Capitals allow fan favourite Smith-Pelly to test free agency
The Washington Capitals did not qualify pending restricted free agent right-winger Devante Smith-Pelly by Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline, meaning Smith-Pelly will become an unrestricted free agent July 1. The Capitals are expected to continue discussions with Smith-Pelly and could make a push to sign him in free agency, but he can also hear from other National Hockey League teams as part of this week’s “interview period” leading up to July 1 when free agents are eligible to sign.
Washington submitted qualifying offers for forwards Tom Wilson, Travis Boyd, Liam O’Brien, Riley Barber and defenceman Madison Bowey, so the team retains those players’ rights as they continue negotiating.
The move is a surprising one considering Smith-Pelly was one of the Capitals’ top players in their run to a Stanley Cup championship, scoring seven even-strength goals in 24 games to match his regular season total. He played mostly on the fourth line, but he was also occasionally used in a top-six role, temporarily promoted to the top line beside centre Evgeny Kuznetsov and Alex Ovechkin when Wilson was suspended for three playoff games. Smith-Pelly’s strong post-season play could make him a coveted free agent.
His popularity in Washington blossomed with his post-season heroics. The night the Capitals clinched their first Stanley Cup in franchise history — SmithPelly scored the game-tying goal in that Game 5 — fans in Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena chanted Ovechkin’s name, but then they chanted “D-S-P” for Smith-Pelly. When asked about Smith-Pelly’s future in Washington earlier this month, general manager Brian MacLellan indicated the team planned to retain him.
“I think he’s become a big part of the team,” MacLellan said.
“He brings good energy, he’s a good teammate, he’s well-liked. I mean, you could tell teammates really migrate toward him and like him, and then the crowd also likes him. They’re chanting ‘D-S-P’ all of the time. So it’s been fun how he’s got everybody to embrace him and his personality.”
With Smith-Pelly a restricted free agent, the Capitals owned his rights and tendering a qualifying offer to maintain those is typically just a formality. Because Smith-Pelly made the league minimum salary of $650,000 last season, a qualifying offer would have been $715,000, which SmithPelly would have almost certainly rejected, as most restricted free agents do. But at 26 years old, Smith-Pelly is arbitration-eligible, and with Washington concerned over salary-cap constraints, the team seemingly feared he would have a strong case if negotiations went all the way to arbitration, in which a third-party mediator rules on either a one-year or two-year salary. Should the mediator award Smith-Pelly a larger salary than the Capitals are prepared to pay, the team would be stuck paying that amount, as the team cannot walk away from a contract under minimum figure. This season that figure is $4,222,941 million, according to CapFriendly, and it’s unlikely Smith-Pelly’s awarded salary would surpass that amount.
The Capitals cleared cap room over the weekend by shipping veteran defenceman Brooks Orpik ($5.5-million cap hit) to the Colorado Avalanche as part of a trade that also included goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Even after Washington re-signed defenceman John Carlson to a massive eight-year, $64-million contract Sunday night, the Capitals still have roughly $13.2 million left for seven players to fill out a 23-man roster. The team’s priorities include re-signing pending unrestricted free agent defenceman Michal Kempny and Wilson, but while Smith-Pelly was due a raise on the one-year, two-way contract he signed last summer, he still would have almost certainly gotten less than the two-year, $3 million deal forward Brett Connolly got a year ago. Connolly only received that deal after the Capitals chose not to tender him a qualifying offer, re-signing him instead.
During a February game in Chicago this past season, SmithPelly, who is one of roughly 30 black players in the NHL, was in the penalty box when four fans shouted racist taunts at him. They were later ejected, and a Chicago Tribune columnist then suggested Blackhawks fans donate to a charity of Smith-Pelly’s choosing as a sort of civic apology. Smith-Pelly endeared himself to Washington fans even more when he directed the charity money to Fort Dupont Ice Arena, the only full-size indoor ice arena in the District and home to the Cannons, the oldest minority youth hockey program in North America.