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Washington Capitals: 2019 Predictions for Radko Gudas

By David Trice

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 18: Radko Gudas #33 of the Washington Capitals in action against the St. Louis Blues during a preseason NHL game at Capital One Arena on September 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 18: Radko Gudas #33 of the Washington Capitals in action against the St. Louis Blues during a preseason NHL game at Capital One Arena on September 18, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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Today we take a look at the newest Washington Capitals defenseman Radko Gudas.

It took another off season but the aggressive purge of the championship roster for the Washington Capitals has hit home. Matt Niskanen had to say goodbye and make way for Radko Gudas, but why and how will this affect the team chemistry?

The Washington Capitals started this off season with very little wiggle room under the salary cap with plenty of contracts to extend to keep majority of the team intact. No one expected the team to retain all their free agents but anyone who follows the team knows it couldn’t lose more than a few key pieces.

As a result of the financial situation the Capitals had to say goodbye to Brett Connolly and Matt Niskanen. But they were able to retain all other key players and even add some much needed help for the team defense. In part this was possible with the trade of Niskanen to the Flyers in exchange for Radko Gudas and approximately an extra $1 million in cap space.

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In trading Niskanen, they lost a puck moving defenseman who was more two-way reliable than others give him credit. But they also parted with a near $6 million contract for the next two seasons for a one year contract worth about $3 million less.

This aspect of the move was the key component for both this season and the next few seasons, as the team needs to start thinking about the extensions of Nicklas Backstrom and Braden Holtby.

While no one wanted to see Matt Niskanen leave, he was starting to show some decline in his game; after posting over 50% CF for his career every year the last two seasons his CF has declined to 48.7% and then down last season to 47.0%. All fans will miss Niskanen and will forever be thankful for his contributions in winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, but now is the time to see what the future holds.

In the acquisition of Radko Gudas, most fans will be reminded of the enforcer the Flyers have employed the last four seasons. If any of you were like me, I would always justify what the Capitals had in Tom Wilson by saying well the Flyers have Gudas who I deemed worse than Wilson.

After a few seasons of watching from a distance, and knowing the place of having players like Wilson and Gudas in your roster, I believe Gudas has more to bring to the table than most may originally think. Looking at Gudas’s contribution as most expect, he delivered 255 hits while blocking 133 shots surprisingly his PIM have consistently decreased in his time with the Flyers. But he is also not a liability in the offense either, as he broke 20 points in a season from the defense for the third time in his career.

By adding Gudas, the Capitals have another option along with recent free agent signee Garnet Hathaway to take some of the focus off Tom Wilson as the main enforcer for the team.

Another factor in replacing Niskanen with Gudas, is the cost of less than $3 million in salary for a third pairing defenseman where Niskanen was expected to play this season given the trade and signing of Nick Jensen last year.

Next. 2019 Predictions for Garnet Hathaway. dark

Putting Gudas on the third pairing will help bring along the younger defenseman in Christian Djoos and Jonas Seigenthaler, and hold down a spot until both are ready to take over their expected spot in the lineup. This applies also to any of the next prospects to come up from the minors, either Tyler Lewington, Alex Alexeyev, or Martin Fehervary.

I would expect Gudas to apply between 200-300 hits with about 100-125 blocks, and throw in about 5 goals and 20 assists from the defense. He will prove a key contributor, and along with free agent addition Richard Panik, I believe he could wind up being the best addition in general for the Capitals this year. Expect him to make the decision about resigning him or letting him walk in favor of one of the many prospects very difficult.

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