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Snapshots: Bedard, Seattle, McCarthy

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Move over Alexis, a new Canadian prospect is here. Connor Bedard, the first player to be granted exceptional status in the WHL, suited up for HV71 in the Swedish under-20 league today. Bedard only turned 15 a few months ago and was picked by the Regina Pats first overall in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft, but is getting his first taste of play this season overseas.

The incredibly shifty, talented forward from Vancouver is eligible for the 2023 NHL draft but is already wowing scouts all over the world. His development is obviously extremely important, but a move like this to play overseas only highlights how difficult this season could be for many other prospects that are waiting on their WHL and OHL schedules to begin. Not everyone is Bedard, receiving a prime opportunity to play with a strong European organization.

  • The Seattle Kraken have hired seven new people for their organization, including former NHL forward Gary Roberts, who will receive the title of sports science and performance consultant. The other names, which include Michael Booi, Nate Brookreson, Jeff Camelio, and Tim Ohashi all seem to be strong hires with long successful resumes of their own. Roberts though will get the headlines, thanks to his yearly offseason strength and conditioning work with players like Steven Stamkos and Connor McDavid. Roberts of course is a former teammate of Kraken GM Ron Francis in both Carolina and Toronto.
  • The Washington Capitals have hired Kevin McCarthy as an assistant coach, joining Peter Laviolette’s new staff. McCarthy will work with the team’s defensemen and has worked with Laviolette for years, in Nashville, Philadelphia and Carolina. He joins a staff that also includes Scott Arniel, Blaine Forsythe and Scott Murray.

Washington Capitals Re-Sign Shane Gersich

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The Washington Capitals are down to just one restricted free agent remaining after re-signing Shane Gersich to a one-year, two-way contract worth $700K at the NHL level. Gersich and Jonas Siegenthaler were the last two RFAs to get under contract, neither of whom have arbitration rights.

The 24-year-old Gersich has played just three games at the NHL level, all of which came at the end of the 2017-18 season after signing out of the University of North Dakota. The two following seasons have been spent entirely at the minor league level, where Gersich has 42 points in 120 regular season games.

A fifth-round pick in 2014, he shouldn’t be expected to become the next impact player for the Capitals but is a worthwhile minor league depth player to keep around. He’ll still be a restricted free agent next offseason, barely missing the age threshold for Group VI unrestricted free agency.

Washington Capitals Sign Daniel Carr

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The Washington Capitals have added a nice depth piece to the organization in a former AHL MVP. The team has announced a one-year, two-way contract with Daniel Carr. The deal carries a minimum $700K salary in the NHL, but a sizeable $415K salary in the AHL. Carr is currently playing with HC Lugano in Switzerland’s NLA, which will continue after the club announced that a loan agreement has already been reached.

Carr, 28, has always been an elite scorer in the minors, but has struggled to translate that ability to the NHL. In the past with the Montreal Canadiens, he put up good numbers as a part-time player but was never elevated to a full-time role. The past two years, playing with the Vegas Golden Knights and Nashville Predators and their respective affiliates, he has been relegated to a full-year AHL role, making just a few appearances on recall. This is likely the part he will play in Washington as well; the Capitals are deep up front in the NHL, but lack difference-makers in the AHL. Carr will likely play a major role for Hershey will making a handful of appearances in Washington.

Of course, the status quo could shift depending on how the Capitals resolve their salary cap woes. The team is currently over the upper limit and that is accounting for just 20 players per CapFriendly, not including one-way contracts belonging to the likes of Daniel Sprong and recent signing Paul LaDue. Washington also need to re-sign RFA defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler. The team must move out some salary before the new season begins, and if that happens to be a top-nine forward then Carr could instead wind up with a permanent place in Washington as an experienced, affordable option.

Washington Capitals Sign Paul LaDue

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After already adding a pair of NHL defensemen in Justin Schultz and Trevor van Riemsdyk, the Washington Capitals have signed Paul LaDue for some minor league depth. LaDue has signed a one-year deal worth $700K.

The 28-year-old defenseman has played 69 games at the NHL level, all of them with the Los Angeles Kings, the organization that picked him in the sixth round back in 2012. LaDue spent almost all of the 2019-20 season in the minor leagues with the Ontario Reign and it seems unlikely he’ll be in any different of a situation in Washington.

The Capitals already have seven NHL defensemen if you include the unsigned Jonas Siegenthaler even with Michal Kempny on long-term injured reserve, meaning LaDue will have to wait for further injuries to get into the lineup. That said, the team is already over the salary cap ceiling and there could be more moves on the way.

Washington Capitals Sign Trevor Van Riemsdyk

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The Washington Capitals have added some more defensive depth, signing Trevor van Riemsdyk to a one-year, $800K contract according to Frank Seravalli of TSN.

It wasn’t all that long ago that van Riemsdyk, 29, was playing top-four minutes for the Chicago Blackhawks and was an easy selection for the Vegas Golden Knights when left unprotected in the expansion draft. That status was tied to a deal that sent Marcus Kruger and his hefty contract to the Golden Knights, clearing cap room for the Blackhawks to work with but costing them the young defenseman.

Since Vegas was flush with defensemen through the draft however, van Riemsdyk was immediately flipped to the Carolina Hurricanes where he has spent the last three seasons. It’s hard to find a worse place for a right-handed defenseman to find minutes than Raleigh, who have had some combination of Brett Pesce, Justin Faulk, Dougie Hamilton and now Brady Skjei locked into the top two spots for van Riemsdyk’s entire tenure. The fact that he plays the left side as well would normally help in situations like that, but Carolina also happened to have names like Jaccob Slavin, Noah Hanifin, Joel Edmundson and now Brady Skjei on the team.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that van Riemsdyk has more to give than the 15-ish minutes he’s averaged over the last two seasons, but it certainly could. The Capitals lost Michal Kempny to an Achilles injury recently and have now brought in both Justin Schultz and van Riemsdyk to help that defensive group.

It could also mean that another move is coming though, given Washington’s cap situation. Sure, the team will have some extra flexibility when they move Kempny to long-term injured reserve, but he only carries a $2.5MM cap hit and the team is now over the salary cap ceiling. Jonas Siegenthaler was a regular last year and needs a new contract, while the team also could use another experienced forward addition.

Still, an $800K bet on van Riemsdyk seems like a prudent one for a team that knows first hand that long Stanley Cup runs require more than just six defensemen. Even if he’s the extra, he’s not costing them much.

Washington Capitals Sign Cameron Schilling

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The Washington Capitals are bringing back a familiar face. The team has announced that they have signed defenseman Cameron Schilling to a one-year, two-way contract. The pact carries the minimum $700K at the NHL level and $365K in the AHL. Schilling signed his entry-level contract with Washington as an undrafted college free agent back in 2012.

Schilling, 32, has spent the past three seasons with the Winnipeg Jets and the two seasons prior with the Chicago Blackhawks since leaving the Capitals in 2015. In that time, he has played in just four NHL games total, the same amount he played in his final season in Washington. Although Schilling’s AHL production has been improved over the past few years, he has yet to show the ability needed to be an NHL regular. He is a depth addition who at least has the experience to step into the lineup for the Capitals in the case of multiple injuries.

Where Schilling specifically fits in the organizational depth chart remains to be seen. With Michal Kempny potentially missing the whole season due to injury and Washington needing to move salary just to re-sign restricted free agent Jonas Siegenthaler, the NHL blue line looks a bit thin right now, especially on the left side. However, the Capitals have promising prospects like Martin Fehervary and Lucas Johansen waiting in the wings and they are lefties like Schilling. This could keep the vet blocked in the AHL all year unless he can prove to be a superior option.

Washington Capitals Agree To Terms With Justin Schultz

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The Washington Capitals needed to add some defense after Michal Kempny suffered a torn Achilles in offseason training and they’ll pick up a former rival. Justin Schultz has agreed to a two-year contract with the Capitals that will carry a $4MM cap hit.

Schultz, 30, was a 51-point defenseman just a few years ago but has seen his offensive production almost completely dry up. When you’re supposed to be a play-driving defenseman, 12 points in 46 games just isn’t cutting it. Over the last three seasons, Schultz has played in just 138 games and has just 54 points, not enough when you also don’t provide much polish at the defensive end.

Perhaps it’s just the injuries that have sapped his production, but given how poor his possession statistics have also been it’s hard to know exactly what the Capitals are getting. For $4MM per season on a Stanley Cup contender, that’s a big risk to take.

Schultz fits in just ahead of the re-signed Brenden Dillon on the salary chart and reduces the Capitals remaining space to almost zero. Moving Kempny onto long-term injured reserve will give them a little more wiggle room, but without moving money out there isn’t a lot more the Capitals can do.

Washington Capitals Sign Henrik Lundqvist

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11:50am: Lundqvist has officially signed with the Capitals and will earn $1.5MM this season.

9:15am: There may not be a flurry of signings made official when the free agent market opens up but TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports (Twitter link) that one move that’s expected to be announced is the Capitals signing goaltender Henrik Lundqvist to a one-year deal.  The contract is expected to be worth $1.5MM which would bring his total compensation for 2020-21 to $4.5MM with the Rangers paying him $3MM from last week’s buyout.

The 38-year-old has spent his entire 15-year NHL career in New York where he holds several franchise records.  However, with Igor Shesterkin impressing in his first NHL action late last season and Alexandar Georgiev still in the fold, there wasn’t much room for Lundqvist and keeping him around at a $8.5MM AAV just wasn’t in the cards.  Last season, he played in 30 games (26 starts), posting a 3.16 GAA with a .905 SV%.

While there wasn’t a fit for him to remain with the Rangers, there certainly is with Washington.  Braden Holtby is set to depart in free agency which leaves the still-untested Ilya Samsonov as their starter.  The 23-year-old has just 26 NHL appearances under his belt and wasn’t able to play in the playoffs due to injury.  Lundqvist should be a good mentor for Samsonov while still being able to take on a notable workload to allow the youngster to ease into the starting role.  The move also means that Pheonix Copley and Vitek Vanecek should remain as their goaltending tandem at AHL Hershey.

Assuming the deal is made official, the Capitals will be roughly $4MM under the salary cap with RFA blueliner Jonas Siegenthaler needing a new deal plus Washington having to add a few players to fill out their roster.  If they make any other moves in free agency, expect them to be low-salaried acquisitions as a result.

Capitals To Take Full Bonus Penalty In 2020-21

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  • In a pair of tweets, PuckPedia reports that the Hurricanes and Capitals will both take their full bonus overage penalties this coming season instead of amortizing them over two years which was a one-time option in the new CBA. As a result, Carolina’s cap space for 2020-21 will decrease by just over $1.367MM while Washington’s goes down by just under $420K.

Michal Kempny Undergoes Achilles Surgery, Capitals Re-Sign Dillon

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The Washington Capitals offseason has started off poorly, with the team announcing today that Michal Kempny has suffered an Achilles tendon injury. The defenseman has undergone surgery and is expected to miss six to eight months. Kempny suffered the injury during his offseason training in the Czech Republic.

This is brutal news for Kempny, who spent all of last season trying to get back to full-strength after surgery to repair a torn hamstring in April 2019. The fleet-footed defenseman was only able to record 18 points in 58 games and just didn’t make the same impact he had the year prior. Now with another long rehab in front of him, he’ll have to hope that he can get back during the 2020-21 season at all.

Perhaps on cue however, the Capitals have re-signed Brenden Dillon to a new four-year contract with an average annual value of $3.9MM. Dillon was scheduled for unrestricted free agency on Friday and the Capitals had been reportedly trying to move some money out in order to fit his salary in. With Kempny likely headed for long-term injured reserve, that flexibility is now available without trading out an asset.

Still, given the season isn’t set to start until January, Kempny could be back at some point and taken of LTIR. That means the Capitals still can’t go overboard in free agency and are still in a rather precarious salary cap position. Radko Gudas, who was the team’s other pending UFA defenseman, is expected to reach free agency.

Dillon, 29, came to the Capitals in a February trade with the San Jose Sharks that saw two relatively high draft picks go the other way. After using that much draft capital to acquire him and seeing him fit in so well, it made sense for Washington to try and retain Dillon’s services this offseason.

Though he will never be expected to put up big offensive numbers, the veteran defenseman has shown an ability to skate beside some of the league’s best and lock down his own end. His possession numbers have always been strong and he brings a physical element that is becoming rarer in the NHL.

Even with Dillon back in the fold, the Capitals could have to rely more heavily on their young prospect pipeline this season. Several high draft picks are pushing for an opportunity at the NHL level and with Kempny headed for a long stint on the injured list, it may just be available.

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