Carl Hagelin joining the Washington Capitals might’ve been weird at first for long time Caps fans, but the small sample size speaks volumes.
Carl Hagelin had a weird journey in the last 365 days. After the Washington Capitals eliminated the Pittsburgh Penguins last spring, he was back in Pittsburgh before being traded to the Los Angles Kings.
It seemed like with the struggling season getting traded from a team that has a lot of talent to a declining one took a lot out of his game. Then Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan came knocking at the door.
Hagelin finished out the regular season in 20 games adding three goals and eight assists. He added an assist in the playoffs but despite the small sample size from the statistics, Hagelin showed the Capitals what he could do if the team was to re-sign him.
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Hagelin won puck battles, helped bolster a struggling penalty kill, and contributed anywhere he was in the lineup. Hagelin spent time on all four lines throughout the second half but became a primary mainstay on the second line in the playoffs on the second line after the T.J. Oshie injury next to Evgeny Kuznetsov and Jakub Vrana.
The Capitals knew Hagelin was a vital piece and their first move after handing the Stanley Cup torch to the St. Louis Blues was to dump Matt Niskanen‘s salary to save up cap space.
On June 14, the team traded for Radko Gudas from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Matt Niskanen. Then a report came from Pierre LeBrun that this move was an attempt to re-sign Hagelin.
Caps are still trying to re-sign trade deadline pickup and pending UFA Carl Hagelin so yet another reason for the cap space clearing. They've got a bunch of expiring deals. Needed more flexibility
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 14, 2019
Two short days after this said report was when the bag was secured for Hagelin. The Capitals locked him in for four years worth $11-million at an AAV of $2,750,000 per season.
“I wouldn’t have signed with Washington if I didn’t believe there’s still a good chance to win a Stanley Cup,” Hagelin told the media via conference call.
"“Like I said before, it starts with having Ovi, having Backy as you know, and having John Carlson as players that had been in the league for a long time, knowing what it takes to win and just great leadership and those are our best players in the playoffs last year and they’re going to continue to be that. And I think that’s what I liked about the team. It’s a good mix of veteran guys, young guys, guys that aren’t that young, but have been in the league for a while and understand the business. I stayed with Washington to have a chance to win.”"
With Hagelin back in the fold for 2019-20, the Capitals hope to get back to the promised land this spring.
Final Grade: Despite the small sample size, 11 points (3 goals, 8 assists) in 20 regular season games is a good sample size to give him a B+ and he still did the right things in the playoffs to try and help a Capitals lineup that wasn’t full strength after the Oshie injury.
That Game 7 could have gone either way and thankfully for Capitals fans, with Hagelin back for four more seasons, they’ll get to see what he can do under a full 82-game grind and perhaps beyond in the red sweater. His final grade from me is a B+.