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Michael Latta Does Not Receive Qualifying Offer from the Caps, Will Look ‘Somewhere Else’

By Nathan Burchfiel

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June 27, 2016 4:48 pm

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Michael Latta’s time with the Washington Capitals appears to be over.

The Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan tweeted today that the team will not extend a qualifying offer to Latta, meaning the restricted free agent will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Though the Caps could still pursue Latta as a free agent, General Manager Brian MacLellan appears to be focused on qualifying the team’s other RFAs — Marcus Johansson, Dmitry Orlov, and Tom Wilson — and trying to sign and re-sign other pieces of the puzzle, possibly including Latta’s linemate, Jason Chimera.

The decision will no doubt disappoint a lot of Caps fans who came to love Latta as a personality. His bromance with roommate Tom Wilson and fellow brobean Andre Burakovsky will not soon be forgotten. Nor will Latta’s obsession with ketchup or his A+ social media chirping skills.

He’ll also be missed on the ice. As Peter wrote in Latta’s season review:

Let me qualify that now: Latta will never set the world on fire with goals. He’s got the lowest individual shot-attempt rate of any Caps forward (8.5 per 60, a head below Nick Backstrom at 9.5) and just three goals on the season’s campaign despite a shooting percentage of 10.

But that’s okay because he’s dependable as hell in his own end. Opponents shot far less against Latta (44.6 attempts per 60) than compared to his supposed betters like Chimera and Wilson, for whom opponent shot rates reached the mid to high 50s.

And while Latta’s offensive rates were meager, he still put up the best relative possession score of any depth Caps forward.

Per Isabelle, qualifying Latta only would have cost the team $632,500, though Peter also predicted that he’ll “earn under a million against the cap on his next contract, but within that role he’ll outperform players who earn twice his salary.”

As we prepare to say goodbye to Lats, drop your favorite memory of him into the comments.