Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan has long been transparent about his desire to add a young top-six forward to his team’s roster. Though he was unsuccessful doing so over the offseason, MacLellan noted on Monday that he has not given up on finding an eventual deal.
“Our goal is to have a top-six guy in the right age group, from the offseason, and our goal is still to do that,” he told reporters. “We’re still pursuing opportunities that might present that.”
MacLellan made several attempts at trades over the offseason, including trying to move up at the draft and reportedly trying to send Evgeny Kuznetsov to the Nashville Predators. That approach seems to have continued, with Anthony Mantha apparently on the trade block this week.
The Capitals could have an easier time bringing in a player now after Nicklas Backstrom stepped away from the team last week. Once Backstrom goes on LTIR, which is the plan according to MacLellan, the team will receive $9.2 million in cap relief with which to work.
In the meantime, MacLellan hopes to find Backstrom’s replacement among the team’s younger players. So far, head coach Spencer Carbery has utilized 2019 first-round pick Connor McMichael down the middle in Backstrom’s absence.
“I think we have some young players that are breaking through here, hopefully,” he said. “There’s opportunity to step in and find a role and contribute to the team’s success. So I think we’ll look internally here for now and give opportunities to our young guys.”
Screenshot via Capitals
