The Washington Capitals were in Las Vegas, Nevada with the rest of the league for this weekend’s 2024 NHL Draft. Washington made eight draft selections and two player-based trades while out west but the team’s management isn’t in a rush to return to home base in the DMV.
With further wheeling and dealing to be done, general manager Brian MacLellan and co. are sticking around in Sin City for the start of NHL free agency on Monday.
“We’re staying, yeah,” MacLellan said Saturday. “Well, we were worried about a full day of travel. We’ve got a room set up here, a war room, and we’ll hang out there. See what we can do.”
MacLellan, who stated he would like to see the draft held annually at the Sphere in Vegas after being wowed by the experience, explained that he and his staff didn’t want to waste any time in the air during an offseason where the Capitals have been among the league’s busiest teams.
“There’s so much stuff crammed together,” MacLellan said. “For managers, the free agency, development camp, and that – it’s not spread out. The travel around affects it and you’re getting pulled in a lot of directions.”
Washington has already added forwards Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane as well as goaltender Logan Thompson through trade. They also sent winger Beck Malenstyn to the Buffalo Sabres for a second-round draft selection.
MacLellan was open about still wanting to explore further moves both up front and on defense. Per CapFriendly, Washington still has $6,368,333 million in cap space, the remaining portion available due to Nicklas Backstrom being on LTIR.
“We’re retooling, adding prospects, and competing,” MacLellan said. “Maybe [more to come]. We’re working on trying to make some changes [to our defense group]. Both [trade-wise and in free agency].”
The Capitals’ current rostered defense corps remains the same as how they ended last season. Many of the league’s top free agents this offseason are blueliners including a top group that includes Brady Skjei, Chris Tanev (rights acquired by Maple Leafs), Brett Pesce, Nikita Zadorov, Matt Grzelcyk, Brandon Montour, Matt Roy, Sean Walker, and Oliver Kylington.
When asked if he believed the team could make a bigger splash, like signing a “seven million dollar defenseman,” MacLellan replied positively. “We’re gonna shop around and see what we can find,” he said. “Yeah, we’re good.”
Another forward may also be on the agenda to replace the hole Malenstyn leaves in the team’s bottom six. While MacLellan mentioned Hershey Bears winger Bogdan Trineyev as an internal option, the team is not ruling out another addition via external means.
“We’ll see what kind of camp everybody has and we’ll have options there,” MacLellan said. “We might go outside, too.”
