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Washington Capitals: A strong salute to Jay Beagle

By Ron Juckett

LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 07: Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Vegas Golden Knights blocks a shot by Jay Beagle #83 of the Washington Capitals as Nate Schmidt #88 of the Golden Knights defends in the second period of Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Capitals defeated the Golden Knights 4-3. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - JUNE 07: Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Vegas Golden Knights blocks a shot by Jay Beagle #83 of the Washington Capitals as Nate Schmidt #88 of the Golden Knights defends in the second period of Game Five of the 2018 NHL Stanley Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena on June 7, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Capitals defeated the Golden Knights 4-3. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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All signs point to the Washington Capitals losing Jay Beagle when free agency starts on Sunday. After 11 seasons, he deserves a hearty round of applause.

It looks like the Washington Capitals will lose Jay Beagle to free agency. The veteran center has a reported three-year deal on the table from the Vancouver Canucks worth $2.5 million a season.

Although with $9.7 million in cap room, that is too high of a price for Washington. After 10 seasons with the Caps, it is time to move on.

A move to Vancouver would put Beagle closer to his native Calgary. Even a move to the Western Conference is more family-friendly than playing the most games on the east coast.

The last six years, Beagle has been a mainstay center on the lower lines. His ability to win faceoffs was crucial for the Caps continued regular season success. Two campaigns ago, when he scored 30 points, he had a plus-minus of 20 and drew mild support for the Frank Selke Award.

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His intangibles and leadership does not always translate to the score sheet and fantasy leagues. If his time in DC is up, Beale has a Stanley Cup ring for his efforts.

And what a strong effort he gave to win it. His pair of goals and six assists gave him a 0.35 points-per-game average, an improvement of his regular-season mark of 0.28. Also, Beagle won an impressive 60.1 percent of faceoffs this spring. That tops his already wonderful 58.5 2017-18 number. A career-high.

Beagle’s last goal with Washington was the game-winner in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Tampa Bay. Fed by Brett Connolly and Dmitry Orlov early in the second period, it proved to be the difference as the Lightning chipped away at a 4-0 deficit in the third to lose 4-2.

His last point will forever be etched in the minds of you as Beagle nabbed the lone assist in Devante Smith-Pelly’s game-tying goal in the third period of the Cup clincher. Not a bad way to go out.

The Washington Capitals will miss Jay Beagle’s defense as a forward, his ability not to take dumb penalties and the ease he won puck draws. However, after a decade in DC, we will miss him as a person. He skated in 471 games, scored 51 times and assisted 65. Not prolific, but steady.

Next: Kempny will stay

Best of luck in Vancouver.

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