After the acquisition of center Lars Eller and his $3.5 million cap hit from the Montreal Canadiens during the early stages of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, the future of longtime Capitals left-wing Unrestricted Free-Agent (UFA) Jason Chimera is far more uncertain.
According to CSN MidAtlantic’s Chuck Gormley, the Capitals will be left with just $2.5 million in salary cap space once they pay their restricted free agents:
Which leads back to Chimera. After a 20-goal, 40-point season at the age of 37-years old, Chimera will be seeking a raise from the $2 million salary he earned on his expiring contract. Suffice to say, $2.5 million would likely be an insufficient number for Chimera.
Still looking to add UFA? “Don’t know. We might tweak it a little bit.” Going to work on re-signing RFAs and then thinks it’ll be “close.”
— Isabelle Khurshudyan (@ikhurshudyan) June 25, 2016
General Manager Brian MacLellan has stated that his RFAs are the team’s main priorities and with Tom Wilson, Dmitry Orlov, and Marcus Johansson all due for pay increases, there may not be enough room to satisfy Chimera’s salary demands. After seven years in Capitals red, “Chimmer” may be unable to return unless the price is right….literally.
By Michael Fleetwood
If Chimera is willing to go with a home team discount, 2 years, $2 million per, he might be able to stay.
I think Johansson man’s one wing and Wilson/Galiev/Vrana compete for other wing.
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