For close to two campaigns, Washington has been on the hunt for a genuine needle-mover up front. So far the effort has yielded nothing, as the club missed on targets including Artemi Panarin as well as Nikolaj Ehlers, whether by way of the open market or through trades.
With the franchise likely to be left out of the postseason for what would be a first under head coach Spencer Carbery, that search will carry over into the summer months. Speaking with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, Capitals GM Chris Patrick acknowledged as much, framing the trade route as the focal point of the team's plans for the months ahead.
Patrick told LeBrun he expects deals to materialize this summer, though he cautioned that any club willing to part with a premier player knows it holds the leverage in a seller's market, which will push asking prices upward. For that reason, he explained, the goal has been to assemble enough usable assets to put Washington in a strong position to pry someone loose.
He added that should the team hold onto its picks rather than deal them, the upside is a deeper prospect pool that could either bolster the roster or serve as currency in later transactions.
Expectations are that trading will be fierce, in part because this summer's group of unrestricted free agents ranks among the thinnest in years. Once the headline piece, winger Alex Tuch at age 29, gets snapped up, the names left behind skew markedly older and don't align with the Capitals' competitive timeline; that group features Vladimir Tarasenko, Mats Zuccarello, Claude Giroux, Patrick Kane, and Evgeni Malkin.
One more name that fits the list in a technical sense is Alex Ovechkin, now 40, who has no contract past the current year and has indicated his playing future in the league won't be resolved until further into the summer. Patrick said he can't gauge where the captain is leaning, adding that he plans only to keep providing whatever backing and assistance Ovechkin asks for.
A retirement by Ovechkin would clear a sizable amount of cap room for Patrick, yet it would simultaneously carve open another major gap precisely where management is already shopping: a top-six winger who can score. Since this year's Washington club is led by Ovechkin in goals, with 31, and in overall scoring, with 61 points, his departure could compel the GM to seek a second scoring addition up front beyond the one the team is already pursuing.
Patrick likened the offseason to a choose-your-own-adventure story. As he described it, one situation will surface in May and require decisions, then another will emerge in June, so the team will simply handle each as it comes. Should Ovechkin tell them he is retiring, Patrick said, the front office will steer its choices accordingly; if the captain wants to return, they will adjust their moves to match. In short, they intend to follow whichever route opens up.
A number of high-end talents are projected to be obtainable, in differing measures, over the offseason. The most probable centerpiece figures to be Jason Robertson, the winger from the Dallas Stars. Beyond him, however, a slate of players such as Matthew Knies, Willian Nylander, Auston Matthews, Jordan Kyrou, Robert Thomas, and Elias Pettersson could end up changing addresses too.
By PuckPedia's accounting, the Capitals are slated at present to hold $33.97 million of room under the cap entering the offseason.