Washington Capitals at game 60

With a total of 60 games played in the first season of the league the Capitals find themselves at or near the bottom in most categories. With only 10 wins at home so far this year its been a struggle to stay motivated and the team actually has more wins on the road. A rather pathetic 3 wins in the last 10 games makes things even harder as the trade deadline approaches.

A few names that have been discussed on the trade front include Anthony Mantha, Josh Manson, Nicolas Roy, Tim Stutzle and Martin Fehervary to name a few. Given that Washington's manager Donpaulo is on top of things the team has already submitted all RFA contract offers which were accepted. Of note Tim Stutzle accepted an 8 year front loaded offer of approximately eight million two hundred fifty thousand dollars per season. His salary next year will be 12 million bucks ! At 21 years old he is locked in a top star for the team. Rasmus Kupari also accepted an 8 year offer at around two million five hundred thousand per season. Not to be outdone Martin Fehervary also agreed to an eight year deal at three million two hundred fifty thousand dollars. Nicolas Hague agreed to a lower end bridge deal at under three million for the next 3 seasons. The timing is good for the club as he will still be RFA at the end of that period.

So while a few teams have come calling for Tim and Martin, their relative cost of acquisition has risen now that Washington has some cost certainty. The situation in the NHL this season has also brought about some further value accumulation as the NHL Capitals dealt Dmitri Orlov which cements Fehervary's status on the blueline for seasons to come. On the flip side when the Caps extended Dylan Strome the move has blocked Hendrix Lapierre and Connor McMichael's status as centermen with the big club. If the NHL's Capitals embrace a sell off things could get very interesting for some of the kids in the pipeline. We are hoping they embrace the suck just as we are stinking up the joint in the Karp.

It could be worse, in the Karp league John Carlson whom Detroit paid a fair price for appears to be out for a significant part of next season. I think this is a great opportunity to sell the suggestion that our league should implement the LTIR as a salary mitigation issue. Of course Washington would benefit greatly from this as Robin Lehner would grant us some extra money to throw at various UFA, so we are certainly motivated to see something move towards reducing salaries going forward especially for players who are hurt.

Now if a few of our players would just wake up and start putting up some points. We are looking at you Kevin Labanc, Anthony Mantha and Mason Appleton. Granted they were either hurt this or the past season. Tough to play hockey with an ouchie.

Until next time