The Washington Capitals lost many pieces during the offseason, and have had to fight against the salary cap to remain a playoff caliber team. The Capitals must fill some holes on the blueline, and they will likely have to find some players from outside of the organization to fill the holes.
While the defensemen market has shrunk since the beginning of the free agency period, there are still a handful of veteran defenseman still available.
Could the Capitals invite some established veterans to training camp to compete for roster spots? Let’s look at some veteran defenseman who are still available on the open market.
FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN
The 37-year old defenseman spent the 2016-17 season with the Colorado Avalanche. He recorded 18 points and played in 81 games. Beauchemin spent most of his NHL career in Anaheim, and won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks. He averaged a little over 21 minutes of icetime with the Avalanche.
JARED COWEN
The 26-year old Cowen has over 200 games of NHL experience under his belt. Cowen is a big strong defenseman as he is 6’5” tall and is 225 pounds. While his skating is not quite up to par, Cowen is not afraid to throw his weight around and he is not afraid to drop the gloves for his teammates.
CODY FRANSON
Franson is another defenseman that has a lot of size. Franson spent the last two seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. The right-handed shooting Franson was selected in the 3rd round of the 2005 NHL Draft by the Nashville Predators, so there is some familiarity with Barry Trotz and his coaching staff.
MARK STUART
Stuart has spent the last 6 seasons with the Winnipeg Jets. The 33-year old Rochester, Minnesota native is a left-handeded shooting defenseman that brings a lot of physicality and snarl to the ice. He played in 42 games with the Jets in 2016-17.
By: George Foussekis