Trade winds blowing for slumping Capitals
From the moment the Washington Capitals hoisted the Stanley Cup for a first time last June, they started thinking about how they could do it again this year.
General manager Brian MacLellan has typically spent his summer trying to identify what the Cap were missing, but now that his club seemingly had all the right ingredients to win, he just tried to hold onto to most of them — and he did. There are just two players, fourth-line centre Jay Beagle and backup goaltender Philipp Grubauer, from Washington’s Stanley Cup-winning lineup that aren’t on the team anymore.
MacLellan had hoped that bringing back a near-identical roster from last season would mean the chemistry carried over, too, but it’s possible the group has grown stale, with eight losses in the past 10 games.
MacLellan has said he doesn’t favour tinkering too much this late into the season — that blockbuster for defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk in 2017 is a good example of how it can be hard to incorporate a big-name player on an accelerated timeline.
But he’s looking to make some kind of change before the trade deadline on Feb. 25. Expect it to be in the forward group.
“We’re active,” MacLellan said Monday. “We’re always active. We’re trying to see what’s happening in the market. You like certain guys, are they going to be available? Are they not going to be available? Does it fit your long-term plan? Does it fit cap-wise?
“We continually talk to teams and monitor what they’re thinking, and you try and find matches . ...
“I like to think our chemistry’s stayed the same, but it’s changed a little bit.”
Speaking to reporters less than a month ago, MacLellan said he was interested in swapping one forward for another with comparable salary, but when asked Monday if he would do a deal for future assets, like draft picks, MacLellan seemed open.
“I think we look at everything,” he said.
Winger Andre Burakovsky is the forward most likely to be on the move, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Capitals have asked for a pair of mid- to high-round picks for him. Those could then be packaged in a separate deal for someone to play in Washington’s middle-six forward corps, where the team hoped Burakovsky would be.
The 23-year-old has struggled with six goals and six assists in 46 games this season. The organization’s 2013 first-round pick, Burakovsky is set to become a restricted free agent this summer, and retaining his rights would require tendering him a qualifying offer of US$3.25 million, steep for his current production.
Burakovsky’s cap hit is lower ($3 million) and it expires at year’s end. Washington also would be selling low: Burakovsky has played fewer than nine minutes in each of the past three games.
According to CapFriendly.com, the Capitals have less than $40,000 in salary cap space.
That means the price for some marquee forwards available, like pending unrestricted free agents Wayne Simmonds, Micheal Ferland and Mats Zuccarello, might be too rich for Washington.