Here is this week’s rumors roundup for the Capitals and from around the league.

CAPITALS

Ilya Samsonov – According to Igor Eronko of Sports Express, there’s a report that Ilya Samsonov is set to join the Caps once his contract with Metallurg is over, but Ilya himself doesn’t confirm it. The report says’s Samsonov is still “undecided”. Samsonov’s season came to an end on Friday (3/23), and his contract is set to officially expire on April 30th. Metallurg has offered him an extension. We could be seeing negotiating tactics at play here.

John Carlson – From Craig Custance of The Athletic: Pending unrestricted free agent defenseman John Carlson is tied for the lead in defenseman scoring with 61 points and may have priced himself out of Washington. “It’s tough because we have to go in and balance what we have to pay him, (Tom) Wilson and other roster decision,” Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told The Athletic. “It’s going to come to a point where we have this much to spend. We really like the player, we really like the season.” “I’m assuming he’s going to say yes or no and ‘I’m going to see what’s out there. If I can get $8 million somewhere else …’” MacLellan said. “I don’t know. That’s me reading the tea leaves. They haven’t come out and said that. They want to sign, I want to sign.” MacLellan said there have been some contract conversations but this is likely an offseason decision for the Capitals.

Assistant GM Ross Mahoney – From Elliotte Friedman, last year, Vegas GM George McPhee asked Washington for permission to talk to Ross Mahoney, a former running mate who’s been with the Capitals for more than two decades. Depending on who you talk to, it was either rejected or delayed to the point opportunities were filled. Whatever the case, it led to conjecture that Mahoney could be a potential successor to current GM Brian MacLellan. MacLellan now has security with his new extension, and it will be interesting to see if other teams check again on Mahoney.

Axel Jonsson Fjallby – According to HockeyNews.se, Capitals Assistant General Manager Ross Mahoney was in attendance to watch a recent game of the Capitals 2016 5th round draft pick, but did not meet with Jonson-Fjallby. According to Fjallby, he was not aware of Mahoney’s attendance, and has never met with Mahoney. The article also states that the Capitals will extend an offer for n entry-level contract as soon as Djurgarden’s postseason run is completed. It’s strange Mahoney didn’t even meet with him after traveling all the way to Sweden. This potential signing is still very much up in the air.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

New Tax Law – a new tax law could make trades for NHL teams in the United States more difficult. According to the New York Times a new tax law could mean that teams will face capital gains taxes every time a player is traded. “The law changed a corner of the tax code that mostly applies to farmers, manufacturers and other businesses that until recently could swap certain assets like trucks and machinery tax-free. But by adding a single word to the newly written tax code — ‘real’ — the law now allows only real estate swaps to qualify for that special treatment.” “We are looking in to it,” commissioner Gary Bettman told Sportsnet on Tuesday.

Agents – Los Angeles-based entertainment and sports agency Wasserman is making its first foray into hockey/NHL, buying equity stake in Orr Hockey LLP, including of course representation of Connor McDavid, as well as Caps John Carlson.

By Jon Sorensen