Lost in the shuffle of the Caps new third jersey news Tuesday night, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that Caps general manager Brian MacLellan is trying to wrap up new deals with bottom-six forwards Eric Fehr and Jay Beagle. Meanwhile, it appears UFAs Joel Ward and Mike Green are all but certain to test the free agent market on July 1st.
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/613508643384860672
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/613508920414502912
Fehr, a possession monster and the greatest outdoor goal-scorer in the history of the NHL, was primarily used as the team’s third-line center this season, tallying 19 goals and 33 points. An undervalued player when healthy, Fehr’s recent elbow surgery and durability concerns would likely have made getting his full value on the free agent market difficult. Fehr is completing a two-year, $3 million dollar deal where he saw a $200K raise in 2014-15.
Meanwhile, 29-year-old Jay Beagle was primarily used as the Capitals’ fourth-line center. A versatile forward, the tenacious and awesome Beagle scored a career-high 10 goals, tallied a career-high 10 assists, and led the league for much of the postseason in face-off percentage. Read his review. He was great. Just dear lord, keep him off the first line. Deserving of a raise, Beagle just completed a three-year, $2.7 million deal with an annual average salary of $900K.
