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Looking At Vegas and Washington’s Newly Found Cap Space

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In the past few days, two teams in somewhat similar positions, perennial contenders who need to improve to compete but with limited funds, found some additional salary cap space, though for different and ultimately unhelpful reasons. For the Vegas Golden Knights, they traded away veteran forward Evgenii Dadonov in exchange for defenseman Shea Weber, who is injured and unlikely to play again in the NHL. The Washington Capitals lost center Nicklas Backstrom presumably to LTIR after he had hip resurfacing surgery on Friday, a procedure that has a lengthy recovery time, if not ending his career outright. With what appears to be new cap space they may not have been fully expecting, both teams have some flexibility to make the moves they need to this summer, retaining players and perhaps replacing the talent they lost.

Vegas is currently just over $2.6MM above the salary cap ceiling, but once Weber’s LTIR is factored in, they will have exactly $5.2MM in cap space. Because the cap space is created using LTIR, they will not accrue any beyond that. With key RFAs including Brett Howden, Nicolas Hague, Nicolas Roy, and Keegan Kolesar, as well as UFA and original Golden Knight Reilly Smith to re-sign, it’s hard to imagine Vegas will be able to add any additional talent, and may even be in a difficult position just bringing back those five alone without making an additional move. Still, the created space does give Vegas a chance to not be handcuffed and be able to have some leverage in any additional cap trades they might look to make. A primary issue they will have to deal with is the cap space came at the expense of Dadonov, a talented veteran who recorded 43 points in 78 games, not a magical season but production that will be missed, especially if Vegas can’t find a way to at least keep Smith in the fold too.

Heading over to the east coast, Washington already stood in a much more comfortable spot than Vegas, with just a touch under $9MM in available cap space going into this offseason. With Backstrom’s injury and likely trip to LTIR, Washington will have just under $19.2MM in cap space with which to work. Not all of that can be spent on additions to the roster, but after giving contracts to pending free agents, including Marcus Johansson, Johan Larsson, and Justin Schultz on the UFA side and their goaltending tandem of Vitek Vanecek and Ilya Samsonov on the RFA side, the Capitals should still have a few million to work with. The issue in this is, after another first round exit in the playoffs, the Capitals were already in need of a few upgrades to their roster, and the departure of a superstar like Backstrom only adds to that need. Not only does Washington have to add, but they have to replace the production of one of the all-time greats in their organization. The team does have two options to add production up the middle, including young forward Connor McMichael who had 18 points in 68 games this season in the NHL and could be poised for a breakout 2022-23, and top prospect Hendrix Lapierre, who made his NHL debut this season before heading back for another strong season in the QMJHL.

The recent changes seem to mean more for Washington, and the league, than it does for Vegas, though it does buy Vegas some time, and power, in their negotiations, especially those focused on creating more cap space. To the Capitals, it provides much more flexibility and creates another interesting buyer on the trade and free agency markets, and an intriguing opportunity for those interested players who could have an opportunity to play with greats like Alex Ovechkin, John Carlson, and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

Washington Capitals Announce Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Alexeyev Had Surgery

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This afternoon, the Washington Capitals announced that star center Nicklas Backstrom and prospect Alexander Alexeyev both had surgery recently, with both expected to miss significant time. Backstrom had hip resurfacing surgery on Friday in Belgium, Washington confirmed, his recovery process beginning immediately, though a recovery timetable was not given (link). Alexeyev had a surgical labral repair to his left shoulder and is expected to mis four to five months (link).

The news on Backstrom is not surprising, his previous hip issues well documented, and his playing future seemingly uncertain at the conclusion of Washington’s season (link). At that point, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said Backstrom continuing to play with his hip as is was not sustainable and that the veteran forward would be looking at his options. Frank Seravalli of The Daily Faceoff points out that forward Ryan Kesler had the same hip resurfacing surgery that Backstrom had back in 2019 and of course, did not play again after (link). He also points to Ed Jovanovski, who had the same procedure in 2013, taking a full year to rehab, but came back to play 37 games before retiring.

Faced with a lengthy recovery and a checkered history of continued NHL play after having this surgery, Backstrom’s NHL future is up in the air. If Backstrom takes roughly the same year Jovanovski needed for recovery, he would find himself aiming to return at the start of the 2023-24 season, just ahead of his 36th birthday, but still with two years at a $9.2MM AAV remaining on his contract. Speaking of his contract, the injury does provide the Capitals with some flexibility to replace the production they will miss, allowing them to place the veteran on LTIR, adding another $9.2MM in cap space, more than doubling their current figure of just under $9MM of free space. This should add another wrinkle into the offseason, as a still-competitive Capitals team would presumably look to replace that production, jumping into a crowded market of teams looking to add from an also fairly crowded market of talented forwards both in free agency and on the trade block.

Alexeyev’s surgery, unlike Backstrom’s, does provide clarity on his situation and appears to give him a path to return without missing too much time, the four to five months timeline giving a late October or early November return date. The defenseman’s absence shouldn’t be a huge blow to the Capitals immediately, having played just one NHL game back in December. But, for the former first-round pick, who has been excellent in his time with the AHL’s Hershey Bears, he may have had a chance to push for a roster spot with the Capitals out of training camp. Now, the 22-year-old will now have to focus on recovering, likely beginning his season in the AHL.

Free Agent Focus: Washington Capitals

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Free agency is now less than six weeks away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in mid-July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Next up is a look at the Capitals.

Key Restricted Free Agents

G Ilya Samsonov – After a disappointing sophomore year, the Capitals were hoping that the 25-year-old would have a bounce-back campaign and stake his claim to the starting spot.  It didn’t happen.  Instead, Samsonov’s performance dipped once again with a save percentage of just .896 while his GAA jumped to 3.02.  In other words, he performed like a backup goalie.  Samsonov is owed a $2MM qualifying offer but is now arbitration-eligible which will help drive the price tag a little higher but it would be hard to see Washington offer a long-term deal.  He still will be RFA-eligible next summer so a one-year contract that gives him one more chance makes the most sense for both sides.

G Vitek Vanecek – Washington opted to trade a second-round pick to Seattle to get Vanecek back a week after they lost him in expansion and it’s a move that worked out well for them.  The 26-year-old had a near-repeat performance of his rookie year, posting an identical save percentage of .908 and improving slightly on his GAA from 2.69 to 2.67.  The qualifying offer for under $800K but it’s irrelevant as he’ll get at least three times that on his next deal.  Unlike Samsonov, Vanecek is a year away from UFA eligibility so they might be inclined to work on a multi-year pact with him which could push the price tag closer to the $3.5MM range.

Other RFAs: D Tobias Geisser, D Lucas Johansen, F Brett Leason, F Beck Malenstyn

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Justin Schultz – Schultz was a surprise signing in 2020 considering Washington had little cap space at the time which made it seem unlikely that they’d use a lot of it on one player.  His first year with them was good and he was able to hold down a spot in their top four, averaging just over 19 minutes a game.  However, things didn’t go as well this season.  His production dipped to 23 points in 74 games (a bit on the low side for an offensive defenseman) while he dipped below 17 minutes in ATOI as he was more sheltered; in the playoffs, that dipped to just over 15 minutes.  The Schultz of 2020-21 was close to being worth his $4MM AAV but this year’s version wasn’t near that price point.  Still just 31, there will be a market for him – especially as a right-shot defender – but he will be hard-pressed to land a raise in free agency.  A small dip appears likely.

F Marcus Johansson – It took a little while for Johansson to sign last summer, eventually agreeing to a one-year, $1.5MM deal with Seattle before making his way to Washington at the trade deadline for the second go-round with the team.  His per-game numbers were quite similar to his 2020-21 performance so it stands to reason that he should be able to command a similar price tag this time around.  Johansson’s positional versatility will help his market but at this point of his career, he’s more of a depth scorer than a top-six player like he was just a few years ago.

F Johan Larsson – Larsson has shown flashes of offensive skill in the past but it hasn’t yielded much production.  He had a bigger role while he was with Arizona and there was a corresponding increase in production as he was just over a half a point per game before being moved to the Capitals at the trade deadline.  Generally speaking, teams will want to go low on their fourth liners and role players to save some cap space but Larsson has a chance to be an exception as a decent checking center that can chip in a bit from the fourth line.  He should have a chance to at least come close to the $1.4MM AAV he had in each of the last two years.

Other UFAs: G Pheonix Copley, F Shane Gersich, D Matt Irwin, D Michal Kempny, F Brian Pinho

Projected Cap Space

Washington enters this offseason with just under $9MM in cap space and two big question marks with the injuries to Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson.  They could both be LTIR-bound to start the season but at least in Wilson’s case, he’ll be back after a couple of months.  With Backstrom, everything is on the table still with GM Brian MacLellan saying continuing to play through his injury would be unsustainable.  If they shut him down for a year with surgery, he could stay on LTIR throughout the year and the Capitals would have some flexibility.

Until they know one way or the other, they can’t plan for that to happen so for now, the bulk of that $9MM will need to go towards their two RFA goaltenders while they’ll also need to sign a defenseman or two with the leftover money.  Unless Backstrom is ruled out for the season, MacLellan won’t have much cap flexibility to work with this summer.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

Prospect Notes: Gauthier, Spence, Capitals

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Many draft experts will often express something like “with all else equal, take the center” when discussing forwards. The position is much more coveted than wing, especially near the top of draft boards. Perhaps that’s why Cutter Gauthier is flying up rankings as this year’s draft approaches, finishing third among North American skaters in the final list from NHL Central scouting.

Gauthier, 18, will transition to center full-time next season for Boston College, and teams that have interviewed him this week at the combine see him in the middle, according to Corey Pronman of The Athletic. The 6’3″ forward is already an interesting mix of size and skill, meaning that news of his move to center makes him all the more intriguing as an option near the very top.

  • Malcolm Spence, a 15-year-old winger from the GTHL, has officially committed to the Erie Otters after the team selected him second overall in this year’s OHL draft. That shouldn’t come as much of a surprise but means there will be plenty of eyes on the Otters over the next several years, as Spence tries to establish himself as one of the very top options for the 2025 draft. Mike Battah, co-director of scouting for the Otters, called Spence the most dynamic player in this year’s draft, despite going after first-overall pick and exceptional status player Michael Misa.
  • Technically, to carry a draft pick’s rights from year to year, a team has to extend a bona fide offer to them. Most teams don’t announce these offers publicly, but not so for the Washington Capitals, who tweeted today that Chase Clark, Joaquim Lemay, and Dru Krebs have all received one. This simply keeps them on the Capitals’ reserve list for another year, and certainly was an expected decision.

Minor Transactions 5/26/22

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With the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs now in full gear and one team already through to the Conference Finals, most AHL teams’ seasons are over and some have already begun chipping away at their offseason work. We’ll keep track of that AHL news here.

  • The Grand Rapids Griffins, the affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings, announced today that they re-signed forward Dominik Shine to a two-year AHL contract. Shine, an undrafted player and Detroit native, has played in six seasons for the Griffins. After a successful career at Northern Michigan University, Shine turned pro and got into eight regular-season games for the Griffins in 2017-18, the year the team went on to win the Calder Cup. From that point, Shine became a regular in Grand Rapids and produced modestly. This past season Shine had his best offensive output, posting 17 goals and 32 points in 71 games, to go along with a career-high 141 penalty minutes.
  • The Hershey Bears announced two signings today, the first being of forward Bear Hughes on an AHL deal for the 2022-23 season. Hughes, 20, was the Capitals’ fifth-round choice at the 2020 draft. Hughes is coming off a productive season for the Spokane Chiefs of the WHL, where he posted 67 points in 64 games, which led his team. The Post Falls, Idaho native will continue his development in Hershey hoping that his WHL production will translate to professional success and eventually an NHL contract.
  • The other signing the Bears announced today was of defenseman Benton Maass, also to an AHL deal covering 2022-23. Maass, 23, was a Washington Capitals sixth-rounder at the 2017 draft and has spent the past five seasons in the NCAA. He spent four years manning the blueline of the University of New Hampshire before spending a final season at Minnesota State University, where he played with Hobey Baker winner Dryden McKay and forward Nathan Smith, who now plays for the Arizona Coyotes.

Tom Wilson Undergoes Knee Surgery

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The Washington Capitals won’t have Tom Wilson for the start of the 2022-23 season. The team announced today that Wilson underwent a successful surgical procedure to reconstruct the torn ACL of his left knee. The current recovery timeline is set at six to eight months.

That would essentially rule Wilson out for all of training camp and the first month of the season at least, with the very real possibility of him missing a much bigger chunk of games. The seriousness of the surgery will also immediately draw speculation about Wilson’s effectiveness going forward, something that won’t be known for quite some time.

A player that is known for his power, speed, and physicality, Wilson has developed into quite an offensive threat for the Capitals. Selected 16th overall after scoring just nine goals in his draft season for the Plymouth Whalers, the 28-year-old forward now has three seasons with at least 21 goals and set a new career high of 52 points in 78 games this year.

He even scored on one of his three shifts against the Florida Panthers before exiting game one with an injury. Amazingly, Wilson actually skated with the team several times as the series continued–on what is now confirmed to be a torn ACL–but did not re-enter the lineup.

This news will come as a brutal blow to the Capitals as they try to reload for another Stanley Cup run in 2022-23. The team is already dealing with some uncertainty for Nicklas Backstrom as he deals with a serious hip injury and has an aging core led by Alex Ovechkin (36) and T.J. Oshie (35). While the Washington roster is still a good one, red flags are starting to wave.

For Wilson in particular, any loss of that full throttle speed and power could be devastating to his game. Always among the league leaders in hits, he has missed quite a few games throughout his career (even outside of the suspensions) and will now face a lengthy rehab.

MacLellan: Backstrom Continuing To Play Through Hip Injury In Its Current Form Not Sustainable

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Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom missed the first two months of the season with a hip injury and while he played the rest of the way, he wasn’t fully healthy.  Speaking to reporters at today’s end-of-season press conference, the veteran told reporters, including Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press, that his injured hip will never fully recover while GM Brian MacLellan indicated that Backstrom continuing to play through the injury in its current form will not be sustainable moving forward.  As a result, MacLellan indicated that the 34-year-old will be exploring his options.  The uncertainty surrounding Backstrom’s availability will make Washington’s offseason planning that much more difficult as a result.

Two Washington Capitals Defensemen Head To World Championship

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A pair of Washington Capitals defensemen are heading to Helsinki and Tampere, Finland, to participate in the 2022 IIHF World Championship. Youngster Martin Fehervary is joining Team Slovakia in Group A in Helsinki, while Michal Kempny will head to Team Czechia in Group B in Tampere.

Fehervary immediately becomes the only Slovak defenseman affiliated with an NHL team. While the team does also have projected 2022 top-five draft choice Simon Nemec, the team’s blue line is largely constructed of players from the Czech and Slovak Extraligas. Slovakia is off to a 1-1 start after defeating France 4-2 and losing to Germany 2-1. Their next game is tomorrow against the Canadians, a tough test for this squad.

The 22-year-old, who Washington selected 46th overall in 2018, forced his way into a full-time NHL role this season for the first time. Playing in 79 games, Fehervary worked his way up to the team’s top pairing alongside John Carlson, showing he could play against top competition. While neither his point totals (eight goals, nine assists, 17 points) nor his defensive metrics were particularly impressive, he did log some penalty-killing minutes as well and showed vast potential for improvement. The two-way defender will look at this tournament as a chance to continue his development on the international stage.

Kempny, now 31, got into only 15 games with the Capitals this season after missing all of 2020-21 with an injury to his Achilles tendon. He never found his way back into the lineup full-time, garnering a goal and assist in those 15 games, and spent 24 games with the AHL’s Hershey Bears. He will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He’ll join a Czech defense core highlighted by NHLers Filip Hronek, Radim Simek, and another projected top pick in 2022 in David Jiricek. Like the Slovaks, the Czechs have also split their opening games at the tournament, defeating Great Britain 5-1 before losing to Sweden 5-3.

Capitals Notes: Goaltending, Wilson, Laviolette

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Today was exit day for the Washington Capitals, and as part of that, Capitals GM Brian MacLellan spoke with the media. The biggest revelation coming from his media appearance regards the team’s goaltending situation, as he shed some light on how the team views their current tandem of goaltenders and what strategy they will take towards the position in the offseason. MacLellan said, as relayed by Samantha Pell of The Washington Post, that the team’s “top priority” regarding their goaltending is to acquire a veteran netminder. MacLellan also added that it’s “possible” that both of the team’s current goalies, Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek, (who are each eligible to become restricted free agents with arbitration rights) return next season, but that the priority is to add a veteran to the team.

Both Samsonov and Vanecek, who are 25 and 26 years old, respectively, had seasons to forget. For Vanecek, his regular season was solid (42 games played at a .908 save percentage) but he unraveled in the playoffs, not even making it to the end of game two before being pulled for Samsonov. Samsonov, on the flip side, had a poor regular season, posting only an .896 save percentage in 44 games. Although he did better in the playoffs (.912 in five games) he still failed to make the saves required for the Capitals to defeat the Florida Panthers. By virtue of both goalies needing a new contract, this offseason the Capitals are afforded the financial flexibility to choose a new direction in net. The Capitals intend on remaining competitive during the remaining years of Alex Ovechkin’s career, and MacLellan’s statements make it clear that the organization deems a veteran goaltender necessary to give their captain a chance at winning a second Stanley Cup. If their prior courtship of Marc-Andre Fleury is any indication, it seems MacLellan and the Capitals will be going fishing for a major addition to their crease this offseason.

Now, for some other notes regarding the Capitals:

  • Tom Wilson, one of the Capitals’ most important forwards, did not play very much in their short playoff run. He scored a goal but suffered a knee injury that MacLellan today said would have cost him the entirety of the Capitals’ playoff run, should they have made it into the next few rounds. Per Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, the team will make a decision in the next few days on whether Wilson needs surgery. Even with a potential surgery in mind, MacLellan did express optimism that Wilson would be ready to play by the start of next season. The Capitals rely on Wilson’s goal-scoring and physicality to win games, so if they want to hit the ground running for next season’s campaign getting Wilson back to full health will be a major priority for the team.
  • This season marks coach Peter Laviolette’s second behind the bench in Washington, and his combined 80-41-17 record over those two seasons is reflective of how well he has done in getting the most out of the Capitals’ players.  But despite that regular-season success, the Capitals have bowed out in the first round in both years of his tenure, and as a result, with Laviolette set to enter the final season of his contract, MacLellan was asked about Laviolette’s future in Washington. Per Gulitti, MacLellan made the point that he wanted to keep conversations regarding Laviolette’s contract situation private, but was complimentary about his coach’s work during this regular season and playoffs. While some more frustrated Capitals fans may want to see a change behind the bench after two straight early playoff exits, it seems that the organization has full faith in Laviolette being the right coach to bring the Capitals their second Stanley Cup.

Carl Hagelin’s Eye Injury Could Threaten Career

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Veteran forward Carl Hagelin was enjoying another solid season this year when suddenly it came to a screeching halt. The Washington Capitals winger suffered a mysterious eye injury at some point in early March, which was only disclosed once he underwent surgery on March 6. He was deemed out “indefinitely” and did not return this season. Speaking at the Capitals’ end of the year media availability today, Hagelin filled some of the gaps in his injury story and provided a glimpse into the future.

According to Hagelin, his eye injury was a “freak accident” that occurred in practice. A high stick caught him under the visor and hit him “right in the eyeball”. The incident ruptured the choroid in the back of his left eye, a collection of blood vessels responsible for the health of the eye. It has taken not one, but two surgeries to repair the injury. However, the repair is not complete. In fact, Hagelin states that he will never get full vision back in his eye and does not know how it will impact his attempt at a return next season.

Hagelin is signed through the 2022-23 season and hopes to honor that contract. He is optimistic that he can overcome his damaged vision and has been receiving support from Detroit Red Wings defenseman Marc Staal in his recovery. Staal, who was teammates with Hagelin with the New York Rangers, suffered a serious eye injury early in his career, but was able to return. Carl Soderberg is perhaps the greatest beacon of hope. The former NHLer suffered an even more serious injury to his left eye while still playing in Sweden early in his career. The injury required numerous surgeries over a months-long hospital stay and left Soderberg legally blind in that eye. Despite all that, Soderberg went on to have a full NHL career. Hagelin noted that he will learn from Staal and Soderberg, including copying their oversized visors if he does return, and hopes to find the same success in his recovery.

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