Washington Capitals: 2015 Free Agency Primer
Washington Capitals: Trade Candidates
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
If the Capitals want to create cap space, they’ll have to move some of their contracts. Let’s look at some of the cap dump candidates. These will be ranked in terms of overall value, or what the Caps could get in return for them without including a draft pick or prospect.
- If the Capitals want to add a top six forward, they could swap Johansson and a higher (first three rounds) draft pick for a potentially better and most likely less expensive top six forward option. Johansson has the highest trade value of the Caps roster players for several reasons. First of all, he’s a proven at worst slightly above average top six forward. Secondly, he’s still very young and will likely be entering the prime of his career soon. Thirdly, if a team is in the process of a rebuild, he could play a role in it.
- The Caps could also trade Troy Brouwer. Let me start off by saying that I have nothing against the Caps having Brouwer. He will give you good boxcar stats and his cap hit of $3,666,667 is reasonable. Any team that’s looking for top six forward depth or a really good checking line wing should be interested in him. Brouwer is definitely not a cap dump because he is still a productive player and his salary for the most part matches his performance. However, considering that Capitals General Manager Brian MacLellan has stated that he wants to get Tom Wilson and Andre Burakovsky more playing time, it would seem logical that the Caps are looking to make Wilson their third line right wing and let Burakovsky be a top six forward. If the Caps want to add another top six forward, Brouwer’s presence is a bit counter-productive to that.
- If the Caps could trade any contract right now, I’m willing to bet it would be Brooks Laich’s. This isn’t to say that Laich isn’t a productive player. He’s an effective bottom six wing who is an expert penalty killer. However, his $4,500,000 cap hit is simply too much to justify his spot in the lineup. Unless the Caps package Laich with a 2016 first or second round pick or eat a decent portion of his contract, they’re not getting much value in return for him. However, they would be done with his contract. Laich has a modified no trade clause, but the Arizona Coyotes could be a decent fit for him, as could any number of teams who need helping reaching the salary cap floor.
- The Caps could look to get rid of Jason Chimera to give them a bit of cap relief. Chimera has a $2,000,000 cap hit through next season and has a limited no-trade clause. Again, teams close to the cap floor or teams looking to upgrade their bottom six could be interested in Chimera. Hard to think that the Washington Capitals would get back anything of value for him though.
If you’re looking for a list of prospects that the Washington Capitals could move to upgrade their roster via a trade, we have you covered.
Next: Unrestricted Free Agents