- Capitals winger T.J. Oshie has not been given any indication from the team that he will be left unprotected in the expansion draft, relays J.J. Regan of NBC Sports Washington. Oshie has long been a speculative target for Seattle although with the year he had offensively – 43 points in 53 games – he’d undoubtedly be a big loss for Washington. While Oshie doesn’t have a no-move clause and thus doesn’t need to be notified in advance if he was being exposed, Regan suggests this could mean that the Caps intend to have the 34-year-old on their protected list when it’s submitted a week from today.
Capitals Rumors
Washington Capitals Re-Sign Beck Malenstyn
The Washington Capitals have re-signed one of their depth forwards, inking Beck Malenstyn to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $750K and pay Malenstyn $90K in the AHL.
For Malenstyn, just getting back on the ice will be a triumph after missing the entire season. The 23-year-old forward tore his Achilles tendon in December during offseason training, and was given a recovery timeline of six to eight months. That means he’ll be competing for a spot next season following a very long layoff and likely will need some time in the AHL to really get his game back on track.
That track had him in the Capitals lineup for three games during the 2019-20 season, though he did not register a point. The 6’3″ winger is likely going to top out as a fourth-line option in the NHL thanks to a lack of real scoring upside, but for the league minimum, he’ll be in consideration for a spot. Selected 145th overall in 2016, he scored 15 points in 46 AHL games the last time he was healthy enough to play.
Cap Overage Penalty For Washington Next Season
Washington will be facing a bonus overage penalty of nearly $473K for next season, Mike Vogel of the Capitals’ team site relays (Twitter link). Defenseman Zdeno Chara reached his games played and playoff qualification bonuses while goaltender Ilya Samsonov met his shutout bonus mark as well. With the team being in LTIR all season long due to injuries to blueliner Michal Kempny and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, they were never in a position to bank any space during the season that could have offset those bonuses. The Caps already have over $72MM in commitments for next season per CapFriendly and still have to re-sign captain Alex Ovechkin, Samsonov, and round out the rest of their roster. GM Brian MacLellan will undoubtedly be working hard in the coming weeks to free up some much-needed cap flexibility.
Minor Transactions: 6/23/21
As we cross the middle of the week, many minor transactions are coming up on the wire. Many teams are trying to solidify depth for the 2021-22 campaign as a return to normal operations is expected throughout the hockey world. You can keep up on today’s slate of minor transactions right here:
- The AHL’s Rockford IceHogs announced today via their team website that they’ve re-signed goalie Cale Morris to a one-year contract. After four seasons (three as the starter) for the University of Notre Dame, Morris, who went undrafted, signed with the IceHogs prior to the 2020-21 campaign. As Rockford faced goalie uncertainty this year with expected starter Kevin Lankinen working his way up to the Chicago Blackhawks, Morris impressed in a backup role. Playing in seven contests, Morris amassed a .923 save percentage in spite of a 2-3-0 record. The Larkspur, Colorado native will likely split time between Rockford and the ECHL’s Indy Fuel next season as Chicago’s goalie depth chart is replenished.
- Another AHL club made moves today as well, as the Cleveland Monsters made two additions on offense, announced today on the team’s website. One of them was Justin Scott, who’ll return to the team for a sixth straight season. Signing with Cleveland after his last OHL season, Scott’s been a member of the club since 2016-17. He served as an assistant captain this past season, posting seven points in 18 games. Scott should be a solid voice in the room, as the Blue Jackets will rely heavily on Cleveland in the coming seasons to develop their next generation of players. The team also announced the re-signing of Tristan Mullin, who got into 15 games with Cleveland last year after his college career ended with the University of Vermont. The 6′ 2″ forward showed flashes of potential, scoring three goals, but still might spend time in the ECHL next year with a restocked Cleveland roster.
- A rather large trade was announced this morning in the QMJHL via the league’s Twitter account. The Acadie-Bathurst Titan acquired Washington Capitals first-round selection Hendrix Lapierre and a 2023 seventh-round draft pick from the Chicoutimi Saguenéens in exchange for forwards Julien Bourget and Alexis Dubé along with a myriad of draft selections, including first-rounders in 2022 and 2023. Lapierre was one of the most highly-regarded prospects in the 2020 draft before a season laced with injury limited him to just 17 points in 19 games. Lapierre, healthy this season, improved mightily on the scoresheet, scoring 31 points in a shortened 21-game season with Chicoutimi. He’ll now spend his last season in the OHL with Acadie-Bathurst as he continues his development.
- Teams will be adding a couple of names to their draft boards soon, as CapFriendly clarified the draft re-entry status of two NHL prospects. Mathew Hill, a former sixth-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks, and Eemeli Rasanen, a former second-round selection of the Toronto Maple Leafs, will both re-enter the draft in July. One of the last selections taken before Kyle Dubas became general manager, Rasanen appealed with his physical presence and 6′ 7″ frame. However, the Finnish defenseman has struggled immensely overseas, posting no points this year with HPK in the Liiga. He’ll re-enter the draft as a 22-year-old overager, and it’s unlikely he’ll be selected at this point. Hill, just 20 years old, has also failed to pan out in the way Anaheim wished. With his Barrie Colts not playing a season this year in the OHL, and Hill seeing just three games of action in Demark’s junior league on loan, his future in the NHL remains extremely uncertain.
Offseason Checklist: Washington Capitals
The offseason has arrived with roughly half of the league missing the playoffs and several more having since been eliminated. It’s time to examine what those teams need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Washington.
The Capitals tied for first in the East Division this season, extending their streak of consecutive first-place finishes to six years in a row. However, they extended another streak this year as they were eliminated in the first round for the third straight season. The core is mostly signed for 2021-22 and flexibility will be minimal. Accordingly, it could be a quiet offseason for Washington although GM Brian MacLellan will have a few things on his to-do list.
Re-Sign Ovechkin
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. The 13-year, $124MM contract for Alex Ovechkin that seemed outlandish at the time has come to an end and both sides did well with it. The Caps got an elite scorer for pretty much the entirety of the contract and Ovechkin is now the third-highest paid player in NHL history. It’s time for him to move higher on the list.
The 35-year-old is eligible to hit the open market for the first time of his career next month although no one expects it to get that far. There is mutual interest in getting a contract done while Ovechkin will be acting as his own agent in the process. Talks were put on hold during the season and playoffs but if they haven’t got going underway already, they should soon.
The big question is how much the next deal is going to cost. A TSN report from Frank Seravalli back in January suggested that Ovechkin was initially hoping to match Connor McDavid’s $12.5MM AAV although that was before the pandemic hit and the financial landscape is much different now than it was projected to be back then. He’s also coming off a quiet year by his standards; while he was still productive with 24 goals and 18 assists in 45 games, it was his lowest goal and point-per-game numbers since 2011-12. At his age, there is bound to be a decline. Was this a blip or the start of that drop?
That makes this contract an intriguing one despite the extreme unlikelihood that he actually gets to free agency. How many years do they want to do? It’s worth noting that he’s 164 goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record and it will take four or five healthy seasons to get there. But Ovechkin has indicated that he wants to finish his career back in the KHL so does he want to play long enough to have a shot at Gretzky’s record? And if Washington feels that the drop off has started, do they want to commit to something that long? Would they prefer a two or three-year deal with the idea of another shorter-term contract after that at a lower rate? Doing so would yield a higher AAV now but take away some risk.
There are definitely some questions to answer in this case and while Ovechkin has made it clear that he wants to stay in Washington, it’s a situation that MacLellan should want to resolve sooner than later with the domino effect that will follow once it’s done.
Clear Cap Space
That domino effect is the salary cap casualty that will be required to accommodate Ovechkin’s new contract. They have just over $72MM in commitments for next season already and Ilya Samsonov is also looking at a raise in his first trip through restricted free agency. The cap isn’t going up and $9.5MM in cap space isn’t going to be enough to re-sign them and fill out the roster. It’s fair to wonder if that will be enough to keep Ovechkin alone.
Some trimming needs to be done over the coming weeks but it won’t be easy. MacLellan will understandably want to keep his core players around (and moving big-ticket deals will be difficult in this market) so the savings may need to come from the depth. Carl Hagelin ($2.75MM), Nick Jensen ($2.5MM), and Garnet Hathaway ($1.5MM) are all still serviceable players but they are a bit pricey for the roles they fill. Moving a couple of those for cheaper players would give them some much-needed flexibility. But even that will be easier said than done in a market where many teams will want to free up money. Expansion could help if they lose one there but MacLellan will have his work cut out for him here.
Protect The Goalies
Speaking of expansion, the Capitals are a team that looks like they will need to make a side deal with the Kraken. Both Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek are eligible for selection and there is no protection scheme that allows a team to protect more than one goalie. One of them will have to be exposed.
Samsonov is coming off a tough sophomore year but is still their goalie of the future (and present) while Vanecek had a nice rookie season and perhaps more importantly, is signed for less than the league minimum for 2021-22. For a team that is going to be at or over the cap when Ovechkin re-signs, that’s a luxury they need to try to keep.
A side deal could push one of the pricier role players to Seattle as well which would help their cap situation as an extra benefit. But early indications are that those agreements will carry a hefty price tag, more than what a lot of teams are willing to pay right now. For Washington, however, this roster composition only works with a very cheap goalie tandem so even if it seems costly, it’s a price they may very well have to pay.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Washington Capitals Re-Sign Shane Gersich
The Washington Capitals have re-signed one of their minor league forwards, inking Shane Gersich to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will carry an NHL salary of $750K and keeps Gersich away from restricted free agency later this summer.
Now 24, Gersich made his Capitals debut in 2018 but hasn’t made it back to the NHL since. In 33 games for the Hershey Bears this season he managed to score six goals and 14 points, but still hasn’t been able to repeat the offensive performance that made him a star at the University of North Dakota. Drafted 134th overall in 2014, he has settled into a depth role in the AHL and is unlikely to see extended time with the Capitals, but is still a valuable asset for the organization as injury insurance.
Perhaps more important is his leadership role with the Bears, where he wore an “A” as an alternate captain this season. His minor league salary of $187,500 will keep him in the Washington organization and takes another RFA off the to-do list for Capitals GM Brian MacLellan.
Gersich will turn 25 in July, meaning that at this time next year he’ll be preparing for Group VI unrestricted free agency. That is of course unless he gets in 77 games with the Capitals next season, a notion that seems far-fetched at this point.
Washington Capitals Sign Three Players
The Washington Capitals have completed a little housekeeping today, re-signing both Garrett Pilon and Bobby Nardella to identical two-year contracts. The deals will carry an average annual value of $750K in the NHL and are two-way the first season, one-way the second. The team has also signed Michael Sgarbossa to a two-year, two-way contract that will carry a $750K salary in the NHL.
Pilon, 23, made his NHL debut this season, suiting up for a single game with the Capitals five years after they drafted him 87th overall. The rest of his time was spent with the minor league Hershey Bears, scoring 16 points in 14 games. That was the first time he came anywhere close to a point-per-game rate in the AHL, signaling that he may have unlocked a little more offense after a few relatively pedestrian seasons. The Capitals obviously believed he was worth extending taking Pilon through the 2022-23 season with this new contract.
Should he fail to get much more opportunity at the NHL level, Pilon could end up a Group VI unrestricted free agent at the end of this contract, as he will be 25.
Nardella meanwhile is already 25 and still has not played a single game in the NHL. The former Notre Dame star spent this entire season with Djurgardens IF in Sweden, scoring 33 points in 47 games. Undersized, Nardella does bring an excellent offensive profile but will still be hard-pressed to become an impact player with the Capitals. Still, he too received a multi-year deal, keeping him from free agency and in the Washington system. He’ll be a prime candidate to help fill in during injury emergencies, but don’t expect him to take a full-time roster spot anytime soon.
Sgarbossa, 28, was already headed for unrestricted free agency, after spending the last three seasons in the Capitals organization. He’ll be back though too continuing to serve as an injury replacement and minor league depth. The undrafted center played in five games for the Capitals this season, registering two assists. In 14 games for the Hershey Bears, he put up ten points and has long been an excellent minor league performer.
Washington Capitals Extend Bobby Nardella
The Washington Capitals have come to terms on a new deal with defenseman Bobby Nardella. CapFriendly reports that the two sides have agreed on a two-year extension that will keep the 25-year-old under contract through 2022-23, at which point he will be an unrestricted free agent. The contract carries the minimum NHL salary of $750K and is two-way this coming season, at $110K in the minors, before transitioning to one-way in year two.
If Nardella’s name does not immediately come to mind, it may be because he was under contract with Washington but playing in Sweden this past season. Nardella joined Djurgardens IF back in September, but rather than re-join the Capitals when training camps opened, the team allowed him to say overseas where he was thriving. Nardella recorded 33 points in 47 games this year in just his second professional season. He led Djurgardens in scoring and finished in the top five among SHL defenseman. He returns to North America having tasted what it is like to be an elite scoring defenseman in the pros and the Capitals hope to see that continue.
An undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame in 2019, Nardella is an undersized and offensive-minded blue liner, but has not let that limit him from making a difference in all three zones through his NCAA career and a season apiece in the AHL and SHL. Likely to return to the Hershey Bears to at least begin the 2021-22 season, Nardella could quickly earn a recall if he can show that his time in Sweden improved his game. The Capitals have no shortage of talented left-handed defense prospects such as Alexander Alexeyev, Martin Fehervary, and Lucas Johansen, but they could need immediate help at that area with Jonas Siegenthaler gone, Zdeno Chara heading for free agency or retirement, and Brenden Dillon a potential Expansion Draft casualty. Washington could be inclined to go with their most experienced option among that young group if they need defensive depth and that would be Nardella.
Expansion Primer: Washington Capitals
Over the next few weeks, we will be breaking down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Which players are eligible, who will likely warrant protection, and which ones may be on the block to avoid the risk of losing them for nothing? Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4:00 PM CDT on July 17th. The full eligibility rules can be found here, while CapFriendly has an expansion tool to make your own lists.
Expansion wasn’t too kind to Washington last time as they lost Nate Schmidt to Vegas and he quickly went from a depth defender to a key part of their back end for three seasons before cap constraints necessitated a move to Vancouver. While rosters can still change in the next six weeks, it certainly appears as if the Capitals will be losing another notable piece to the Kraken next month.
Eligible Players (Non-UFA)
Forwards:
Nicklas Backstrom (NMC), Nic Dowd, Lars Eller, Shane Gersich, Carl Hagelin, Garnet Hathaway, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Beck Malenstyn, Anthony Mantha, T.J. Oshie, Garrett Pilon, Brian Pinho, Conor Sheary, Daniel Sprong, Tom Wilson
Defense:
John Carlson, Brenden Dillon, Nick Jensen, Lucas Johansen, Michal Kempny, Dmitry Orlov, Justin Schultz, Trevor van Riemsdyk
Goalies:
Pheonix Copley, Zach Fucale, Ilya Samsonov, Vitek Vanecek
Notable Unrestricted Free Agents
G Craig Anderson, F Daniel Carr, D Zdeno Chara, G Henrik Lundqvist, F Alex Ovechkin, F Michael Raffl
Notable Exemptions
D Alexander Alexeyev, D Martin Fehervary, F Hendrix Lapierre, F Connor McMichael
Key Decisions
Since Seattle was unveiled as the 32nd NHL franchise, there has been plenty of speculation about Oshie, who was raised just north of there. Wouldn’t it be something if a hometown player became the first-ever captain of the franchise? And hey, clearing his $5.75MM AAV through 2025 off the books would give the Capitals some much-needed cap flexibility. However, he certainly doesn’t want to go and GM Brian MacLellan has indicated that he wants Oshie back as well. Let’s not forget that he was one of their top scorers this season and they’re a team that wants to win now. It’s possible that he could be left unprotected due to his contract to allow them to protect a bubble forward but with other viable options to choose from, he doesn’t seem to be the strongest of candidates to be picked.
Let’s dig into those bubble forwards. Wingers Hagelin and Hathaway appear to be safe bets to be left unprotected as their price tags are a little high for the roles they provide and for a team in need of cap space, they’re not going to protect a role player making more than they’d get on the open market. Eller makes a little more than most third line centers but with plenty of uncertainty surrounding Kuznetsov’s future with the team (he appears to be a prime candidate to be traded), it’s hard to see them letting their insurance policy in Eller go.
That leaves a trio of forwards to ponder in Sheary, Sprong, and Dowd. Sheary had a respectable 14 goals in 53 games this season and recently signed a two-year contract with a $1.5MM cap hit, a more than reasonable price tag. However, Sprong had 13 goals in 42 games and will have an AAV below the league minimum next season. He’s also five years younger than Sheary but has bounced around already in his career and had limited usage in the playoffs. Then there’d Dowd, their fourth-line center for the past three years. He had 11 goals in 56 games this season, won over 56% of his faceoffs, and is signed for the league minimum. There’s a lot of value in that contract. Only one can be kept, however.
Having said that, it might not matter which one gets protected as in the end, their other positions appear to be riper for the picking.
Heading into the season, Samsonov looked like a lock to be protected. However, injuries and COVID-19 limited him to just 19 regular season appearances where he didn’t play particularly well, notching just a .902 SV%. On the other hand, he has been their goalie of the future since he was picked 22nd overall in 2015 and his rookie season showed plenty of promise. There is definitely still some upside to the 24-year-old who is a pending restricted free agent.
Still, Samsonov’s struggles opened the door for Vanecek who went from having no NHL experience this season to their de facto starter where he performed a little better than Samsonov did (a .908 SV% with an identical 2.69 GAA). It’s also worth noting that he’s also signed at a cap hit that’s below the league minimum next season. Even to Seattle, a team that probably won’t go right to the Upper Limit right away, that carries a lot of value.
Unlike skaters, there is no alternate protection scheme that allows a team to protect multiple goaltenders. Barring a side agreement, one of them has to be made available and whichever one is left exposed becomes an immediate contender to be selected.
There is an interesting decision that needs to be made on the back end as well. Carlson and Orlov are locks to be protected but that only leaves one slot for several capable defenders.
Schultz was one of the bigger surprise signings last fall when he got a two-year, $8MM contract despite a tough year with Pittsburgh. To his credit, he bounced back nicely with 27 points in 46 games which is decent value for an offensive defender. On a back end that doesn’t have a lot of offensive pop beyond Carlson and Orlov, losing him would definitely hurt.
But while Dillon doesn’t provide much on the scoresheet, he brings a lot of physicality and defensive acumen to the table which earned him a four-year, $15.6MM deal after impressing in his short stint upon being acquired as a rental at the trade deadline. He brings a dimension that they were seeking for a while and with three years left, he’s more likely to be part of their long-term plans over Schultz who will be unrestricted next summer. But is $3.9MM too pricey for Seattle for a stay-at-home defender?
Kempny could have been in the mix for this final slot had he been healthy but injuries wiped out his entire season. He should be ready for next season but after not playing this season, he’s not a big risk to be selected. Jensen is a contract they wouldn’t mind unloading to free up some extra wiggle room but they’d need some incentive to take him and while van Riemsdyk has over 400 career games of experience (including the playoffs) and is signed for just $950K, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll entice the Kraken either.
Projected Protection List
F Nicklas Backstrom (NMC)
F Lars Eller
F Evgeny Kuznetsov
F Anthony Mantha
F T.J. Oshie
F Conor Sheary
F Tom Wilson
D John Carlson
D Dmitry Orlov
D Justin Schultz
Skater Exposure Requirement Checklist
When Vegas had their expansion draft, a minimum of two forwards and one defenseman had to be exposed that were under contract and played either 40 games in the most recent season or 70 over the past two combined. Due to the pandemic, those thresholds have been changed to 27 games played in 2020-21 or 54 in 2019/20 and 2020-21 combined. In creating our expansion list for each team in this series, we will ensure that these criteria are met.
Forwards (4): Nic Dowd, Carl Hagelin, Garnet Hathaway, Daniel Sprong
Defensemen (4): Brenden Dillon, Nick Jensen, Michal Kempny, Trevor van Riemsdyk
There are definitely a couple of viable routes for Seattle to take here. Dillon isn’t flashy but is definitely dependable and would comfortably step into their top four for the foreseeable future. But Vanecek is coming off a strong first NHL season and is cheap. At least three goalies have to be picked by the Kraken and at a bare minimum, he’d be an intriguing pick-and-flip candidate. He’s also a restricted free agent at the end of next season so it’s quite plausible for him to be viewed as part of their longer-term plans. Seattle GM Ron Francis will have a tough decision to make but he will be landing a quality player from the Capitals either way.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Washington Capitals Re-Sign Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
With his entry-level contract set to expire this summer, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby has decided to re-sign with the Washington Capitals. The two sides have reached an agreement on a two-year, two-way contract that will carry a salary of $750K in the NHL. Jonsson-Fjallby will receive an AHL salary of $175K next season and $225K in 2022-23.
Now 23, it’s been an interesting few seasons for the Swedish winger. This season was split between Vasterviks IK in the Allsvenskan (Swedish second tier) and the Hershey Bears, where he scored 10 goals and 15 points in 31 games. Just today Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic wrote about the Capitals prospect, noting that Jonsson-Fjallby’s penalty-killing ability makes him an interesting option at the NHL level should someone like Carl Hagelin get injured.
Still, it seems unlikely that the fifth-round pick will ever really be an impact player for the Capitals, even if his speed does make for some interesting potential. Signing him gives Hershey back an important player, though he will have to clear waivers next season in order to report to the AHL. The Capitals have a handful of other restricted free agents to sign, including of course goaltender Ilya Samsonov who is arbitration-eligible.