Washington Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan held a surprise press conference on Saturday afternoon less than a week ahead of the NHL’s trade deadline.
MacLellan addressed the Capitals putting star center Evgeny Kuznetsov on waivers as well as the team’s strategy heading into what could potentially be a pivotal trade deadline on Friday, March 8.
The Capitals are 6-4-2 since returning from their bye week and the NHL All-Star break, pulling to within four points of the Metropolitan Division’s third and final playoff spot. The Caps have two games in hand on the team that currently sits in front of them in that spot, the Philadelphia Flyers, who they defeated in thrilling fashion 5-2 on Friday night.
“It’s been fun to watch our guys,” MacLellan said. “We came out of the break, and I think we’ve played really well. To watch young guys step up, improve, compete, and play well is exciting, I think, for our organization. I think we’re in the mix. I see the math that it’s unlikely, but you could get some help from other teams too.”
According to Money Puck, the Capitals have only an 8.3 percent chance of making the playoffs as they have the sixth-hardest remaining schedule. In their next 23 games, the Capitals play teams with a combined points percentage of .578.
MacLellan was clear, the team will not be buyers in the sense that they’re going to rent a player for a possible postseason run.
“We have a week left to make some decisions,” MacLellan said. “I think our priority would be the future of our club. All decisions will be based on (that). It’s not, ‘Hey, we’re going to go out and rent a guy for the playoffs.’ We’re not in that game.
What the team will look to do is replicate their trade deadline strategy from last season where they flipped veterans for young players and draft assets, prioritizing players who the team thinks fit into their long-term strategy.
“We’re here to look for opportunities to find more young players, add more young players to our roster, and compete — still compete.
“I think the strategy is the same. We’re trying to thread a needle of being competitive and making good trades and it might go either way on us. And I think our trade options are for younger future type stuff versus older veteran players.”
The Capitals re-tooled on the fly last season, landing 23-year-old defenseman Rasmus Sandin from the Toronto Maple Leafs with assets they earned from other deals in which they dealt their pending UFAs.
“That would be ideal,” MacLellan said when asked if that was the team’s goal again. “That would be the type of the thing we’re looking to do, yes.”
These were the trades the Capitals made before the 2023 NHL trade deadline:
- Capitals acquire 2023 first-round pick, 2025 second-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, and Craig Smith from Boston Bruins for Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway
- Capitals acquire 2024 third-round pick from Minnesota Wild for Marcus Johansson
- Capitals acquire defenseman Rasmus Sandin from Toronto Maple Leafs for Erik Gustafsson and the 2023 first-round pick they acquired from Boston
- Capitals acquire 2025 second-round pick from Colorado Avalanche for Lars Eller
The Capitals have four players on expiring deals who will be unrestricted free agents in the summer: Anthony Mantha, Joel Edmundson, Max Pacioretty, and Nicolas Aube-Kubel. MacLellan would not make any blanket promises that the Capitals would trade all four of those players.
“I’m not sure,” MacLellan said. “I think if something makes sense for us, if it’s a good trade and I think it’s good value or it helps our organization, we have to consider it. But just to blindly go in and say we’re just getting rid of all these guys, we’re not going to do that.
“We’re not going to sit here and just dump players at the deadline.”
Outside of the club’s UFAs, the Capitals are rumored to be expecting calls from teams about Nick Jensen, Charlie Lindgren, and Nic Dowd. All three players have additional term on their contracts which could allow MacLellan to bring in a bigger return from trade partners.
The Capitals also reportedly have “kicked the tires” on a trade for Calgary Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin. Any trade for Hanifin from a Capitals perspective would likely also feature a baked-in contract extension as Hanifin is an unrestricted free agent this summer.
