After five straight losses in regulation, the Washington Capitals are fading fast out of the wild card picture and are facing a huge uphill battle to make the postseason.
The reality of the situation has reportedly hit general manager Brian MacLellan who is now discussing dealing the team’s unrestricted free agents. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the news in his 32 Thoughts column.
22. Washington Capitals: Even before Tuesday’s loss to Detroit, GM Brian MacLellan signaled he was open to ideas. He’s willing to discuss their unrestricted free agents. The team and Dmitry Orlov are not close, particularly on term. Hathaway will be an interesting one. He’s not the fastest, but good for the grinding games of the postseason. Sheary, Johansson, Nick Jensen, Trevor van Riemsdyk, Erik Gustafsson — there are some nice pieces. Anthony Mantha was injured against Detroit, clouding his future. The Capitals are ready to subscribe to your newsletter. They’ll have flexibility this summer, and are prepared to use it.
Entering the summer, the Capitals only have one regular defenseman signed through next season, John Carlson, and they have five unrestricted free agents at forward.
That flexibility may also make the Capitals buyers at the trade deadline, too.
Again, per Friedman:
27. Vancouver Canucks: Luke Schenn was scheduled to return home, out of the lineup until dealt. As of Tuesday night, I’m not convinced the team is finalized, but I do think after a quiet few days, talks around him intensified to the point where there was a feeling it would happen. If Vancouver didn’t get at least a third, they weren’t going to do it.
They are working hard on Boeser too. I’ve had mixed messages on Washington, some sources saying there’s never been interest, some saying there has. Whatever the case, it’s complicated. It’s unlikely anything happens with JT Miller, but I think teams wanted to see what the Canucks might be willing to do. If there’s a group of players who can’t wait for this to end, it’s this group.
The Capitals have been linked to Boeser for the last year. The Canucks forward has two years remaining at $6.65 per season. The 25-year-old had 10 goals and 37 points in 49 games this season.
Coming into this season, Boeser had scored 23 goals or more in four of his previous five full season campaigns in the NHL.
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