Evgeny Kuznetsov became the 13th player to play in 500 games with the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
The Capitals aired a tribute video during the game to honor Kuzy for all of his contributions throughout his tenure with the team.
By Eliza Kravitz 2 years ago
Friday afternoon, the New York Rangers announced that they had signed restricted free agent Jacob Trouba to a seven-year, $56 million deal.
The Rangers landed the coveted 25-year-old, first-pairing defenseman from the Winnipeg Jets in June. The Rangers sent defenseman Neal Pionk and the 20th overall pick at the 2019 NHL draft (Finnish blueliner Ville Heinola) to the Jets in exchange for 6’3” d-man.
Trouba refused to sign longterm with the Jets because he wanted to play in the United States and allow his fiancée, Kelly Tyson, to pursue her medical career.
“Everyone kind of views me, and I guess most athletes, just as athletes, but there’s other goals in life that I have,” Trouba said after the trade. “I want to be a husband and a father and all that stuff, and her career is important and she’s worked extremely hard. I want to see the best for her as much as she wants to see the best for me.”
By Ian Oland 4 years ago
The Washington Capitals had two selections in the first round of the 2012 draft. They had the 11th pick, received from the Colorado Avalanche as part of the Semyon Varlamov deal, and the 16th pick. Entering that weekend, many general managers talked about how top-heavy the draft was with talented defensemen. In fact, eight of the top ten picks were rearguards, which allowed the Capitals to draft the best European skater in the draft, Filip Forsberg at number eleven. Five picks later, they also selected Tom Wilson, who made the team out of training camp this season.
In the fifth round, the Capitals selected their first defenseman of the day (and one of three overall), the 5’11” Connor Carrick, out of the United States National Team Development Program. 46 defensemen were selected before Carrick was snatched up at pick 137. A lot of people had never heard of him at that point.
Funny. A full year later, Carrick is a household name among Caps fans and was the first defenseman out of the 2012 draft to play in the NHL — by about 40 minutes.
