Evgeny Kuznetsov was the Capitals’ last move before the NHL trade deadline but not the only one, as both Anthony Mantha and Joel Edmondson were traded earlier this week – the result of what GM Brian MacLellan told Grant & Danny was a ‘lengthy flirtation’ with what they would do at the deadline.
“I think we flirted with it for the last few weeks, but probably the Arizona game is where it tilted,” MacLellan said. “It wasn’t going to be burn it down and get rid of everyone, it was let’s make the move we needed to make.”
Kuzi needed a fresh start (and his departure gave NAME Lapierre a bigger role) and trading Edmondson opened ice time for NAME Alexiev, but Mantha was the one that really hinged on the lead up to his deal.
“When we initially traded for him, we envisioned the guy we got this year, but for whatever reason, it didn’t come until now,” MacLellan said. “Keeping him is one you toy with if you win that (Arizona) game, but we made the decision that we could address it in the offseason, and it was an important piece for us to move on.”
Yes, Grant confirmed, that does mean interest on possibly re-signing Mantha this summr, but for now, the kids are coming, and we’re going to see what they’ve got.
“It was somewhat strategic, and you have to give the players credit because they’re taking advantage of it right now,” MacLellan said. “Lapierre and (Connor) McMichael will get more ice time and power play time, and a better chance to develop, Alexiev gets more time down the stretch, and we like the trend on Rasmus Sandin, Marty Fehervery, Beck Malenstyn…and Ryan Leonard is coming. We have a lot of young players to like, and I think the future is pretty bright, it’s just a matter of developing and getting them in the right spots.”
Sandin, in particular, was extended this week because ‘he’s just starting to come into his own and has a lot of upside offensively, and our bet is he will continue to develop and become a better player’ – but the movs they didn’t make, namely Max Pacioretty, Nic Dowd, and Charlie Lindgren came down to a no-movement clause with the former and contract length for the latter two.
“We spoke to (Pacioretty) and his reps, but he’s pretty comfortable here and has a good role,” the GM said, “and the others, that was a lot of speculation. We took a lot of calls, and the idea from pundits was those are good players who had good years on good contracts, so any playoff contender would love to add them. But in the end, we thought it was more important to keep them.”
They’ll have more cap flexibility this summer, maybe more if they can get some LTIR money for Nicklas Backstrom, and with 26 picks in the next three drafts including 11 in the first three rounds, the future indeed looks bright in DC.
“We’ve created some cap space and accumulated draft capital, and that’s where you get your flexibility,” MacLellan said. “Losing your top two centers isn’t something we were counting on coming into the season, but we’re in this spot – and if you don’t have capital or cap room, you’re not in the game.
So, this gives us a chance to find guys we like, and execute on them.”