Washington Capitals at season start

With the preseason now in the rear view mirror the Capitals have broken camp and head into the regular season after seeing 3 of their original keeper players traded in favor of "future assets". General Manager Donpaulo held a short press conference where he attempted to answer the concerns of beat writers and fans in general.

"Welcome to the start of our first season at the helm of the Capitals. We knew things were going to be challenging once the lottery ball didn't fall our way. With that in mind we decided to bring in players that we can build a long term core around, hopefully build up some financial reserves and become competitive as well. Its been tough to part ways with our starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper, but the return was good enough to take a gamble on Robin Lehner coming back from shoulder and hip surgeries and to bank the picks going forward sealed the deal. Parting ways with John Carlson was probably the hardest move we made so far. His leadership, skill level and overall ice time was so crucial for our team effort, however Jared Spurgeon does have some good skill, we believe in Albert Johansson and the ability of the AHL to help him continue to develop into a top 4 defenseman for us. The first round pick was the primary motivator is getting this deal done. Finally I want to discuss the recent trade situation with Tom Wilson. Its no surprise that the team offense moved through him and our preseason record was in large part due to his scoring ability so it was very hard to pull the trigger on the deal to send him out of town. However the return was good enough to move him out of town. We will probably regret the deal, but the prospects involved in the return have very nice upside and we believe in the ability of Bill Guerin and his staff to assess NHL talent. While HF may not have these guys so highly rated, we are reading that both these players have top 6 upside. Moving Faksa was as much a financial issue as acquiring further picks in this years upcoming draft. We now have 10 picks in this years draft and 10 including three 1st rounders in 2024. Now I'll take any questions you have"

Question 1. "My kid loves the caps, why did you make her cry ?"

Next question

Question 2. "Who the hell are you guys coming in here, not protecting one of the greatest goal scorers in hockey history, then trading away the top D man and winger ?"

Next question

Question 3. "This is more of a statement buddy. We know where you live"

"I can only add that we have at least 2 more deals out there. All the other GM has to do is hit the accept button"

and with that GM Donpaulo left the podium to return to the relative safety of the clubhouse