically, the 5:00 pm ET deadline is now less than six hours away. With that in mind, we expect to see plenty of players sent to the minor leagues, returned to juniors, or released from their PTOs today, and we’ll keep track of them here.
Arizona Coyotes (via team tweet)
D Cam Dineen (to Tucson, AHL)
G Jon Gillies (to Tucson, AHL)
F Laurent Dauphin (to Tucson, AHL)
F Bokondji Imama (to Tucson, AHL)
Buffalo Sabres (via team tweet)
D Lawrence Pilut (to Rochester, AHL)
G Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (to Rochester, AHL)
F Olivier Nadeau (to Gatineau, QMJHL)
Carolina Hurricanes (via team release)
F Jack Drury (to Chicago, AHL)
F Jordan Martinook (to Chicago, AHL)
Colorado Avalanche (via team tweet)
D Wyatt Aamodt (to Colorado, AHL)
F Mikhail Maltsev (to Colorado, AHL)
Columbus Blue Jackets (per team release)
F Emil Bemstrom (to Cleveland, AHL)
D David Jiricek (to Cleveland, AHL)
Detroit Red Wings (per team release)
D Jeremie Biakabutuka (released from ATO)
F Kyle Criscuolo (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Taro Hirose (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
G Jussi Olkinuora (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
F Givani Smith (to Grand Rapids, AHL)
Edmonton Oilers (via team tweet)
D Jason Demers (released from PTO)
F James Hamblin (to Bakersfield, AHL)
F Devin Shore (to Bakersfield, AHL)
Los Angeles Kings (per team release)
G Pheonix Copley (to Ontario, AHL)
F Rasmus Kupari (to Ontario, AHL)
F Andre Lee (to Ontario, AHL)
D Jacob Moverare (to Ontario, AHL)
Montreal Canadiens (via two team tweets)
F Rafael Harvey-Pinard (to Laval, AHL)
F Jesse Ylonen (to Laval, AHL)
D Justin Barron (to Laval, AHL)
D Otto Leskinen (to Laval, AHL)
G Cayden Primeau (to Laval, AHL)
D Arber Xhekaj (to Laval, AHL)
Nashville Predators (via team release)
F Jimmy Huntington (to Milwaukee, AHL)
F Mark Jankowski (to Milwaukee, AHL)
F Philip Tomasino (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Kevin Gravel (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Jordan Gross (to Milwaukee, AHL)
D Roland McKeown (to Milwaukee, AHL)
New York Rangers (via team release)
D Matt Bartkowski (released from PTO)
F Julien Gauthier (to Hartford, AHL)
Ottawa Senators (via team tweet)
F Ridly Greig (to Belleville, AHL)
Philadelphia Flyers (per Olivia Reiner, The Philadelphia Inquirer)
F Jackson Cates (to Lehigh Valley, AHL)
Seattle Kraken (via team tweet)
F John Hayden (to Coachella Valley, AHL)
D Michal Kempny (to Coachella Valley, AHL)
St. Louis Blues (via team release)
F Josh Leivo (to Springfield, AHL)
F Jake Neighbours (to Springfield, AHL)
Toronto Maple Leafs (via team tweet)
F Kyle Clifford (to Toronto, AHL)
F Adam Gaudette (to Toronto, AHL)
F Pontus Holmberg (to Toronto, AHL)
D Filip Kral (to Toronto, AHL)
D Victor Mete (to Toronto, AHL)
F Nick Robertson (to Toronto, AHL)
F Wayne Simmonds (to Toronto, AHL)
D William Villeneuve (to Toronto, AHL)
Vancouver Canucks (via team tweet)
F Linus Karlsson (to Abbotsford, AHL)
Vegas Golden Knights (via team release)
F Pavel Dorofeyev (to Henderson, AHL)
F Sakari Manninen (to Henderson, AHL)
F Jonas Rondbjerg (to Henderson, AHL)
D Jake Bischoff (to Henderson, AHL)
D Kaedan Korczak (to Henderson, AHL)
G Michael Hutchinson (to Henderson, AHL)
Washington Capitals (via team tweet)
F Henrik Borgstrom (to Hershey, AHL)
D Lucas Johansen (to Hershey, AHL)
Winnipeg Jets (via team tweet)
D Ville Heinola (to Manitoba, AHL)
This post will be kept updated throughout the day.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: Washington Capitals
Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid 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 2022-23 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on 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: $88,821,666 (over the $82.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
D Martin Fehervary (one year, $791K)
F Connor McMichael ($two years, $863K)
McMichael had a relatively quiet rookie campaign with the Capitals easing him into the thick of things. If he gets put into a more prominent role this season due to injuries, his offensive production could jump to a point where Washington wants to do something longer-term but at this point, a bridge deal is likely heading his way two years from now.
Fehervary’s rookie campaign was more impressive. He ranked third among Washington’s defensemen in ATOI while chipping in with plenty of physicality and some decent secondary production. This is the type of profile that some teams will look to try to do a long-term deal now to try to get him at a lower rate than market value at the end of the deal (think six years and an AAV over $3MM) but Fehervary would be better off waiting until next summer as a repeat performance could push a bridge deal towards the $2.5MM mark.
Signed Through 2022-23, Non-Entry-Level
F Connor Brown ($3.6MM, UFA)
F Lars Eller ($3.5MM, UFA)
D Erik Gustafsson ($800K, UFA)
F Carl Hagelin ($2.75MM, UFA)
F Garnet Hathaway ($1.5MM, UFA)
D Matt Irwin ($750K, UFA)
D Nick Jensen ($2.5MM, UFA)
F Marcus Johansson ($1.1MM, UFA)
D Dmitry Orlov ($5.1MM, UFA)
F Conor Sheary ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Dylan Strome ($3.5MM, RFA)
D Trevor van Riemsdyk ($950K, UFA)
Brown was Washington’s big addition up front this summer, coming over in a trade from Ottawa. With the Sens, he became a crucial two-way winger that can log heavy minutes but he likely won’t need to play 20 minutes a night with the Capitals which won’t help Brown’s market next summer. Right now, his next AAV should be in the $4.5MM range but if he’s able to show more offensively, he could surpass the $5MM threshold. Eller has been a solid third center for a long time in Washington for the last six years but is getting toward the point where there should be an expectation of diminishing returns. A return is definitely possible but after being at this AAV for nine years (including this one), he’s likely looking at a small dip a year from now.
How Strome fares will also play a role in Eller’s future. Non-tendered by Chicago, he signed with Washington where he’ll have a legitimate shot at a consistent top-six role. If he thrives, they’re likely to want to keep him over Eller moving forward. He had a strong market this summer in free agency and even a decent season in the 40-point range should nudge him towards at least a small raise next summer where he will once again be arbitration-eligible. Hagelin’s short-term future is in question as he tries to work his way back from an eye injury. He has been skating but didn’t suit up in the preseason. At this point, if he gets another deal, it’ll be a one-year agreement at a substantially lower rate (closer to the minimum) while he’s heading for LTIR to start the season.
Sheary is coming off one of the best seasons of his career and should be in line for a similar spot on the depth chart this year. That said, his profile (small and skilled) is the one we’ve seen have weaker markets than expected in free agency lately. Another 40-point season wouldn’t hurt his value but he might be someone that lands closer to $2MM on the open market than $3MM even with that production. Hathaway had a career year last season with 14 goals which chipping in with his usual physicality. Depth players often don’t have big markets in free agency but if he produces near that level again, power forwards are the exception which could push his AAV over the $2MM mark. Johansson decided to stick around after being brought back at the deadline and after two straight low-price, one-year deals, it’s safe to say that this is his market moving forward unless he has a surprisingly strong offensive season.
Onto the defense where all but one player is on an expiring deal this season. Orlov is the most prominent of the group and is also coming off a career season offensively. A few years ago, he was logging upwards of 23 minutes a night but over the last two years, that has dipped to the point where his usage is more of a second-pairing player which is notable. He’ll be 32 next season and while the offensive boost helps, that should more or less offset the reduced role. Orlov will still get a long-term deal but if he prioritizes getting as long of a deal as possible, there’s a chance that the AAV could come in slightly below his current rate. Otherwise, a medium-term agreement should cost somewhere in the $5.5MM to $6MM range.
Jensen also had the best year of his career and provided some value on what previously looked like a deal that was well above market value. Even so, his long-term track record is that of a third-pairing player and that will be hard to shake. The fact he’s right-handed certainly helps (the side that’s typically in higher demand) but it’s hard to forecast a raise at this point. A similar season to 2021-22 could help him land a similar AAV next summer though. Gustafsson, van Riemsdyk, and Irwin are all veteran depth players who aren’t going to command sizable raises at this point of their careers. It’s possible that van Riemsdyk will eclipse the $1MM mark but he shouldn’t get much more than that while the other two are likely to be close to the minimum moving forward.
Signed Through 2023-24
F Anthony Mantha ($5.7MM, UFA)
F Tom Wilson ($5.167MM, UFA)
The Capitals paid a high price to acquire Mantha and they haven’t been rewarded for it thus far as the veteran has missed most of the last two seasons due to injuries. When he has played, he hasn’t produced at the level of someone at his current AAV either. Some of that again is injury-related but it’s safe to say that they haven’t got what they bargained for from Mantha so far. The same can’t be said for Wilson. His contract seemed like a considerable overpayment at the time to many but that isn’t the case now. Despite the penalty and suspension trouble he gets into, he produces at a high enough rate to make him a true top-six power forward which is something that is very hard to find and is always in high demand. At this point, he should surpass the $6MM mark on his next deal.
Signed Through 2024-25
F Nicklas Backstrom ($9.2MM, UFA)
F Nic Dowd ($1.3MM, UFA)
F Evgeny Kuznetsov ($7.8MM, UFA)
G Charlie Lindgren ($1.1MM, UFA)
F T.J. Oshie ($5.75MM, UFA)
Backstrom picked the right time to sign this contract as it came just before the pandemic shutdown that has since flattened the cap; had he waited, the AAV almost certainly would have been lower. His hip injury situation has been well-documented and he’ll begin the year on LTIR. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was there for the entire year which would give Washington some extra space to work with this season. Kuznetsov has had some ups and downs which makes the value he provides each year range from poor to solid. He’s coming off a year that saw him produce at nearly a point per game and if he stays near that mark, they’ll get good value moving forward. With Backstrom out long-term, there’s extra pressure on Kuznetsov now.
Oshie saw his output dip sharply last season on a points-per-game basis which wasn’t entirely unexpected as he’s now 35. He’s in the back half of the long-term deal he signed which provided Washington with some cap-friendly years and now they’re entering the years that won’t be so team-friendly. Dowd is being paid as a fourth-line center but his usage has been closer to that of a third liner the last couple of seasons and as someone that can kill penalties, win draws, and can score at a decent depth rate, the Capitals are doing quite well with this deal. He’ll be 35 when this deal is up though so chances are that he won’t be able to command much more than this on his next contract.
Lindgren has spent the majority of his career in the minors but is coming off a strong season in the minors that was good enough to land him a three-year guarantee. Notably, the full amount can be buried in the AHL without cap penalty if he struggles but if he can give them 20-25 serviceable starts, Washington will be pleased with the contract and he’ll be boosting his value for his next trip through free agency.
T.J. Oshie, Dmitry Orlov Remain Day-To-Day
- Per NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie is feeling “ready to go” after suffering an upper-body injury during the preseason, but he’s yet to be cleared by the team’s medical staff to return to play. His status for the team’s season opener on Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins. Defenseman Dmitry Orlov is in a similar situation with a lower-body injury, meaning Washington could be without a top-nine forward and top-four defenseman, at least for opening night. Those injuries are in addition to the absences of Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson, who the team confirmed are headed for long-term injured reserve this morning.
Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson, Carl Hagelin To Start Season On LTIR
According to NHL.com regional writer Tom Gulitti, Washington Capitals regular forwards Nicklas Backstrom, Tom Wilson, and Carl Hagelin, alongside defenseman Alexander Alexeyev, will start the season on either long-term injured reserve or the injured non-roster list.
The news comes as little surprise for all four of the players. Most notably, Backstrom, who remains one of the most successful and important players in franchise history, had hip resurfacing surgery in June that could very well cost him the entire season. Importantly, though, reporting since the surgery indicates that Backstrom is pain-free for the first time in a long time and is recovering well from the procedure, which has significantly improved his quality of life. Backstrom still has an unclear timeline and has yet to resume skating, but he feels optimistic and the slim possibility remains that Backstrom suits up in 2022-23, whether it be for the end of the regular season or just the playoffs.
Alexeyev is recovering from a shoulder procedure that was announced at the same time as Backstrom’s surgery. The expected recovery time was four to five months, putting him on track to return sometime around November 1. Placement on either LTIR or injured non-roster suggests he may be a bit behind schedule in his recovery, but there doesn’t appear to have been a significant setback. Alexeyev could very well find a way to stay on the NHL roster once healthy if Matt Irwin struggles in his depth/seventh defenseman role.
Wilson underwent a procedure to repair a torn ACL in late May, carrying a six-to-eight-month recovery time that would have seen him return to the lineup in late November at the earliest. Over the offseason, however, reports have indicated that Wilson is ahead of schedule in his recovery, meaning it could just be roughly the first month of the season he misses. After scoring a career-high 24 goals and 52 points last year, he’s expected to slot back into the top-line right-wing spot once healthy.
Hagelin’s career-threatening eye injury last season appears to not be as bad as originally feared, as he skated with a non-contact designation prior to camp. Yet Hagelin’s bad injury luck hasn’t subsided, and he’s been dealing with unrelated issues that have kept him out of participating in much of camp. There’s no timeline for his return.