The Washington Capitals have quite a bit to consider this offseason and if the Florida Panthers' Stanley Cup win taught other teams anything, it's that you need to have depth, scoring, consistency and resilience.
The Capitals got career years from Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Tom Wilson, among others, and as they go into the summer and say goodbye to the likes of Andrew Mangiapane, Taylor Raddysh and more, there will certainly be vacancies to fill on the forward lines.
Washington has that and a plethora of talented pieces in the pipeline, but when it comes to winning in the present moment, it's no secret that the team would benefit from another top winger or skilled forward to provide some secondary scoring.
That said, does the team go for a big name this offseason?
General manager Chris Patrick wouldn't necessarily rule it out.
“We will definitely evaluate everything,” Patrick said. “I think a big hack this summer could potentially be, like, a really big hack.”
However, it's more complex than it seems.
First off, the Capitals only have roughly $9.375 million in cap space to work with, per Puckpedia. The big names projected to hit the market will have a much higher price tag, as Patrick pointed out, and with the team wanting to incorporate more prospects into the mix going forward, bringing on a 29-year-old Nikolaj Ehlers or another big name from free agency may not be the direction to go.
The offer sheet route isn't likely, either, as D.C. is missing its original third-round pick, which limits the offers that it can make to players across the league.
That's why a trade seems like the more likely route. There are names like J.J. Peterka ending up on the market going into the summer, and Washington would be wise to listen in and see what it would take to bring in another young, high-octane scorer, especially with the Alex Ovechkin era coming to an end.
Of course, the return would likely include picks and prospects, but when it comes down to it, taking a risk may be the right move if the team wants to be a legitimate contender sooner rather than alter.
At the end of the day, though, it'll be a balancing act between preparing for the future while remaining a contender now, and surely, this team has the ability to compete after its retool last summer. What's in store for this year remains to be seen, and though patrick said it'll be quieter, anything could happen.
