The Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals were quiet on Monday. The NHL trade deadline passed and the Caps made no moves.
"Both those guys address needs for us. They're both competitive players," MacLellan said. "Both add a little speed to our lineup. Both good on the penalty kill and both good five-on-five players. So, I think, you know, I'm excited what they're going to add to our overall team."
The two newest Caps made their debuts over the weekend with Hagelin playing in Buffalo Saturday and making his home debut Sunday. Jensen joined him and the rest of his new teammates at Capital One Arena during a wild 6-5 overtime win over the New York Rangers.
Now – our grades for the trades the Caps did make and what they did not address by Monday's deadline.
The deal cost the Capitals in a few ways. Washington traded a couple of draft picks, but they also had to expose playoff hero Devante Smith-Pelly to waivers.
"The Hagelin acquisition – we needed to create cap space," MacLellan explained. "It was important, I think, to get Hagelin in and we had two ways to do it. It was both Smith-Pelly or Jaskin, and we needed to go through waivers. We went back and forth on which one to waive, a couple of times, and then we changed our mind at the end and waived Smith-Pelly so we could the Hagelin (deal).
Whatever the Caps had to pay and risk, it was worth it to get Hagelin, who has been a thorn in the Capitals' side over the last seven years in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with both Pittsburgh and the Rangers.
He kills penalties and played 2:32 of short-handed time on Sunday. The three power plays the Rangers had with Hagelin on the ice should show you everything you need to know. New York did not score, but they did not have a shot-on-goal on either of the three power plays. The Rangers scored their goal with the extra-man when Hagelin was in the box for a hooking penalty.
He only adds to the playoff experience the Stanley Cup champions have built over the years and can play on either the second, third or fourth lines. He took one face-off draw Sunday in the defensive zone and won it. The Caps are still the worst face-off percentage team in the NHL as of Monday, at 45.9 percent.
On Sunday, without even practicing with his new team, he paired with Brooks Orpik and played a very solid 14:16 of ice time and was a plus-1 on the day. He had three shots-on-goal, two hits, blocked a shot and drew a penalty on the Rangers.
He also helped kill penalties with 2:30 of short-handed ice time and was not on the ice for the Rangers power-play marker.
It's too early to say the Capitals got their Michal Kempny type acquisition, as they did last year, but he had a terrific debut.